Paradise Now:
Picturing the Genetic Revolution

As scientific breakthroughs continue to affect every aspect of our lives, an increasing number of artists — as creators and investigators themselves — have been examining the meaning and urgent implications of genetic research. Some work on their own, while others collaborate with scientists, but in either case, these artists engage with science in innovative ways that help us visualize what it means to be human in a genetic age. The artworks featured in Paradise Now explored the possibilities for health and human improvement generated by the decoding of the human genome, as well as the impact of biotechnology on animal and plant life. These works addressed issues of race, economics, reproduction, privacy, health/human improvement, and food safety. Genetics inspired artists not only to question mortality, but to speculate on the moral, spiritual, legal, and aesthetic issues that go beyond life and death to embrace notions of immortality. Although artists have long borrowed scientific images for their art, science’s machines, methods, resources, and controversies have given them new materials with which to examine a changing world. A scientist’s work may have a direct and practical application; an artist’s goal might be more subjective. Each searches for truths that contribute to the quality and understanding of our lives; each seeks to make at least some of the mysteries of life more comprehensible and, perhaps, less overwhelming.