What a piece of work is a man, how noble in reason, howThe Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (Act II, Scene ii, 285-300)
infinite in faculties, in form and moving how express and
admirable, in action how like an angel, in apprehension how like
a god! The beauty of the world, the paragon of animals—and yet,
to me, what is this quintessence of dust? Man delights not me—
nor woman neither, though by your smiling you seem to say so.
Drawing on the multiple implications of the Latin word corpus or “body,” this latest reinstallation of the SMA collections explores ways in which art and visual imagery reflect and shape our understanding of the life process. Divided into five distinct sections, the exhibition begins with the questions of “where do we come from?” This celebration of youthful exuberance is followed by an examination of the ways in which we are socialized. Pictorial strategies like portraiture and adornment are discussed in this section. The heart of the exhibition centers on the Master of Frankfurt triptych, which depicts the crucifixion of Jesus. In this section, notions of faith and devotion, perseverance and crisis form the central thematic elements. The fourth section of the exhibition looks at the body as a site of communication through gesture and dramatic depictions of the human form. The final section concludes the installation through a cross cultural exploration of death and memory from Neolithic mortuary culture to more recent depictions of aging, sickness and grieving.
The exhibition will also feature a section devoted the SMA’s extensive collection of works on paper which will be featured in periodic rotations. Drawing on several years of collaborative research, a team of experts including SMA curators, KU faculty and graduate student interns conducted extensive research on this latest iteration of Project Redefine which will be presented in new labels and publications.