Studio Orta

We are pleased to announce the exhibition of Lucy + Jorge Orta’s new glass sculptures Cells, at the Federica Schiavo Gallery in Rome, created as a result of an ongoing dialogue with emminent mitosis scientist Tony Hyman.

Tony Hyman works on the molecular mechanism of conserved cytoskeletal processes in the Hyman Lab at the Max Plank Institute of Mollecular biology, he is also part of MitoSys (systems biology of mitosis), a FP7 European scientific research project. Hyman has been in dialogue with Lucy + Jorge Orta since 2013, discussing the transformations of the immensely complex structures of human cells. Reflecting on cellular communication growth, and working together with the glass masters at Berengo Studio in Murano, the artists represent the different stages of mitosis and meiosis. When the process of chromosome division goes wrong, it reeks havoc and leads to incredible, wild and complex three-dimensional structures.

Lucy + Jorge Ortas’ Cells Diptych will be display in Lens on Life, a fascinating exhibition curated by Professor Marina Wallace, which maps a number of dialogues between artists and scientists who portray, each in their own unique way, the fundamental mechanisms of human life – mitosis. The exhibition in Rome is the first of a series of three. Lens On Life will travel to the Lethaby Gallery, Central Saint Martins in London (29 January to 29 February 2015), and Heidelberg University Museum (16 March to 28 April 2015).

An important part of the exhibition is the documentary Meetings of Minds, witnessing the various stages of the collaboration between the artists and scientists.

A symposium will be held at the MAXXI Museo delle Arti del XXI Secolo on the 10 July, followed by the screening of Meetings of Minds.