Body Worlds, Amsterdam

 

Body Worlds (formerly Körperwelten) is an anatomy exhibition in Amsterdam. It used to be a travelling exhibition, which we visited before in Cologne and Antwerp, but it has a permanent location in Amsterdam now.

I would like to state that I have my reservations about this show. They use real corpses, which are treated with a kind of plastic, and then cut up to show the insides. It's hard to realise these have been living men and women. I also would like to add that the persons involved have volunteered to be displayed like this.

Having said this, it's quite interesting to see how we people are built up: it's unbelievable how intricate our body is put together. And how can such a complicated system be reproduced, again and again, generation after generation. And grow, maintain and repair itself.

Each time I see it, I stand in awe.

Anyway, there was an artist day, a special day enabling artists to draw and study the subjects.
This is one of the sketches. Arches paper, 70x33cm, watercolour pencil (Faber-CAstell) and waterbrush.
I had to scan the drawing in parts, and fit them together with GIMP software. Still, the top of the drawing is missing.