NGF News

Saturday, October 28, 2006

Scar Art
Richmond Times

NEW EXHIBIT: Few people consider scars worthy of public exhibit or admiration.

The National Museum of Health and Medicine is out to change that. A new exhibit, "Scarred for Life," includes more than 30 images of scars - painted in shades of red, blue, orange and green - left by such varied experiences as heart surgery, liver replacement, eye- socket repair, a mastectomy and a bullet wound.

Los Angeles-based artist Ted Meyer said his nongory, almost abstract paintings were inspired by his own scars from Gaucher disease, a rare, inherited enzyme deficiency disorder, and his encounter with a woman scarred from a fall from a tree. He said there's an emotional value to viewing another's scars. All but one of the people whose scars are displayed asked to be part of the project, he said.

For more on the National Museum of Health and Medicine exhibit, go to www.nmhm.washingtondc.museum.