Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Arts & Culture
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Arts & Culture

SUArt Galleries Presents ‘Hidden Beauty: Exploring the Aesthetics Of Medical Science’

Monday, January 22, 2018, By Syracuse University Art Museum
Share

The Syracuse University Art Galleries is presenting “Hidden Beauty: Exploring the Aesthetics of Medical Science,” on view through March 9. Organized by Norman Barker of John Hopkins University and Dr. Christine Iacobuzio-Donahue of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, this exhibition features 50 photographic images captured at the microscopic level, created by medical professionals. This collaborative project by a scientist and an artist asks the reader to consider the aesthetics of human disease, both within and beyond the context of our preconceived social systems.

Petri dishes in many different colors

Norman Barker, Agar petri dishes, 2008

The exhibition is on view in the Shaffer Art Building. Gallery hours are Tuesday-Sunday, 11 a.m.-4:30 p.m.; and Thursdays 11 a.m.-8 p.m.  The gallery is closed on University holidays.  The SUArt Galleries will host a gallery reception from 5-7 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 1. Patrons are welcome to view the exhibition until the gallery closes at 8 p.m. The reception is free and open to the public.  A fully illustrated exhibition catalog will be available for sale in the Gallery Shop.

Exhibition Overview

Many have heard the phrase ”A picture is worth a thousand words.” This is no less true for images in medicine that are routinely used to diagnose disease. Images viewed by a radiologist relay critical information, such as the anatomy of internal organs or the presence of a lesion signifying disease. Those viewed by a pathologist indicate whether a tissue is normal or abnormal at the microscopic level, and if a tumor, whether it is benign or malignant.

Scientific images are equally informative and arguably are the most important component of a research study. These images allow simple visual representations of complex scientific datasets or illustrate how variations of an experimental condition can impact cellular behavior.

What is often not verbalized, or perhaps even realized, is how often medical and scientific images are pleasing to look at for their own inherent qualities. For example, colors are often used to highlight differences between normal and diseased tissues or to direct the reader’s attention to features of an image or experiment that are most important. However, the colors themselves and the patterns and shapes the colors form, can themselves be fascinating, even in the absence of knowledge of the underlying biology or pathology. Normal tissues are organized in extremely specific and reproducible ways, and in diseased tissues this organization is lost, leading to random and unique patterns that can be visually appealing. “Hidden Beauty” has amassed an impressive collection of such images. They can be appreciated by scientists and clinicians for the stories that they tell. But they can be equally appreciated by anyone for the sheer beauty they convey and the wonders of nature that they illustrate.

Related Programs

All programs are free and open to the public. For parking information, please visit parking.syr.edu

Gallery Tour of “Hidden Beauty” with Domenic Iacono, director of the SUArt Galleries
Wednesday, Feb. 14, 12: 15 p.m.

“The Wonder of the Scientific Image”
Guest Lecture by Norman Barker
Thursday, Feb. 22, 5:30 p.m.
106 Life Sciences Complex

“Can Scientific Photographs be Art?”
Guest Lecture by Norman Barker
Friday, Feb. 23, 12:15 p.m.
SUArt Galleries

About Syracuse University

Founded in 1870, Syracuse University is a private international research university dedicated to advancing knowledge and fostering student success through teaching excellence, rigorous scholarship and interdisciplinary research. Comprising 11 academic schools and colleges, the University has a long legacy of excellence in the liberal arts, sciences and professional disciplines that prepares students for the complex challenges and emerging opportunities of a rapidly changing world. Students enjoy the resources of a 270-acre main campus and extended campus venues in major national metropolitan hubs and across three continents. Syracuse’s student body is among the most diverse for an institution of its kind across multiple dimensions, and students typically represent all 50 states and more than 100 countries. Syracuse also has a long legacy of supporting veterans and is home to the nationally recognized Institute for Veterans and Military Families, the first university-based institute in the U.S. focused on addressing the unique needs of veterans and their families.

  • Author

Syracuse University Art Museum

  • Recent
  • Libraries Innovation Scholar Launches Utopia, a Transparent Beauty Brand
    Friday, June 6, 2025, By News Staff
  • Ian ’90 and Noah Eagle ’19 Share a Love of Sportscasting and Storytelling (Podcast)
    Thursday, June 5, 2025, By John Boccacino
  • Blackstone LaunchPad Founders Circle Welcomes New Members
    Thursday, June 5, 2025, By Cristina Hatem
  • Japan’s Crackdown on ‘Shiny’ Names Sparks Cultural Reflection
    Tuesday, June 3, 2025, By Keith Kobland
  • The Milton Legacy: Romance, Success and Giving Back
    Monday, June 2, 2025, By Eileen Korey

More In Arts & Culture

Syracuse Stage Concludes 2024-25 Season With ‘The National Pastime’

Syracuse Stage concludes its 2024-25 season with the world premiere production of “The National Pastime,” a provocative psychological thriller about state secrets, sonic weaponry, stolen baseball signs and the father and son relationship in the middle of it all. Written…

Syracuse Stage Hosts Inaugural Julie Lutz New Play Festival

Syracuse Stage is pleased to announce that the inaugural Julie Lutz New Play Festival will be held at the theatre this June. Formerly known as the Cold Read Festival of New Plays, the festival will feature a work-in-progress reading and…

Light Work Opens New Exhibitions

Light Work has two new exhibitions, “The Archive as Liberation” and “2025 Light Work Grants in Photography, that will run through Aug. 29. “The Archive as Liberation” The exhibition is on display in the Kathleen O. Ellis Gallery at Light…

Spelman College Glee Club to Perform at Return to Community: A Sunday Gospel Jazz Service June 29

As the grand finale of the 2025 Syracuse International Jazz Fest, the Spelman College Glee Club of Atlanta will perform at Hendricks Chapel on Sunday, June 29. The Spelman College Glee Club, now in its historic 100th year, is the…

Alumnus, Visiting Scholar Mosab Abu Toha G’23 Wins Pulitzer Prize for New Yorker Essays

Mosab Abu Toha G’23, a graduate of the M.F.A. program in creative writing in the College of Arts and Sciences and a current visiting scholar at Syracuse University, has been awarded the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for a series of essays…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • X
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2025 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.