Art at Dell Medical School

The democracy of art is a recurring principle of Ann Hamilton’s work, and it is clearly reflected in the remarkable openness of “O N E E V E R Y O N E.” Hamilton references John Berger’s “A Fortunate Man: The Story of a Country Doctor,” which considers the relationships forged between a physician and his patients. A highly developed sense of touch and an ability to see his patients as whole beings rather than as aggregated physical parts were central to Berger’s quietly heroic practice. Hamilton’s “O N E E V E R Y O N E” represents a similar devotion.

Locations: Second, fifth and first floors of the Health Learning Building

Like many other sculptors in the decade after World War II, Seymour Lipton created abstract works that suggest, rather than literally depict, human figures. The vertically arranged Pioneer evokes a standing form, with two long legs and a jumble of arms topped by the absence of a recognizable head. In the 1950s, Lipton’s work began to suggest regeneration and rebirth. In this context, Pioneer can be viewed as representing the cyclical process of life and death.

Compared to Pioneer, Catacombs is more abstract. Although there is no explicit narrative, the main forms consist of hollow and dark inner areas enclosed by sheet metal gleaming in the light. The three main vertical elements resemble totemic figures clustered together and holding up a smaller fourth form, perhaps a child or ceremonial offering. The grouping suggests a familial or religious ceremony, such as a baptism or burial.

Quinn calls seashells “the most perfect pre-existing sculptural ‘readymades’ in our natural world.” He refers to the graceful intricacy of their forms and to the wonder of their natural production.

Throughout Quinn’s career, he has explored the unstable margins of life and the meanings we find in them: the vital interconnectedness of all life forms across time; the desire to still a passing moment or to live forever; and the prospect of living in harmony with nature and other people.

Enveloping the life-sized glider is a cloud of 1,000 black butterflies, a motif the artist is widely known for and which has been prominent in his work for over 15 years. Each butterfly was painstakingly shaped to represent one of dozens of different species, and the obsessive, handmade process means no two butterflies are exactly alike. The ephemeral and elegant final result of Villinski’s labor-intensive process is one that celebrates the beauty, resilience and ingenuity of both nature and man.

Location: First floor of the Health Transformation Building

Delicately charting the human condition with gravity and humor, Beth Campbell’s drawing and mobile for Dell Medical School reveal the interconnectedness of shared experience. This site-specific commission is rooted in Campbell’s ongoing drawing series My Potential Future Based on Present Circumstances. The series draws upon the artist’s interest in rhizomatic structures, circuit boards and early virtual worlds in order to map imagined futures or parallel lives.

Campbell begins each work by considering a seemingly mundane moment from everyday life, such as, “I just sat on my brand-new glasses while getting into the car,” or, “I need to buy a new pillow.” She then uses gestural lines to diagram a neural network–like flowchart of possible outcomes unfolding from the event, ranging from fantastic to tragic.

Also on view at Dell Med, Campbell’s mobile extends this drawing into three-dimensional space.