Morbid Anatomy Speaking at "Seize the Day," A Special Day of the Dead Inspired Program at The Wellcome Collection, London, November 2, 7 PM

For those in London and environs: I would love to see you next month at "Seize the Day," a special Day of the Dead inspired program taking place at my all-time favorite institution, The Wellcome Collection, on the evening of Friday, November 2. I will be giving an illustrated talk as part of the wonderful-looking evenings line-up that will also include drinking, dancing, and general death-related merriment.

Full details follow; hope very much to raise a glass with you there!

Seize the Day
02 November 2012, 19.00 - 23.00
The Wellcome Collection
183 Euston Road, London NW1 2BE

Experience a brush with death at our special Friday-night late, and explore what death has to tell us about life. If you knew you were going to die tomorrow, what would you choose to do today? How would you like to be remembered after you die? And what would you like to achieve before you go? Ponder these questions while enjoying stimulating talks, enchanting stories from around the world and activities throughout the galleries. Enjoy a drink while listening to a Dixieland jazz band. Decorate a coffin, pick up some dance steps in our special ‘Last Dance’ class and design your ideal fantasy funeral. Join us to embrace the inevitability of death and celebrate while we still can!

Featuring:

•  Joanna Ebenstein, founder of the Morbid Anatomy blog and library, on facing up to death through art

•  David Spiegelhalter, Winton Professor for the Public Understanding of Risk, University of Cambridge, on the statistics of death

•  Frank Swain, author of ‘Zombology: The new science of zombies, reanimation and mind control’ on science’s investigations into the final frontier

•  Activities in the galleries from The Natural Death Centre

•  New Orleans jazz funeral tunes from the Silk Street Jazz band

•  Stories of God, the Devil and Death from the Crick Crack Club

•  Tea dance classes from former dancer and teacher Glen Snowden

•  ‘Immortal Dream’ from Contemporary Vintage.

This event is free, so drop in any time. Talks are ticketed and tickets will be available on the night. 

You can find out more about this event here.

Image: Memento Mori, Andrea Previtali, 1502; Museo Poldi Pezzoli, Milan ; sourced here.

Morbid Anatomy Library: One of the "7 Grossest Wonders of the USA," According to CNN

Thanks to good friend and genius writer Richard Faulk--author of the unfortunately named but no less wonderful Gross America--The Morbid Anatomy Library has just been awarded the dubious honor of being voted one of the top 7 "Grossest Wonders of the USA" on CNN.

You can read Mr. Faulk's entire list, and his entry on The Morbid Anatomy Library, by clicking here. You can find out more about the elegantly and eruditely written book--and even buy a copy of your own!--by clicking here.

To find out more about the library, click here; for those curious to see this "weird art and antique medicine cum gallery and lecture space [which] hosts occasional classes in anthropmorphic taxidermy," please stop by open hours this Sunday, 1-6. More on that here.

Ode to Anatomical Waxworks at I09

The website I09 just published a very nice ode to all things Anatomical Wax, drawing heavily from the Morbid Anatomy Archives; Highly recommended! Check it out by clicking here; all images drawn from that post.

Care and Conservation of Early 19th Century Wax Anatomical Models

If you are interested in knowing more about anatomical waxes, you could do worse than to check out today's entry, "Waxing Lyrical," on The Science Museum's "Stories from the Stores" blog to read conservator Emily Yates' account of cleaning this circa 1818 Italian wax by by Francesco Calenzuoli for the wonderful looking exhibition Doctors, Dissection and Resurrection Men at the Museum of London, running until 14 April 2013. 

You can find out more about this particular piece by clicking here; click on images to see much larger, finer versions. Caption reads: This anatomical wax model shows the internal organs, the heart is entirely removable, made by Francesco Calenzuoli (1796-1821) ( Science Museum, London )

Morbid Anatomy Library Open Hours This Sunday, October 21, From 1-6

This Sunday, October 21, the Morbid Anatomy Library (seen above) will be hosting open, no-appointment-necessary drop in hours from 1 to 6. So feel free to drop in for a perusal of the stacks and and rifling through the drawers.

For more about the Morbid Anatomy Library and for directions and other such information, click here.

Photo of The Library by Shannon Taggart

Ars Moriendi (The Art of Dying), Loreto Prague, Through November 30th

Exciting exhibition alert; I am severely tempted to try to make it here before it closes...

ARS MORIENDI
Loreto Prague, Loretánské nám.7,  118 00 Praha 1 – Hradčany
Exhibition extended until 30th November.

The aim of the exhibition is, above all, to introduce to the public the hitherto unknown space of the crypt for benefactors beneath the church of the Nativity of Our Lord. A fascinating discovery in the crypt revealed unique Baroque mural paintings depicting motifs of Death and Resurrection – allegories of Time, symbols of fragility and transience of human existence. These frescos of exceptional quality were created in 1664 by the means of the special technique of chiaroscuro – employing exclusively the shades of black and grey. The work of their author, perhaps a Capuchin order painter, was derived from the Flemish and Dutch prints and was commissioned by the then patroness of Loreto, Countess Elisabeth Apollonia of Kolowrat. The main scene depicting the Raising of Lazarus was based on the famous etching by Rembrandt, which later inspired numerous artists across the centuries, including Van Gogh – the Loreto fresco is remarkable because it is a very early reaction to Rembrandt’s work created while he was still alive...

... Part of the presentation will be dedicated to other interesting exhibits associated with the burial practices in Loreto – for example the unknown ground plan of the Lobkowicz crypt of patrons beneath Santa Casa, design of Castrum Doloris created in 1698 for the burial of the Count Václav Ferdinand of Lobkowicz, collection of the Baroque funerary textiles or several reliquary crosses which were part of the Loreto treasure and had not yet been exhibited.

The exhibition will also introduce the customs related to burying in the Capuchin order crypts. Borrowed for this occasion from the Brno crypt were Baroque coffin lids with painted decoration, portraits and coats of arms of selected donors who sought their final resting place with the Capuchins. The perception of the order spirituality of Franciscan observance in the funerary sphere is broadened by the presentation of two Baroque Franciscan convent mortuaries.

It rarely happens that an entirely unknown monument in the centre of Prague is discovered. The Loreto exhibition offers an opportunity to get more closely acquainted with the impressive crypt space decorated with unique paintings and with the Baroque ARS MORIENDI – The Art of Dying – the inner grasp of the end of human existence as a gate to eternal life.

You can find out more here. Thanks so much to Pam Grossman for letting me know about this!

Santa Muerte, San la Muerte and The Fascinating History of Death Personified in Latin America

I took the photos you see above over a series of trips to Los Angeles to document the fascinating phenomonon of Santa Muerte, a sacred figure worshipped as part of the larger pantheon of Catholic saints in Mexico and now also, with the wave of Mexican migrants, in the United States as well. Thought to have its roots in a syncretism of the beliefs of the native Latin Americans and the colonizing Spanish Catholics, the name literally means "Holy Death" or "Saint Death," and she--also fondly referred to as "The Skinny Lady--tends to be worshipped by disenfranchised members of society such as criminals, prostitutes, transvestites, the very poor, and other people for whom conventional Catholicism has not provided a better or safer life.

Doing some research into the matter, I recently stumbled upon Frank Graziano's Cultures of Devotion: Folk Saints of Spanish America, which offers fascinating insight into the genesis of both Santa Muerte and the very similar San La Muerte tradition, which developed independently from a similar native/Catholic syncretism in other areas of Latin America; I also would give anything to see one of the bizarre theatrical productions described below:

In the Jesuit missions, the publication of many books included, in 1705, a translation of Juan Eusebio Nieremberg's De la Diferencia Entre lo Temporal y Eterno. Among the engravings in the book was one of a triumphant personified death, holding a sickle (a variation on the scythe) in one and and an hourglass in the other. Death as a skeleton also appears in another image, which was likewise copied from a European original. 

These engravings document the presence of the Grim Reaper in the missions, but more important in folk culture were theatrical productions staged by the Jesuits for the Guaranís' religious instruction. The performances often included Christ's resurrection, with props of skulls and bones and with the Grim Reaper in the supporting cast for dramatization of Christ's triumph over death. Such performances contributed to fixing the personified image of death within a religious context. 

Almost all the artists in Jesuit missions were Guaranís who were trained by Europeans. These indigenous carvers of saints thought of their work more religiously than artistically: "Image-makers quite literally believed that they were making saints and gods." This observation is particularly suggestive in the context of San La Muerte, whose traditionalal carvers were likewise creating, not representing, a supernatural power. For the Guaraní mission artists, "The reality of things was not expressed by imitating their visual appearance, as in European art, but by capturing their essence." The imagery, including the image of death personified, was adopted from European traditions and then invested with this "essence." The carvings transcend mere representation and become empowered in themselves like amulets.

All of this also brings to mind the wonderful 18th century book La Portentosa Vida de la Muerte (The Astounding Life of Death); more on that here.

All photos you see above are from my trips to Los Angeles to document the Santa Muerta phenomenon; for more, click here to see my complete Flickr set.

Desperately Seeking Diableries or Phantasmagoria Slides in Hi-Resolution

Greetings, all. I am currently working on a project that requires hi-resolution images of Stereo-Diableries or Phantasmagoria slides. If anyone thinks they might be able to help, please email me at morbidanatomy@gmail.com. Thank you very much!

Image: Front and back lit Stereo-Diableries, found on the London Stereoscopic Company website; see more there by clicking here.

Morbid Anatomy Presents at Observatory: Upcoming Events, Parties, and Spectacles

Cocktails and "Gross America!" Morbid Anatomy Library Open Studios! Films that influenced the Quay Brothers! "Morbid Anatomy Compendium"--published in tandem with Strange Attractor Press--" Fundraising and launch Party! Insect Shadowboxes for Halloween! Sugar skull workshop! Day of the Dead Costume Party with tequila, traditional altar, Aztec dances and our annual Lady Death Piñata! Macabre New York! Mark Pilkington of Strange Attractor Press on the abuses of enchantment an occult British music! Morbid Anatomy presents for the upcoming week and beyond:

"Gross America" Book Launch PartyAn Illustrated Lecture and Book Signing with Richard Faulk, with Music and Cocktails by Friese Undine
Date: **** Thursday, October 11 (NOTE DATE CHANGE)
Time: 8:00
Admission: $5
Produced by Morbid Anatomy
*** Copies of Gross America will be available for sale and signing

Don’t judge a book by its cover. And don’t judge this collection of American oddities solely by their gross exterior. With wit and insight backed up by meticulous research, Gross America, the debut book by genial polymath Richard Faulk, takes you places you thought you never wanted to see, to unearth stories you’d never imagined.

What is Gross America?
Gross America is toothsome concoction of science and nature trivia, served with a side of sagacity and wit, and delivered in an irresistibly putrescent bundle.

No, really: What is Gross America?
Ok, it’s a travel guide to the grossest sites our 50 states have to offer. Sniff out the chemical secrets of the celebrated “sperm tree” of Los Angeles; gaze into the innards of North America’s sole surviving anatomical Venus; thumb the pages of a prison memoir bound in the memoirist’s own skin; or sneak a peek into the chamber pot used by the real-life Uncle Sam.

And those are just a fraction of the potential verb-object parings made possible by this nasty little book.

On top of being a sheer joy to read (he wrote modestly), Gross America offers an introduction to the wild nature of our 50 states and a window into some of the more perplexing moments of science, past and present. It will answer questions you might never have realized you had, and change the way you think about things you never wanted to think about in the first place.

You may never look at toxic waste the same way again.

Why should I come to the release party?
Well, at the very least, you’ll probably get drunk. There will be music, too. There will also be a discussion, and you will be able to ask the author impertinent questions about his book, and you will become intrigued enough to buy it. Which you will also be able to do.

RICHARD FAULK is a writer, editor, and Observatory habitué. A onetime time-travel columnist and occasional education reporter, he has also written about Vikings for Australian tweens, covered academic conferences for Columbia University, and celebrated the films of Pam Grier in Penthouse. He now lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he thinks deeply about trivial matters.

Image: Model from The Monroe Moosnick Medical and Science Museum, Transylvania University in Lexington, KY; by Merkin J. Pus-Tart, Kingdom of Fife blog.
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Morbid Anatomy Library Open StudiosDates: Saturday October 13 and Sunday October 14
Time: 12-6
Admission: FREE
Produced by Morbid Anatomy

This weekend, October 13th and 14th, please join the Morbid Anatomy Library as we join dozens of other Gowanus-based galleries and artist studios in opening our spaces to the public for the Gowanus Artists Studio Tour, or "A.G.A.S.T."
So stop by, peruse the stacks, take a gander at the human articulated skeleton, and join us for a glass (or 3) of cheap red wine.

Directions: Enter the Morbid Anatomy Library and Observatory via Proteus Gowanus GalleryR or M train to Union Street in Brooklyn: Walk two long blocks on Union (towards the Gowanus Canal) to Nevins Street. 543 Union Street is the large red brick building on right. Go right on Nevins and left down alley through large black gates. Gallery is the second door on the left.

F or G train to Carroll Street: Walk one block to Union. Turn right, walk two long blocks on Union towards the Gowanus Canal, cross the bridge, take left on Nevins, go down the alley to the second door on the left.

You can find out more information about A.G.A.S.T., and get a full list of participants, by clicking here. You can find out more about Observatory and the exhibition now on view by clicking here.

Photo of The Morbid Anatomy Library by Shannon Taggart.

And in the weeks and months to come:

• October 16: “Bunny Suits of Death, Tales of a CSI”:  An Illustrated Lecture with Forensic Investigator and Author Laura Merz
• October 18: Influences and Affinities: Animated Shorts the Quay Brothers May Have Watched: A collection of short animated films curated by SVA’s Thyrza Nichols Goodeve 
• October 26: “The Morbid Anatomy Compendium:” Fundraiser/Launch and Save the Date
• October 27: Anthropomorphic Insect Shadowbox Workshop: Special Halloween Edition, with Former AMNH Senior Insect Preparator Daisy Tainton 
• October 29: Sugar Skull Decorating Workshop and Lecture: El Dia de los Muertos in Context — How the Day of the Dead Exemplifies the Greater Culture of Death in Mexico: Lecture and workshop with Dru Munell 
• November 3: Observatory Annual Day of the Dead/Halloween Party
• November 8: A Dark Day in New York: Dispatches from The New York Grimpendium: Lecture and launch party for book of death-related sites and artifacts in New York, with J.W. Ocker
• November 13: The Abuses of Enchantment: Illustrated Lecture and Book Signing with Mark Pilkington, Author of “Mirage Men: An Adventure into Disinformation, Paranoia and UFOs” 
• November 19: From the Akashic Jukebox: Magic and Music in Britain, 1888-1978: Illustrated Lecture and Rare British Occult Recordings with Mark Pilkington of Strange Attractor Press

 More here.

Morbid Anatomy Library and Observatory, Open Studios, Next Weekend, October 13-14, 12-6

Next weekend, October 13th and 14th, please join the Morbid Anatomy Library and Observatory as we join dozens of other Gowanus-based galleries and artist studios in opening our spaces to the public for the Gowanus Artists Studio Tour, or "A.G.A.S.T."

So stop by to say hello, peruse the stacks, take a gander at the skeleton, join us in a glass of cheap red wine, and take in some "spirit art!"

Following are the full details: Hope very much to see you there.

Gowanus Artists Studio Tour (A.G.A.S.T.)
Saturday October 13th and Sunday October 14th 12-6
543 Union Street at Nevins, Brooklyn
Free and Open to the Public

Directions: Enter the Morbid Anatomy Library and Observatory via Proteus Gowanus Gallery

R or M train to Union Street in Brooklyn: Walk two long blocks on Union (towards the Gowanus Canal) to Nevins Street. 543 Union Street is the large red brick building on right. Go right on Nevins and left down alley through large black gates. Gallery is the second door on the left.

F or G train to Carroll Street: Walk one block to Union. Turn right, walk two long blocks on Union towards the Gowanus Canal, cross the bridge, take left on Nevins, go down the alley to the second door on the left.

You can find out more information about A.G.A.S.T., and get a full list of participants, by clicking here. You can find out more about Observatory and the exhibition now on view by clicking here.

Photo of The Morbid Anatomy Library by Shannon Taggart.

"Wellcome's Collectors," Ross MacFarlane, The Royal Society, London. November 2nd

Oh, if only I were still in London... The inimitable Ross MacFarlane, genius moderator of last month's Congress for Curious Peoples, London edition on Henry Wellcome's collectors, at The Royal Society, London, on November 2:

Wellcome's Collectors 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm on Friday 02 November 2012
at The Royal Society, London
History of science lecture by Ross MacFarlane.

Event details
Ross MacFarlane is Academic Engagement Officer at the Wellcome Library, London.
Pharmacist, philanthropist – and Fellow of the Royal Society – Sir Henry Wellcome is now widely recognised as one of the most acquisitive of collectors during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. But Wellcome’s collection of historical objects was not the work of one man acting alone. This talk will aim to bring forth from the shadows of his store rooms the men and women who bid, bought, and collected in Wellcome’s name. 

Attending this event
This event is free to attend and open to all. No tickets are required. Doors open at 12:30pm and seats will be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis.
Recorded audio will be available on this page a few days afterwards.
Enquiries: Contact the events team.

This event is free and open to the public. To find out more, click here.

Image: Photograph of Wellcome Museum staff with artefacts (Wellcome Library, London)

Ectoplasm, "Spirit Art," and Mars in the Edwardian Imagination: A Series of Events at Observatory Curated by Photographer Shannon Taggart

I am very excited to announce a series of spiritualist themed events produced by my good friend, newest Observatory member, and extremely talented photographer Shannon Taggart. All the events are based around her current Observatory exhibition, The Spirit Art of Stanley Matrunick.

Full details follow; hope to see there!

The Spirit Art of Stanley Matrunick Viewing Event 

Sunday, October 14 - 2pm - 5pm 

Join us for a viewing event during Gowanus Open Studios Weekend. Music and Drinks! The Morbid Anatomy Library will be open also!

About the Exhibit: Stanley Matrunick (1906 – 1995) was a medium and Spiritualist minister who channeled portraits of Ascended Masters, guardians and loved ones from the other side. With the help of spirit guides, Rev. Stanley began creating spirit art in 1954 at the White Lily Chapel in Ashley, Ohio. He was then led to travel across the United States for 40 years doing portraits and readings. His work was often featured on television, radio and in print.  The art presented here is from the private collection of Ron Nagy, historian of Lily Dale, NY, the world’s largest Spiritualist community. Also included are materials about Stanley Matrunick provided by his former student, Sakina Blue –Star of Sedona, Arizona.  

About the Curator: Shannon Taggart is a photographer based in Brooklyn and a member of Observatory. Since 2001, she has been working on a project about Modern Spiritualism. Her images have appeared in publications including Blind Spot, Tokion, TIME and The New York Times Magazine. Her photographs have been shown at Photoworks in Brighton, England, The Photographic Resource Center in Boston, Redux Pictures in New York, the Stephen Cohen Gallery in Los Angeles and the New Gallery in Houston.

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A History of Ectoplasm: An Illustrated Presentation by Shannon Taggart
Date: Thursday, October 25th

Time: 8pm

Admission: $10

Presented by: Shannon Taggart 

Why Ectoplasm? - Harry Houdini famously wondered this in his scathing critique of Spiritualism. Since it’s first appearances in Victorian era séance rooms, this mysterious substance has continued to seduce, disgust and intrigue believers and skeptics alike. This presentation will consider some of the complicated situations in which ectoplasm played a provocative role including the work of Baron von Schrenck-Notzing, the documentation of the Goligher Circle and the infamous case of Margery the Medium. Shannon Taggart’s images that address the current pursuit of ectoplasm within Modern Spiritualism will also be discussed. This lecture is part of a series that seeks to explore the intrinsic connection between Spiritualism and Photography. 

Shannon Taggart is a photographer based in Brooklyn and a member of Observatory. Her images have appeared in various publications including Blind Spot, Tokion, TIME and The New York Times Magazine. Her work has been recognized by the Inge Morath Foundation, American Photography, the International Photography Awards, the Society for News and Design, Photo District News and the Alexia Foundation for World Peace. Her photographs have been shown at Photoworks in Brighton, England, The Photographic Resource Center in Boston, Redux Pictures in New York, the Stephen Cohen Gallery in Los Angeles and the New Gallery in Houston.   

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Are We Alone? Planet Mars in the Edwardian Visual and Scientific Imagination, An illustrated lecture with author Jennifer Tucker

Date: Saturday, October 27 

Time: 8pm 

Admission: $10 

Presented by: Shannon Taggart  

Astronomers, religious leaders, and members of the lay public had speculated about the possibility of life on other planets for hundreds of years before the first “proof” appeared, in May 1905, in the first successful photographs of Mars. Newspapers and magazines swiftly published reproductions of the photographs, made by the amateur planetary astronomer and wealthy businessman Percival Lowell, with accompanying descriptions of the “canals” of Mars and its imagined inhabitants. This illustrated talk shows how the intersection of science with new forms of observation and journalistic image display in the late 19^th and early 20^th century galvanized public interest in Mars, and how “Mars Mania” intersected and interacted with key trends and figures in art, journalism, spiritualism, astronomy, evolutionary science, and politics during a period that, noted the British writer H.G. Wells, was fascinated by the idea that “There are certain features in which [Martians] are likely to resemble us.” 

Jennifer Tucker is a historian of science and technology specializing in the study of visual representation, gender, science, and popular knowledge in Victorian England. She is the author of Nature Exposed:  Photography as Eyewitness in Victorian Science (2006) and editor of a special issue of History and Theory on “Photography and Historical Interpretation, “ as well as articles about the visual representation of science and technology in Victorian England. She is finishing a book about the photos and other visual representations that circulated across the wide social spectrum of Victorian society during the most famous legal case of imposture in modern Britain.

You can find out more by clicking here.

"Permit Bearer to Go to Hell and Return Unharmed": Coney Island Ticket Stub or Souvenir for Darkness and Dawn Cosmorama, Early 20th Century?

Seller's Description:
This is a souvenir of a visit to a Coney Island Bowery amusement called Darkness and Dawn. It was a Cyclorama, and had been created for an exposition in Omaha, Nebraska in 1898. It was brought to the Coney Island Bowery at the turn of the century. The souvenir is card stock, in the shape of a coffin, and has a skull and crossbones illustration at top. It also has a quote from "The Devil." The same image and text is printed on both sides (shown). The attraction on the Bowery was destroyed by fire in 1903, and was rebuilt for Luna Park several years later.

Via the wonderful Anonymous Works blog.

"Ecstatic Raptures and Immaculate Corpses: Visions of Death Made Beautiful in Italy" Exhibition, Final Open Hours TOMORROW, Saturday October 6, Noon-7 PM

Tomorrow--Saturday, October 6--is your last chance to check out "Ecstatic Raptures and Immaculate Corpses: Visions of Death Made Beautiful in Italy," an exhibition featuring photographs by myself (some of which can be seen above) and waxworks by artists Eleanor Crook and Sigrid Sarda, on view at The Last Tuesday Society, 11 Mare Street, London All photographs and waxworks are for sale, and quite affordable, if I do say!

The exhibition will be view from Noon until 7:00 PM. Also on view will be the wonderful collection of taxidermy, naturalia, erotica, books and curiosities which comprises the spectacular Last Tuesday Society Giftshop.

Well worth a trip, I promise! Full details follow.

Ecstatic Raptures and Immaculate Corpses: Visions of Death Made Beautiful in Italy
An exhibition of photographs by Joanna Ebenstein of the Morbid Anatomy Blog, The Morbid Anatomy Library and Observatory with waxworks by Eleanor Crook and Sigrid Sarda.
Date: TOMORROW: Saturday, October 6
Time: Noon-7:00 PM
Location: The Last Tuesday Society, 11 Mare Street, London, E8 4RP

In her many projects, ranging from photography to curation to writing, New York based Joanna Ebenstein utilizes a combination of art and scholarship to tease out the ways in which the pre-rational roots of modernity are sublimated into ostensibly "purely rational" cultural activities such as science and medicine.Much of her work uses this approach to investigate historical moments or artifacts where art and science, death and beauty, spectacle and edification, faith and empiricism meet in ways that trouble contemporary categorical expectations.In the exhibition "Ecstatic Raptures and Immaculate Corpses" Ebenstein turns this approach to an examination of the uncanny and powerfully resonant representations of the dead, martyred, and anatomized body in Italy, monuments to humankind's quest to eternally preserve the corporeal body and defeat death in arenas sacred and profane.The artifacts she finds in both the churches, charnel houeses and anatomical museums of Italy complicate our ideas of the proper roles of--and divisions between--science and religion, death and beauty; art and science; eros and thanatos; sacred and profane; body and soul.

In this exhibition, you will be introduced to tantalizing visions of death made beautiful, uncanny monuments to the human dream of life eternal. You will meet "Blessed Ismelda Lambertini," an adolescent who fell into a fatal swoon of overwhelming joy at the moment of her first communion with Jesus Christ, now commemorated in a chillingly beautiful wax effigy in a Bolognese church; The Slashed Beauty, swooning with a grace at once spiritual and worldly as she makes a solemn offering of her immaculate viscera; Saint Vittoria, with slashed neck and golden ringlets, her waxen form reliquary to her own powerful bones; and the magnificent and troubling Anatomical Venuses, rapturously ecstatic life-sized wax women reclining voluptuously on silk and velvet cushions, asleep in their crystal coffins, awaiting animation by inquisitive hands eager to dissect them into their dozens of demountable, exactingly anatomically correct, wax parts.

Joanna Ebenstein: New York based visual artist and independent scholar Joanna Ebenstein runs the popular Morbid Anatomy Blog and the related Morbid Anatomy Library, where her privately held collection of books, art, artifacts, and curiosities are made available by appointment.

For the past 5 years, she has traveled the world, seeking out the most curious, obscure and macabre collections, public and private, front stage and back, and sharing her findings via her the Morbid Anatomy Blog as well as a variety of exhibitions including  Anatomical Theatre, a photographic survey of artifacts of great medical museums of the Western World; The Secret Museum, a photographic exhibition exploring the poetics of collections private and public, front stage and back.

Other exhibitions using history as their muse include Savior of Mothers: The Forgotten Ballet of Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis  at the Center for Disease Control Museum and The Great Coney Island Spectacularium, an immersive investigation into the often bizarre spectacles of turn of the 20th century Coney Island at The Coney Island Museum.

She is the founding member of Observatory--a gallery and lecture space in Brooklyn, New York--and annual co-curator of The Congress for Curious Peoples, a 10-day series of lectures and performances investigating curiosity and curiosities, broadly considered and taking place at the Coney Island Museum.

Her work has been shown and published internationally, and she has lectured at museums and conferences around the world.

You can find out more about the show here, and view more images by clicking here.

Nevada Rose: Inside the American Brothel: Illustrated Lecture and Book Signing with Photographer Marc McAndrews: Tomorrow, October 4, at Observatory

Tomorrow night at Observatory! Hope to see you there!  

Nevada Rose: Inside the American Brothel: Illustrated Lecture and Book Signing with Photographer Marc McAndrews,  Nevada Rose: Inside the American Brothel
Date: TOMORROW, Thursday, October 4
Time: 8:00
Admission: $5
Produced by Morbid Anatomy

“…the themes are more prosaic than one might expect from a book about sex as industry, and they’re profoundly American. With “Nevada Rose,” Mr. McAndrews presents a story about work, commerce, capitalism and community. Mr. McAndrews was as interested in the landscape, the spaces, the mundane, the untouchables and staff members — as he was in the kinky and the taboo.”
– New York Times

Photographer Marc McAndrews spent five years living in and photographing "the landscape, the spaces, the mundane, the untouchables and staff members" of every legal brothel in the state of Nevada. One hundred and eighty nine of these stunning photographs, ranging in content from the prosaic to the sensational, are featured in his new book Nevada Rose: Inside the American Brothel.

Tonight, we invite you to join Mr. McAndrews for an illustrated lecture in which he will show many of these fabulous photographs, and share the stories behind them: what was it like living and working inside the Nevada brothels, how did he get access for the first time and what were his interactions like with the women, owners and customers. Books will also be available for sale and signing.

Marc McAndrews grew up in Reading, Pa. He received his BFA from the School of Visual Arts in 1998. Marc’s love of photography began when he received his first Polaroid camera from his Grandmother when he was 5 years old and he immediately began using it as a means of distraction during his family’s long drives on vacation every year. Photography and long car rides would become themes in Marc’s life. After returning from living and working in Europe, Marc began traveling the country, concentrating on photographing and documenting American culture. It was through these travels that Marc began his book project, Nevada Rose which captures the places and personalities of Nevada’s legal brothels. His work has been seen in the New York Times and magazines such as Interview, Time, Stern, D Magazine, The Observer, Inc., Exit, Fortune Small Business, Marie Claire South Africa and many others. Marc was a recipient of the Magenta Art Foundation’s 2006 “Flash Forward” award. Nevada Rose was nominated for the 2009 NY Photo Awards and was an official selection for the 2009 and 2011 Lucie Awards. His series “JROTC” and “Girl Scouts” (part of the larger “American Youth” project) were official selections for the 2009 and 2011 Lucie Awards. He’s lectured at The New School, Sarah Lawrence, New York’s International Center for Photography, Rutgers University, St. Mark’s Bookshop, The Museum of Sex and many other places His first monograph, Nevada Rose, was published by Umbrage Editions May 2011.

You can find out more about this event by clicking here.

Apologies for Scant Blogging AND Seville, Spain: Packed with Tormented Souls in Purgatory, Mortally Wounded-Christs, Holy Week Processions and Madonna Dolorosas

Greetings, all. My apologies for being such a abysmal blogger this month. As many of you already know, I spent the entirety of last month in London, completing a residency at the fantastic Last Tuesday Society; I also took advantage of my geographical location to take a few mini trips to places like Berlin, Budapest, and Seville. Above are a few of my photos from wonderful souls in purgatory, wounded-Christ, holy week procession and Madonna Dolorosa-packed Seville. You can see the complete set by clicking here.

More to come soon, I promise!