Paradise Now - Afterword & Acknowledgements

As the concept for Paradise Now was forming over a year ago, rival institutionsñthe Human Genome Project (publicly funded by the National Institutes of Health) and Celera Genomics (a publicly held corporation)ñwere engaged in what the science community and the media presented as a race. The winner would be the first to announce the sequencing of the tens of thousands of genes that comprise the human genome, a major breakthrough for science, medicine, and biotechnology. As the checklist for this exhibition was being completed, the two competitors agreed to announce that the goal had been simultaneously achieved. By the end of the year, their joint research will be published in Science magazine, as a new round of scientific challengesñdetermining how the newly identified genes actually workñbegins.

In the course of the past year, we looked at the work of many artists whose curiosity and fascination inspired them to create art that reflects on the process, meaning, and ramifications of genetic research. Our challenge was to survey how artists, at the beginning of what is clearly an evolving exploration of genetics, were revisiting one of the oldest, grandest, most basic subjects of artñwhat it feels like and what it means to be human.

Paradise Now is not the first exhibition to address the relationship of imagery and genetics. In 1998, Karen Sinsheimer, curator of photography at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, presented Out of Sight: Imaging/Imagining Science, an exhibition that explored the unfolding world of genetic discovery, largely through medical imagery. Paradise Now, focusing specifically on artistsí ongoing interest in genetics, has been the next logical step. Some of the works on display were made more than a decade ago; others were created especially for this project.

As Paradise Now opens, no one can accurately predict where the study of genetics will take us in the years to come. As The Economist magazine reported in its July 1, 2000, issue, ìwe are not at the finish line but at another starting line in genetic research.î The major benefits of sequencing the human genome are yet to come. Medicine will be transformed, diagnoses will be refined, and side-effect-free drugs will target specific diseases, working the first time they are administered. Biotechnology will further transform agriculture, increasing the nutritional value of crops and making them easier to grow. And, with every step forward, the genomic revolution will nudge the people, governments, and businesses of the world into places and choices that are ethically, as well as scientifically, uncharted.

By 2003, fifty years will have passed since Rosalind Franklin made the first photograph of a helix using crystalline micrography, and James D. Watson and Francis Crick revealed the double helix form of DNA. As researchers continue to break new ground, the artists included in this show and others will no doubt, expand their inquiry into the scientific discoveries and the philosophical and ethical questions they raise. A new series of exhibitions, already in the planning stage, will celebrate the achievements of the pioneers of genetics and bring the works of artists responding to the next round of events and innovations to an even wider public.


			As the concept for Paradise Now was forming over a year ago, rival institutionsñthe Human Genome Project (publicly funded by the National Institutes of Health) and Celera Genomics (a publicly held corporation)ñwere engaged in what the science community and the media presented as a race. The winner would be the first to announce the sequencing of the tens of thousands of genes that comprise the human genome, a major breakthrough for science, medicine, and biotechnology. As the checklist for this exhibition was being completed, the two competitors agreed to announce that the goal had been simultaneously achieved. By the end of the year, their joint research will be published in Science magazine, as a new round of scientific challengesñdetermining how the newly identified genes actually workñbegins. In the course of the past year, we looked at the work of many artists whose curiosity and fascination inspired them to create art that reflects on the process, meaning, and ramifications of genetic research. Our challenge was to survey how artists, at the beginning of what is clearly an evolving exploration of genetics, were revisiting one of the oldest, grandest, most basic subjects of artñwhat it feels like and what it means to be human. Paradise Now is not the first exhibition to address the relationship of imagery and genetics. In 1998, Karen Sinsheimer, curator of photography at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, presented Out of Sight: Imaging/Imagining Science, an exhibition that explored the unfolding world of genetic discovery, largely through medical imagery. Paradise Now, focusing specifically on artistsí ongoing interest in genetics, has been the next logical step. Some of the works on display were made more than a decade ago; others were created especially for this project. As Paradise Now opens, no one can accurately predict where the study of genetics will take us in the years to come. As The Economist magazine reported in its July 1, 2000, issue, ìwe are not at the finish line but at another starting line in genetic research.î The major benefits of sequencing the human genome are yet to come. Medicine will be transformed, diagnoses will be refined, and side-effect-free drugs will target specific diseases, working the first time they are administered. Biotechnology will further transform agriculture, increasing the nutritional value of crops and making them easier to grow. And, with every step forward, the genomic revolution will nudge the people, governments, and businesses of the world into places and choices that are ethically, as well as scientifically, uncharted. By 2003, fifty years will have passed since Rosalind Franklin made the first photograph of a helix using crystalline micrography, and James D. Watson and Francis Crick revealed the double helix form of DNA. As researchers continue to break new ground, the artists included in this show and others will no doubt, expand their inquiry into the scientific discoveries and the philosophical and ethical questions they raise. A new series of exhibitions, already in the planning stage, will celebrate the achievements of the pioneers of genetics and bring the works of artists responding to the next round of events and innovations to an even wider public.
H. Ackroyd & D. Harvey S. Anker D. Ashbaugh Aziz + Cucher B. Ballengée C. Borland N. Burson H. Chadwick K. Clarke K. Cottingham B. Crockett H. Danuser C. Davis M. Dion G. Gessert R. Howland N. Jeremijenko R. Jones E. Kac davidkremers J. Lackey J. LaVerdiere I. Manglano-Ovalle K. Mihail & T. Kim-Trang L. Miller S. Miller F. Moore A. Rockman ® ™ark B. Rubenstein N. Rule C. Rupp G. Schneider L. Stein E. Sutton C. Wagner C.M. Weems G. Wight J. Zweig


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The curators wish to thank the participating artists, who were so generous with their ideas and their time, and: David Agus, M. D., Research Director. Prostate Cancer Center at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center; Joe Amrhein, Pierogi 2000, Brooklyn, New York; Bill Arning, Curator, List Visual Arts Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Finley Austin, Assistant Director for Genomics Public Policy, Hoffmann-La Roche, Inc., Nutley, New Jersey; David Barre, Creative Manager, Greenpeace, Washington, D.C.; James Bell, SUSTAIN, Chicago; Maurice Berger; Brian Berk, Chief Financial Officer, Spot Design, New York; Peter Beyer, University of Freiburg; Marianne Boesky; Anne Bowdidge, Director, Industrial Relations, Affymetrix, Santa Clara, California; Josie Brown, Max Protet Gallery, New York; Dan Cameron, Chief Curator, New Museum, New York; Mark Clements; Dillon Cohen; Dorit Cypis; Peter Dayton; Steve Dietz, Director of New Media Initiatives, Walker Arts Center, Minneapolis; Elliot Entis, President, Aqua Bounty Farms, Boston; Tom Finkelpearl, Program Director, P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center, Long Island City, New York; Julia Friedman, Julia Friedman Associates, Chicago; David Friend; Alice George; Joy Glidden, Director, d.u.m.b.o. Arts Center, Brooklyn; Lisa Gloutney, Nexia Biotechnologies, Quebec; Neal Gutterson, Managing Director of Research, DNA Plant Technology, Oakland; Holly Hinman, Assistant Curator, The New-York Historical Society; Jeff Hoone, Director, Light Works, Syracuse, New York; Susan Inglett; Jerry Jonas; Billy Kl¸ver; Noel Korten, Curatorial Director, Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery; Thane Kreiner, Ph.D., Vice President, Business Operations and Public Affairs, Affymetrix, Santa Clara, California; Andrew Kreps; Jonathan Leiter, Program Director, The Joy of Giving Something, Inc.; Jane Marshing, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York; Julie Martin; James Mayer; Daniel McDonald, American Fine Arts, New York; Alan McGowan, Co-Director, the Gene Media Forum, New York; Liz Merymen, Art Director, The Sciences, New York; Gerardo Mosquera, Adjunct Curator, New Museum, New York; Marc Nochella, Ronald Feldman Gallery, New York; Deb Ortman, Organic Consumerís Association; CÈcile Panzieri, Sean Kelly Gallery, New York; Janelle Porter, Artists Space, New York; Kenneth Rabin, Chairman Global Healthcare, Burson-Marsteller, Washington, D.C.; Michael Read; Magdalena Sawon, Postmasters Gallery, New York; Chris Sims, Archivist, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum; Karen Sinsheimer, Curator of Photography, The Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara; Wolf-Dieter Stoeffelmeier; Gloria Stone, Associate Director, Public Relations, Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, East Hanover, New Jersey; Jeff Stryker; Akiko Takano, Director of International Programs, Gene Media Forum, New York; Frederieke Taylor, TZíArt Gallery, New York; Irv Toplin, Carl Zeiss, Inc.; Janet A. Warrington, Ph.D., Director, Health Management, Applied Research, Affymetrix, Santa Clara, California; James D. Watson, Ph.D., President, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, New York; Thair Witmer, Kansas Citizens for Science, Topeka; Marion Ziola, Universal Concepts Unlimited, New York. Paradise Now: Picturing the Genetic Revolution is made possible through the generous support of the Bohen Foundation, Jerome Foundation, Joy of Giving Something, Inc., Roy and Niuta Titus Foundation, the New York State Council on the Arts, and members of Exit Art.

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