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The aesthetics of the living body have long intrigued artists working in every medium of art seeking to convey more than physical reality: the wonder and the splendor of humankind. The bond between art and medicine endures in the new exhibition Anatomica Aesthetica: Photographs from the Mütter Museum, and H. F. Aitken Illustrations from the Dittrick Medical History Center opening at The Cleveland Institute of Art Reinberger Galleries on Friday, November 5.

The 50 photographic works in Anatomica Aesthetica, by a distinguished group of photographers, are sublime not in conventional ways, but in their revelation of the beauty of the Mütter Museum’s natural specimens and medical models. These artists are engaged in exploring the enigma of the body, whether normal or deformed, disfigured, broken, or disassembled, to create intriguing works that far transcend the original educational purpose of the Museum’s collections.

As Malcolm Jones of Newsweek remarked, “The Mütter teaches you indelibly how strange life can be, how unpredictable and various... The photographs, sometimes ghastly, sometimes heartbreaking, are mysteriously mesmerizing, and together they compose—as museum exhibits and as photographs—a terrible beauty. The museum will revise and enlarge your idea of what it is to be human.”

The exhibition includes photographs by Shelby Lee Adams (a 1974 graduate of the Institute), Max Aguilera-Hellweg, Gwen Akin and Allan Ludwig, Candace diCarlo, Dale Gunnoe, Steven Katzman, Mark Kessell, Scott Lindgren, Olivia Parker, Rosamond Purcell, Richard Ross, Ariel Ruiz i Altaba, Harvey Stein, Arne Svenson, William Wegman, and Joel-Peter Witkin, and a selection of historic photographs from the Mütter Museum’s collection. It is accompanied by a selection from the more than 2,000 illustrative works by H. F. Aitken from the Dittrick.

WHAT: The exhibition Anatomica Aesthetica: Photographs from the Mütter Museum, and H. F. Aitken Illustrations from the Dittrick Medical History Center
WHEN: November 5 to December 18.
Friday, November 5 - Opening Night: 5pm Public lecture by guest curator Laura Lindgren, publisher of the Mütter Museum books. 6-8pm Public Reception
WHERE: The Cleveland Institute of Art’s Reinberger Galleries. 11141 East Boulevard, University Circle.
WHY: Not only is this exhibition free and open to the public, but it will blow your mind.
MORE: Get more info and additional programming details at cia.edu/anatomica.

The Cleveland Institute of Art is a premier college of art and design committed to leadership and vision in all forms of visual arts education. The Institute makes enduring contributions to education and extends its programs to the public through gallery exhibits, lectures, a continuing education program and The Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque, an art and independent film program.