FACE OFF: Skull-A-Day v. Street Anatomy Gallery Show at the IMSS

I attended the opening to this ongoing show on May 31st (Skull Appreciation Day!). It runs at the International Museum of Surgical Science in Chicago until August 25th. As I have mentioned in the past, this is a really cool location in its own right and has at least a painting and a statue devoted to skeptical hero Ignaz Semmelweis. Here he is telling med students to WASH THEIR DAMN HANDS after dissecting dead people when they were about to go deliver babies. He got fairly well ostracized for such nonsense, naturally.
Here is a trepanned skull that’s part of the permanent collection. I mean, how else do you suggest we remove the evil spirits??The show was a collaborative effort between Vanessa Ruiz of Street Anatomy and Noah Scalin of Skull-A-Day, meaning that there were individual pieces by artists featured on each blog, but also pieces with each half of a skull coming from two different artists. Talk about your creative curating! The poster for the show was just such a piece with a half from each curator.

Skulls are apparently the closest thing we have to a universal symbol. They are also what tempts me to spend entirely too much money on a scarf when Alexander McQueen accessories show up on Gilt (side note, the Amazing Randi’s walking stick looks to be a McQueen skull-topped one, so jealous). They are, of course, having a bit of a fashion heyday as of late, and not just for bikers, goths, Tim Burton, and pirates. Their orbital sockets are a natural vehicle for rhinestones or more precious gems. There is an undeniable appeal to the the sleek, menacing form; so of course this was a fantastic show.

The roster included Mike Egan, Tom French, Emilio Garcia, Ali Gulec, Joshua Harker, Meyoko, Nicholas Obery, Rx Skulls, Dan Springer, and Rob Tarbell. Here are some selected pieces, some by one artist, some by 2 “facing off.”

Joshua Parker’s 3D printed (!) Skulls: Crania Anatomica Filligris: argentum nero, Crania Revolutis: oro nero 2013

Melissa Murillo (Meyoko), Anacridium No. 1, 2011

Ali Gulec, Distorted Skull, 2009

Melissa Murillo (Meyoko) x Ali Gulec, Pomponia Imperatoria x Skull 4, 2013

Nicolas Obery x Rob Tarbell, Skull Shine x Pink and Smoking, 2013

Vanessa smashed a life-sized chocolate skull from Conjurer’s Kitchen so that we could all eat it like good little Aztec cannibals. Jamie, Beth and I took advantage of the audience participation portion of the show, where a table was set up with blank skull outlines of different sizes and all sorts of media to draw or make a collage with. Here is Beth working on hers:

And the finished result:

My collage, which resembles Mr. Zorg from The Fifth Element:

And Jamie’s collage!

There were prints from the artists and jewelry for sale, the jewelry maker was my friend and former classmate, Rachel Stork. Her line, Anatomical Element, is all organs in pendant and earring form. She had a frontal view of a skull in copper that is now one of my favorite pieces of jewelry. Check her out!

Photo Credits: Jamie Bernstein