Uwe B. Sleytr
"From Synthetic Biology to Art"
Opening: January 31, 2018
6 pm
From a young age, Uwe B. Sleytr has been fascinated by African art – especially masks. Today he uses mask-like sculptures to visualize the intersection between science and the arts – in particular the unpredictability and mystery of scientific visions.
The sculptures are modelled in clay and coated with gold. After baking, they are plated with leaf gold. In his sculptures, the changes in dimensions symbolize the non-predictable evolution of humans as a consequence of synthetic biology, in particular genome editing. To illustrate arbitrary events, he uses distorted images or spilling fluids on sculptures.
About the Artist
Uwe B. Sleytr studied Biotechnology at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna. He worked as a senior research scientist at the MRC-Laboratory and the Strangeways Research Laboratory, Cambridge, England. From 1982–2010 he was head of the Department of Nanobiotechnology at his alma mater. He received numerous awards and is a full member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences.
Find out more about the artist http://art-and-science.eu/
