For 42 years, Audrius Plioplys has been both a professional artist and a neurologist-neuroscientist. His art work is neo-conceptual: a metaphorical investigation of thinking and consciousness. With over 50 individual exhibits and 100 group shows, his works have been displayed internationally in museums, major art collections, and universities—including the University of Chicago’s Oriental Institute and Rockefeller Chapel. Plioplys has transformed the artist’s studio into a neurobiology research laboratory: he has merged neuroscience with art.
Visit the Stevanovich Institute between October 2018 to Spring 2019 to view the work of Audrius Plioplys, neuroscientist and artist, on exhibit throughout the 1st and 2nd floors at 5737 S. University Avenue. With 16 color-changing light sculptures, and 3 large-scale whirling works, it fills the three story entrance way to the University of Chicago's Stevanovich Institute on the Formation of Knowledge. The front of the building is glass, making this complex piece visible from the outside. The view is impressive at night.
Can't make it to Chicago? Take a virtual tour of the exhibit:
The "Cycles of Memory" is 5 minutes long and is a purely visual portrait of the installation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhnjJ7gj7L8&t=13s
The "Cycles of Memory: Donelaitis" is longer and includes an explanation of one piece in the installation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWiBKi_6GjE&t=1s
Artist's Statement by Audrius Plioplys
Pillars of Thought are free-standing, independent structures, paralleling our own human existence.
The images consist of neuronal profiles, intertwined with my own MRI brain scans, electroencephalograms, and transformations of my own art work. It is from these extensive, overlapping neuronal networks that our consciousness, being, and independence arise.
From this self-awareness we illuminate ourselves and others. We can shine, inform, educate and assist each other. Each piece is a portrait of human aspiration.
In this installation, there are groupings parallelling our own societal structures. The Dreamscape sequence deals with the origins of dreaming, fantasy, and creativity. The Pillars of Writing include the hand-written texts, and portraits, by those authors who have had a profound influence on my art work, from Sigmund Freud to the existentialism of Franz Kafka and Samuel Beckett.
Each Pillar consists of three layers of polycarbonate, back-light by a LED color-changing lights. As the transmitted colors change, the images change dramatically.
The three layers of images correspond to our own three levels of awareness: consciousness, sub-consciousness and unconsciousness.
Each piece is 65 x 7 x 7 inches in size. All materials used are archival quality. The images were printed with pigmented inks. The electrical light system is UL listed and approved.
Audrius V. Plioplys
September 23, 2018
For more information about the artist and his work, visit: http://plioplys.com/