The Valley Chronicle - ‘Life Meets Life!’ at MSJCng

Art gallery: The Collision of Art and Biology

[caption id="attachment_15927" align="alignright" width="384"] MSJC Art Gallery
This detail photo of a sculpture, titled “Octopus,” by Mt. San Jacinto College student Mya Correa gives a glimpse of the type of art that will be showcased in the “Life Meets Life!” exhibit running through Feb. 28 at the MSJC Art Gallery on the San Jacinto Campus.[/caption] ■ MT. SAN JACINTO COLLEGE / Contributed From Jan. 22 to Feb. 28, the MSJC Art Gallery will be presenting an art and science exhibit to the public Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The exhibit will be located at 1499 North State Street Building 1400 in San Jacinto. On Thursday, Feb. 7, there will be a Curators Tour and Reception from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. The MSJC Art Gallery is ready to present “Life Meets Life! The Collision of Art and Biology,” curated by Michael Plotkin (Biological Sciences Chair) and John Knuth (Art Chair and gallery curator). This exhibition represents a collaboration of departments, disciplines and ideas. As art and science writer Johanna Kieniewicz stated, “Science and art are both ‘tools’ with which to explore our world, and understand what it means to be human.” Leonardo da Vinci painted arguably the most famous painting in the world, “The Mona Lisa.” Around the same time he was creating this masterpiece, he was designing the first parachute, sketching designs for a helicopter, working on a deep-sea diving suit, and studying anatomy. It wasn’t so long ago that science and art walked hand in hand through the halls of academia. Biology, in particular, and art overlap in that both profoundly contribute to our sense of who we are, orient us in time and space, and inform our sense of what it means to be alive. The show is intended to be a fun and humorous look at how our world functions. The exhibit will explore art and biology through various media including: painting, photography, sculpture, taste, and touch. MSJC hopes “Life Meets Life!” will encourage others to explore and unlock two departments, one of the biological and one of the artistic. The art is intended to help everyone find cracks and slippages that lead to new thoughts and new possibilities. The show leads to free thinking and big ideas. As noted contemporary artist Joseph Beyes said, “Art for me is the science of freedom.”