Xavier Cortada, “(The Four Nucleotides:) Cytosine,” oil on canvas, 60″ x 48″, 2010.

 
Sequentia

Xavier Cortada‘s
solo exhibit at the Frost Art Museum explores the sequence of events
that make up life on the planet from the molecular to the monumental.  

The
title of the exhibit also references a series of actions Cortada will
set in motion to create of a unique strand of DNA. The artist will
work with a molecular biologist to synthesize an actual DNA strand
made from a sequence generated by museum visitors using Cortada’s art.

Xavier Cortada, “(The Four Nucleotides:) Thymine,” oil on canvas, 60″ x 48″, 2010.

In The Four Nucleotides,
the artist creates large scale “portraits” of Adenine, Cytosine,
Guanine and Thymine– the four bases of a DNA strand that summarize all
we are, were and will be.

In Genetic Sequence, the
artist invites museum visitors to randomly select a post card
depicting one of Cortada’s four Nucleotide paintings and place them
sequentially within small plastic bags hanging in a grid on a wall.
 In placing the nucleotide postcards, the visitors will assist in the
development of a DNA strand as part of a participatory installation. 

Xavier Cortada, “(The Four Nucleotides:) Adenine,” acrylic on canvas, 60″ x 72″, 2010.

Two weeks into the exhibit, the artist will engage in a series of LabARTory Sessions  with Dr.
Kalai Mathee,  FIU Department of Molecular Microbiology and
Infectious Diseases Founding Chair. In her lab, Cortada will determine
if the random sequence being generated by the participatory art
project exists anywhere in the human genome.  During these
performative sessions, Cortada will use the sequence to create a live
DNA strand, insert (clone) it into a vector (plasmid) and propogate it
in a bacteria on a Petri dish.

The
presence of the specific DNA strand will also be analyzed using
 agarose gel electrophoresis, sequenced and analyzed against other
existing DNA sequences.  As they become available, the results will be
exhibited in the museum alongside the petri dish and a microfuge tube
filled with the amplified DNA molecule.

For more information please visit
http://www.xaviercortada.com/event/sequentia

“Ancestral Journeys” on exhibit in Wynwood

Xavier Cortada explores the complex relationship between human genetics, identity and human history, particularly human migration from its origins in East Africa.

“Artist’s studio”