Run: Wed-April 5 to Thu-May 26
Opening Vernissage : Wed-Apr-5 from 4 to 6 pm
CIUSSS du Centre-Sud-de-l ’Île-de-Montréal
Institut universitaire de gériatrie de Montréal
4565, chemin Queen-Mary, Montréal
Oeuvres de/Works by :
Sara Ambrosino, Emmanuela Ambrosino, AmanPreet Badhwar, Pierre Bellec,
Maxime Chamberland, Maxime Descoteaux, Simon Drouin, David Fortin, Katja
Heuer, Crean Quaner, Michel Thiebaut de Schotten, Roberto Toro, Josefina
Maranzano
Overall, the brain is the most complex object known in the universe -
known, that is, to itself. - E.O. Wilson
The paradox of trying to fully understand the brain through the best tool
we have available - the brain itself - is one that permeates every aspect
of neuroscience and yet does nothing to stop us from trying. Instead, it
challenges us to reach beyond the obvious and take inspiration from other
disciplines in the hopes of making small steps towards an almost
unfathomable scientific problem.
Basic neuroscientific pursuits such as the study of brain microstructure
(structures invisible to the naked eye) through histological methods result
in images that have been appreciated for their raw aesthetic beauty since
the late 19th century drawings of Ramon y Cajal. Such images are incredibly
complex at the level of single cells, and require creative solutions to
understand in relation to the brain as a whole. Contrary to this, modern
neuroimaging techniques result in data that describe the brain at the
macrostructural level (visible to the naked eye), but are difficult to make
sense of due to their high dimensionality, often encompassing information
about both time and space. With recent advances in the quality and
resolution of such techniques, understanding the complexity of the
resulting data is one of the biggest challenges in neuroscientific
research. The development of unique and creative methods for mapping and
visualizing such data has therefore become a vital aspect of neuroimaging
science. By making use of abstract representations that reduce the
dimensionality of the underlying data to highlight features of interest,
such techniques often result in visualizations that carry their own unique
aesthetic value and challenge the already blurry boundaries between science
and art.
This exhibition aims to foster the ongoing dialogue between neuroscience
and the arts by bringing together works by artists and members of the
neuroscientific community that capture the beauty of the human brain
through both literal and metaphorical representations. The collection
includes original works by artists and scientists as well as prints of
selected submissions to The Neuro Bureau’s Brain Art Competition, which has
been held in conjunction with the annual meeting of the Organization for
Human Brain Mapping since 2011.
To find out more about The Neuro Bureau and previous brain art exhibitions,
please visit www.neurobureau.org.
