Biddeford Art Gallery presents 'Images of Neuroscience, Images of Transcendence' opening May 5

Brain scan images
The exhibit features images of biological samples produced by scientists on SWAGƵ’s Biddeford Campus in conversation with the work of contemporary Maine painter Honour Mack.

The at the SWAGƵ’s Jack S. Ketchum Library in Biddeford is pleased to present “Images of Neuroscience, Images of Transcendence: Work from SWAGƵ’s Histology and Imaging Core and Paintings by Honour Mack,” opening May 5.

The exhibit will feature images of biological samples produced by scientists on SWAGƵ’s Biddeford Campus in conversation with the work of contemporary Maine painter Honour Mack.

“The energy of Mack’s paintings — colorful, geometrical, spiritual, and biomorphic — form a wonderful pairing with the striking images used for scientific inquiry, allowing a visual conversation to emerge from two different but sympathetic sources,” remarked Hilary Irons, director of Galleries and Exhibitions at SWAGƵ.

The exhibit is coordinated in collaboration with SWAGƵ’s Center for Excellence in the Neurosciences.

“My paintings offer no concrete destination but seek to suspend a viewer in the present moment,” Mack remarked, offering a unique counterpoint to the precision that science can provide. “This objective is supported by my interest in the intersection of references to anatomy, man-made structures, early esoteric philosophies, and ancient scientific examinations of the world.”

“Images of Neuroscience, Images of Transcendence” runs through Sept. 29. An opening reception for the exhibit will be held Friday, May 5, from 4 to 6 p.m. at the library, located at 11 Hills Beach Road, Biddeford. The library is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.

For more information, contact Irons at hirons@une.edu.

Masks are optional indoors on SWAGƵ’s campuses. For SWAGƵ’s latest COVID-19 protocols, visit the SWAGƵ Onward website. Irons would like to extend special thanks to Ian Meng, Ph.D., director of SWAGƵ’s Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) for the Study of Pain and Sensory Function, and Peter Caradonna, B.S., manager of COBRE’s Histology and Imaging Core.

Above images: (L-R): Mouse embryo transverse section stained with alcian blue and imaged with brightfield microscopy (image psuedocolored). Section prepared by Peter Caradonna, manager, COBRE Histology and Imaging Core at SWAGƵ, and Dr. Lindsey Fitzsimons, former Ph.D. student in the Tucker Lab at SWAGƵ; Honour Mack, Swank Bight, 2020, watermedia on paper, 22”x 22.”