Gregory Porcaro: "Existenz" Lilias Hahn: "the counts correct"

The International Museum of Surgical Science's art program, Anatomy in the Gallery, addresses various themes of the human body that include technology, life and, of course, death. The museum is showing the work of two photographers whose images seamlessly merge life and science. In Wisconsin-based Gregory Porcaro's "Existenz," 30 black-and-white photographs probe ideas of mortality. Especially in light of current events surrounding faith, death and medical technology, this timely exhibition offers us room to think critically. In Untitled #46, 2004, Porcaro works to break the tension we hold between religion and medicine.

Los Angeles–based Lilias Hahn's "the counts correct" are Polaroid transfer photographs that explore an unusual sort of physical encounter: Humans in the operating room. Hahn manages to create an intimacy with her depictions of surgeons performing in the OR, as seen in Liver Transplant, 2004, where she magnificently captures the stunning rapport of surgical teams.

At a time when reality TV presents a Barnum & Bailey–esque spectacle of patients undergoing procedures, Hahn offers a more complex view of surgical technology. Both artists present opportunities to view the intensity, beauty and commitment involved in life and the art of medicine.—Bridgette R. McCullough