TY - JOUR TI - Artist interviews – new art for Medicine: The Wellcome Galleries AU -Katy Barrett AU -Eleanor Crook AU -Marc Quinn AU -Studio Roso PY - 2021 VL - Special issue: Curating medicine IS - Autumn 2020 KW - art and science KW - art commissions KW - artist in conversation KW - Medicine galleries AB - Opened in November 2019, Medicine: The Wellcome Galleries showcases four major new art commissions at the Science Museum, London. This article brings artistic and curatorial voices to reflect on their meaning, as Curator of Art Collections, Katy Barrett, talks with artists Eleanor Crook, Marc Quinn, and Sophie Nielsen and Rolf Knudsen of Studio Roso. They consider the process of producing the works, what they were inspired by and what is different about working in a medical or science context. This allows Barrett to reflect on all four commissions, how they fit into the history of art at the Science Museum, what they bring to the Museum’s collections, and what can be learnt from art in looking at and understanding science. N1 - For a recent selection of case studies and reflections on the role of art in science museums, see Camilla Rossi-Linnemann and Giulia de Martini (eds), Art in Science Museums: Towards a Post-Disciplinary Approach (Routledge, 2020). N1 - See ‘Curating Medicine: The Wellcome Galleries’ by Bond, S et al, in this issue. N1 - For the history of the Science Museum and brief discussions of the art collections see Peter Morris (ed), Science for the Nation: Perspectives on the History of the Science Museum (Palgrave, 2010). A Collaborative Doctoral Award jointly supervised with Birkbeck is due to start in Autumn 2019 looking in depth at the histories of the Science Museum Group art collections. N1 - Internal document, ‘Arts Policy for the Science Museum, December 1996’ N1 - These thoughts were first shared at the Science Museum’s Medicine Galleries conference in January 2020. My thanks to colleagues for useful thoughts and conversations there, especially to Simon Chaplin for his inspiring keynote. N1 - Visitor evaluation on Medicine: The Wellcome Galleries was delayed by the pandemic, but this immediate response is based on personal observation of visitors within the galleries. N1 - Davey’s portraits also feature in the Medicine and Bodies gallery. N1 - On this tattoo history see Marisa Kakoulas, Black and Grey Tattoo 2: Dark and Horror (Reuss, 2011) and Emily Evan, The Anatomical Tattoo (Lotus, 2017) N1 - For more on Quinn’s works responding to people with extraordinary approaches to their bodies, see Joachim Pissarro, Allanah, Buck, Catman, Chelsea, Michael, Pamela And Thomas (White Cube, 2010). N1 - We were grateful to tattoo historian Matt Lodder for his advice in producing a touch-screen interactive discussing Genest’s tattoos. See more on his work at https://www.essex.ac.uk/people/lodde23007/matt-lodder. N1 - Read more from and about Crook at https://eleanorcrook.net/. N1 - Find out more about Studio Roso’s work at http://www.studio-roso.com/. N1 - Darwin’s sketch can be found in ‘Notebook B: Transmutation’ (1837–8). See http://darwin-online.org.uk/EditorialIntroductions/vanWyhe_notebooks.html N1 - https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/sites/default/files/2019-02/Representing-Medical-Body-Final-programme.pdf PB - The Science Museum Group SN - 2054-5770 LA - eng DO - 10.15180/201404 UR - https://journal.sciencemuseum.ac.uk/article/new-art-for-medicine/ T2 - Science Museum Group Journal