For Immediate Release
For more information, contact:Todd Schuetz(847) 384-4032 [email protected]
Joanne L. Swanson(847) 384-4035 [email protected]
A.J. Wright(847) 384-4034 [email protected]
Exhibit of patient and physician art expresses personal stories of the impact of orthopaedic conditions
Expressing feelings through art is an important therapeutic activity to millions of people, but art's ability to tell a story and evoke a deep reaction is just as significant to millions more.
The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons will host a juried art exhibition in San Francisco February 19 through March 20, 2001, titled eMotion Pictures: An Exhibition of Orthopaedics in Art. Admission is free. The exhibit will raise awareness of the magnitude of musculoskeletal conditions and celebrate the Bone and Joint Decade (2000-2010).
Featuring 132 artists from 10 countries and 31 states, the 166-piece exhibition will showcase the artwork of orthopaedic surgeons, patients and children, all of whom have had an orthopaedic condition touch their lives. Such conditions include arthritis, osteoporosis, amputation, scoliosis, cerebral palsy, spina bifida, foot pain, and back pain.
Artists reflect in their work personal emotion, be it hope, freedom, strength, pain, anger, frustration, wellness or independence. Orthopaedic surgeons' artwork illustrates the patient/physician partnership, compassion, the art of healing, and how they feel about making a difference in people's lives.
A jury of art professionals including David Ross, director of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; John Killacky, executive director of the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts; and Joseph McCullough, president emeritus of the Cleveland Institute of Art reviewed the work.
A personal narrative will be featured with each piece, describing the artist's relationship to the work. Media used include painting, drawing, prints, photography, sculpture, ceramics, textiles, crafts, functional art and mixed media.
Several major guest artists will be featured in eMotion Pictures, including contemporary master Yaacov Agam, the pioneer of the kinetic art movement. He is a legend in his field of constantly moving and visually changing works of graphic art. The art reflects the importance of movement, which is especially relevant since Agam is a hip replacement patient.
Dan Keplinger, writer and subject of the Oscar-winning film short, "King Gimp," will also have paintings exhibited. Keplinger, an artist born with cerebral palsy, paints using a brush attached to special headgear. His dark, vivid paintings range from self-portraits to landscapes to depictions of well-known musicians.
Joining them are Karyl Sisson, award-winning Los Angeles fiber and craft artist whose work is in the Renwick Gallery of the National Museum of Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC.
She has exhibited throughout the world. Sisson uses objects that make up the fabric of women's lives to create her art. Her work in eMotion Pictures expresses her feelings about osteopenia, a condition characterized by reduced bone mass.
New York's Laura Ferguson, whose work is housed in private collections in the U.S., Great Britain and Latin America, incorporates new imaging technologies in her paintings and drawings, including images of her own skeleton, to share her experience with scoliosis.
Award-winning sculptor and painter, Ruth Snyder of Los Angeles, uses artwork to depict bones and reflect her feelings about osteoporosis and the hip and spine fractures she has overcome.
Musculoskeletal conditions have an enormous impact on society, according to the Academy. More than half of all injuries reported in the United States are to the musculoskeletal system. Worldwide, orthopaedic conditions are the most common cause of physical disability and severe long-term pain. Today, one out of every seven people in the U.S. has a musculoskeletal condition.
The Academy will hold eMotion Pictures: An Exhibition of Orthopaedics in Art at the Herbst International Exhibition Hall at the San Francisco Presidio, 385 Moraga Avenue, opening February 19 through March 20, 2001. Support for the exhibition provided in part by educational grants from these orthopaedics industry partners: Medtronic Sofamor Danek; Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories; Zimmer, Inc.; and Smith & Nephew.
The 24,500-member American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (www.aaos.org) or (http://orthoinfo.aaos.org), is a not-for-profit organization that provides education programs for orthopaedic surgeons, allied health professionals and the public.
An advocate for improved patient care, the Academy is participating in the Bone and Joint Decade (www.bonejointdecade.org), the global initiative in the years 2000-2010 to raise awareness of musculoskeletal health, stimulate research and improve people's quality of life.
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