By Robin Tierney
Special to The Washington Post
Sunday, July 23, 2006; M01
After weeks of summer breaking and baking, we could use some intellectual stimulation. Not the heavy back-to-school variety, but new views to refresh the eyes, mind and spirit.
We've found them across town: workday and weekend escapes that serve up smart art with a twist of science. Ditch any notions about a chasm between scientists and artists. They share sharp eyes and heightened sensibilities, as proven by some of the world's most creative thinkers -- da Vinci ring a bell? The insights he gained from scientific scrutiny of anatomy and optics contributed to his "Last Supper," "Mona Lisa" and other masterpieces.
Artists express visual imagery with materials organic and inorganic, draw from science to render form and motion, and use technology to create and animate their works. Scientists use art to illustrate concepts and illuminate marvels of biology, chemistry, physics, math and engineering. We're not talking still lifes, but real life -- from blown-up microscopic views of nature's handiwork to lyrical embodiments of mathematical principles.
Here are five mind-tingling places to recharge spirit and synapses. And don't worry; you don't need to be a genius to enjoy the view.
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCEHere's a best-kept secret just steps from Metro Center. Ensconced in a space that curves around like a nautilus shell, the AAAS art shows have spotlighted interactions between art and science for more than 20 years.
On view: In "Bio Puncta Art," one of three summer exhibitions, Rachel von Roeschlaub crosses molecular biology with spirituality and wit. In a series that includes "Frog Fatale" (left) and "Octopus Hoedown," quirky anthropomorphic animals spring forth from delightfully dotted background patterns. Using a style that fuses aboriginal and modern folk art influences, the artist applies acrylics to recycled, surface-treated LP records (remember those?). She has adopted a pointillist technique to render primitive shapes with depth and motion.
Von Roeschlaub also possesses serious science chops, having chased down breast cancer and long-term memory genes as well as managed a genome center before the art muse called during a trip to Italy. Now she juggles painting, illustrating kids' books and teaching biology in India.
In "Kaleidoscope Visions," cool off at the sight of Al Teich's crystalline black-and-white prints that suggest snowflakes, lace, buttons, beads, jewels, even tiny metal dolls. To achieve these captivating symmetrical images, Teich's kaleidoscope requires an extremely precise alignment of mirrors. "Tiara," "Starburst," "Invasion" . . . the names perfectly reflect the astonishing variety of visuals created by a single instrument.
The eye-popping winners of a contest organized by the National Science Foundation and the AAAS make up the third summer exhibit. Photographs, illustrations, informational graphics, interactive media and non-interactive media were judged for their visual impact, originality and their ability to communicate high-science concepts in an accessible way. Sample view: The illustration "Water Permeation Through Aquaporins" captures water molecules doing the twist.
Curator's sound bite: "I thought Al's black-and-white work . . . would balance Rachel's color," says Shirley Koller, a Foggy Bottom sculptor who has curated the space for nine years.
Through Sept. 29. 1200 New York Ave. NW. Free. 202-333-4817. http://www.aaas.org/ .
KECK CENTER OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMIESBethesda-based Amy Lamb, whose career path U-turned from biology to photography (her "Ganzania" is at far right), and Rosamond Purcell, whose Iris prints offer peeks at natural history specimens, are on view weekdays in the lobby of this satellite building of the National Academy of Sciences (see below).
On view: "Evolving Identities in the Genetic Age," a temporary exhibition shown by appointment, showcases photographs by Ariel Ruiz i Altaba. The Geneva stem cell research professor's portraits go beyond skin deep. We're talking genetic code, DNA sequencing ladders, fingerprints, test tube samples and human tissue. Images of babies, tots and adults are layered with human silhouettes, neural synapses, gray matter and skeletal X-rays. From "Birth" (pictured on cover) to "Oblivion," these collaged apparitions remind us we are works in progress.
Curator's sound bite: "The images ask us to examine how we identify ourselves and classify others," says JD Talasek, who, with a background in photography and museum studies, has curated the NAS spaces for 2 1/2 years.
Through Oct. 15. 500 Fifth St. NW. Free (bring photo I.D.). 202-334-2436. http://www.nas.edu/arts .
NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCESJust off the Mall, this science pantheon houses two spaces adorned with artful interpretations of geology, ecology, astronomy, botany and anatomy. As you enter, don't miss the wall of digital prints by eco-collaborators Susan Middleton and David Liittschwager. In this permanent display, the pair magnify rarely glimpsed and disappearing Hawaiian natural wonders, such as the post-pupa "Koa Bug" (pictured on cover). Many of these native bugs were unintended victims of a 1960s biocontrol effort intended to target the "pestiferous" green stink bug.
On view: "Supernatural," an exhibition of Thierry Feuz's contemporary botanical abstractions, lights up the halls of the Rotunda Gallery. These paintings magnify flowers and other flora to such a degree that they morph into surreal fantasy worlds -- such as in "Psychotropical Ocean," (top right) aglow with plant matter posing as sea creatures.
"The organic paintings are close-ups," Feuz writes in the exhibition catalog, suggesting it's as if "you have entered into a landscape and the details of a strange, humid, wet, and dangerous life have become visible."
The intimate Upstairs Gallery features the exhibition "Toroids and Plaids." Robert Straight's painted toroids -- coiling geometric patterns for which primary numbers are used to determine form and color placement -- evoke op-art pinwheels and sea-breezy summer quilts as in "P-377" (center left).
Curator's sound bite: "Visual artists are able to build bridges between seemingly disparate subjects such as the cosmos and the microscopic," says Talasek.
"Supernatural" through Nov. 3; "Toroids and Plaids" through Oct. 13. 2100 C St. NW. Free (bring photo I.D.). 202-334-2436. http://www.nas.edu/arts .
NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINEWithin Building 38 on the National Institutes of Health's Bethesda campus is the world's largest medical library -- filled with a historic collection that's eclectic and vast.
On view: You don't have to be a "CSI" fan to dig the exhibition "Visible Proofs: Forensic Views of the Body." Centuries of turning body parts into evidence are compressed into one exhibit that showcases everything from vintage medical illustrations to multimedia work, complemented by hands-on components. (No, not at the autopsy table, but you can play police sketch artist with the fun Faces software.)
Images such as the 1940 "Fingerprint diagram" (pictured on cover) reveal the medical world's age-old embrace of graphics. Arty artifacts include the miniature "Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death." Designed in the 1940s and '50s by patron saint of the forensic arts Frances Glessner Lee, the diorama-dramas are based on real crime scenes: In the pink "Bathroom crime scene," a widow was found dead after tenants complained of an odor.
Curator's sound bite: "Death is difficult to look at, yet it commands us to look," says Michael Sappol, author of "A Traffic of Dead Bodies: Anatomy and Embodied Social Identity in Nineteenth-Century America" and a curator-historian at the library for eight years.
Through February 2008. 8600 Rockville Pike, Building 38, Bethesda. Free (bring photo I.D.). 301-594-1947. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/ .
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF HEALTH AND MEDICINEThe historic Walter Reed campus houses a fascinating repository of visual, visceral medical artifacts, many of which double as art.
On view: Ripped straight from the editorial pages, "Cartoonists Take Up Smoking" features some 55 artful jabs at cigarettes and "chronic recipients" of tobacco industry largesse. The surgeon general's report, big-money lawsuit settlements and the District's smoking ban are among issues that fired up the cartoonists' creativity. One wit's frame assured the litigation settlement "is for the children" -- the lawyers' children. Another depicts Joe Camel after years of smoking: "Joe Camel: The Later Years" (left) by Signe Wilkinson ran Feb. 28, 1994, in the Philadelphia Daily News.
Some smoking-related newspaper headlines, artifacts and advertisements round out the show. Viewers of a certain age will go nostalgic over Philip Morris's 1968 Virginia Slims launch that burned the slogan "You've come a long way, baby" into the minds of the masses. A Nov. 25, 1946, Life magazine ad (a detail is pictured on the cover) claims: "More doctors smoke Camels than any other cigarette"). This show is cool without a capital K.
Curator's sound bite: "Art is a way to attract visitors who never thought to visit a medical museum," says Adrianne Noe, director since 1995. "Then when they're captivated, they discover the linkages between art and healing."
Through Feb. 28. 6900 Georgia Ave. NW. Free (bring photo I.D.). 202-782-2200. http://www.nmhm.washingtondc.museum/ .