Synapse: Martyl's Intersection of Art and Science
Join us for a guest lecture by Dr. Isaiah Bertagnolli on Martyl's series of masterworks, Synapse, in the very studio she created her work.
Beginning in the mid-1960s, Martyl began exploring the overlaps between computer circuitry and the human nervous system through her artwork. What began as drawings for the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists became an extensive project including paintings and prints. This presentation explores how Synapse emerged from Martyl's particle accelerator paintings in the 1940s and 1950s which similarly melded biological and mechanical forms. In contrast to these technological interrogations, Martyl's landscape paintings captured the human being's intrinsic connections to the universe at the atomic scale. When displayed together, Martyl's works sought to challenge an increasingly technological culture in order to thwart the nuclear threat.
Dr. Isaiah Bertagnolli is an art historian specializing in art and nuclear disarmament movements. He has held research fellowships at the University of Pittsburgh, Mattress Factory Museum of Contemporary Art, the University of Chicago, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum. He has written extensively on Martyl's career during the Cold War and has a forthcoming publication that examines her particle accelerator paintings.
Event Links
Tickets: https://go.evvnt.com/3477141-0
