Tomorrow night! Hope to see you there!

Exhibition Opening Party for "The Corrigan Family OddmentsCurated by G. F. NewlandDate: Tomorrow, Friday, June 17Time: 7-10pmGreetings Art fans! In celebration of Father’s Day, the Observatory Things-That-Move Dept. invites you all to take a peek at procreation! In nature, talents can be predisposed, and passed on from generation to generation. Families like the Gentileschis, the Peales, the Bachs, the Wyethes, and most recently, the Kominsky-Crumbs have all made a strong case for this heredity thing; the Bush presidencies, not so much, but hey, it’s a crap shoot! Anyway, our latest show is about a wee dynasty of painters named Corrigan, and through their family oddments, we will examine art, eccentricity, and the vagaries of genetic code.The Corrigan Family Oddments features the work of Dennis Corrigan and his two adult daughters, Sara and Becky. Dennis Corrigan–the family patriarch–rose to prominence in the art world of the late 1960s after returning from his tour of duty in the Philippines during the Vietnam war. He continues to pursue an active studio life involving the production of intricate and creepy yet humorous paintings, and film projects based on puppet characters derived from those paintings. His work resides in museums and galleries around the world, including the Metropolitan Museum or Art and the Brooklyn Museum. Sara, his oldest daughter, is a filmmaker and film-editor who has worked with such luminaries as Woody Allen; her fine art work consists of bizarre images of an imaginary and desperate Marilyn Monroe wannabe. These delightful yet deranged little paintings are created in oil on canvas. Becky, the youngest daughter, works as a singer-songwriter and physical therapist while creating very simple line drawings of ludicrous characters and more complex oil portraits of people on the edge.This promises to be a most enjoyable show revealing the concepts and skills, similarities and differences of a very talented and humorous family of artists.

You can find out more about this event on the Observatory website by clicking here. You can get directions to Observatory--which is next door to the Morbid Anatomy Library (more on that here)--by clicking here. You can find out more about Observatory here, join our mailing list by clicking here, and join us on Facebook by clicking here.Image: Satisfied Nicotine Freaks, Dennis Corrigan, Oil on Canvas

I just discovered the amazing anatomical mezzotints of 18th Century artist Jan Ladmiral (see above) via, of all things, a humorous blog post flaming Congressman Anthony Weiner on a blog called Booktryst. The work is gorgeous, and remind me of another of my favorite anatomical artists, Jacques Fabian Gautier d'Agoty; see this recent post for more on that.A bit about Jan Ladmiral, from the original Booktryst post:

Jan Ladmiral (1698 - 1773) was a pupil and assistant to the great anatomical illustrator Jacob Christoph Le Blon (1670 - 1741). Afterward, Ladmiral, apparently, presumed ownership of Le Blon's secret invention for coloring mezzotint engravings, a process using three different impressions of primary colors (blue, yellow, and red) for one image and thus able to produce different color values without the use of black."Ladmiral offered his services in the making of colored anatomical representations to the famous anatomist, Albinus in Leyden. This anatomist put his (Ladmiral's] invention to the test and even permitted him to use two posthumous drawings by Ruysch…" (Choulant and Streeter, History and Bibliography of Anatomic Illustration, p. 267).Between 1736 and 1741 Ladmiral created six colored mezzotints of anatomical subjects that made his reputation and remain highly regarded as amongst the finest examples ever produced. Three of those mezzotints are seen here. The initial print in the series, Muscularis mucosae of the intestine, from 1736, is a milestone, the first use of color printing in a medical or scientific book...

You can read the entire piece in context by clicking here.Images top to bottom:

1. Brain of an Unborn Child (1738)
2. Muscularis mucosae of the intestine (1736)
3. Human penis (1741)

Lomography--a company championing low-tech, low-fi film photography--is launching a new nautical-themed analog camera, and have invited me to be an experimental first user! So, look forward to lots of charmingly imperfect images--such as the one you see above, produced on one of their cameras--in the days and weeks to come.Also of interest: this new camera will be officially unveiled at a launch party taking place at their Greenwich Village shop this Thursday, and will feature free snacks (!) and drinks (!!!) AND a live mermaid (what is it about mermaids these days?)Full details for the launch party follow. Hope to see you there!

Camera Launch Party and Grand Store ReopeningDate: Thursday, June 16Time: 7:00pm - 10:00pmLocation: Lomography Gallery Store41 W 8th Street, New York, New YorkThe Lomography Gallery Store NYC Greenwich will be returning like a siren as we celebrate an updated shop and a brand new camera while we unveil the first ever Lomography Fish Market!The tide is coming in and it’s bringing a new product ashore! Join us at our Greenwich Village location on Thursday, June 16th at 7pm for a huge party to celebrate our latest catch and tons of new shop features.We will need all hands on deck as we give our guests the chance to win this new mystery product & “go fishing” for film & other analog goodies. We will have a real-live mermaid in attendance as well as musical entertainment by SUPERCUTE! Not to mention drinks and snacks galore.So prepare the sails and bait your hooks! We’ll see you on Thursday, June 16th at 7pm.

More about the event can be found here. You can RSVP on Facebook by clicking here.Image was sourced here.

This Father's Day Sunday: a unique opportunity to learn about about the historical, curious, and amazing Niagara Falls Museum (est. 1827) from the mouth of its new keeper, Bill Jamieson, surrounded by an assortment of astounding objects from the museum as installed in The Great Coney Island Spectacularium!This event is seriously not to be missed! Full details follow; VERY much hope to see you there!

Portrait of a Dime Museum: The Niagra Falls Museum (1827-1999)A Lecture by Historian, Museologist, and Collector Bill Jamieson, Owner of The Niagara Falls Museum CollectionLocation: The Coney Island Museum, 1208 Surf AvenueDate: Sunday, June 19Time: 1:00 PMAdmission: $5Part of the Out of the Cabinet: Tales of Strange Objects and the People Who Love Them, presented by Morbid Anatomy and Scholar in Residence Evan MichelsonIn the 19th and early 20th Centuries, popular museums--many of them charging a dime for admission, and thus often referred to as “dime museums”-- were a beloved part of the amusement landscape. In the U.S., these attractions were pioneered by Charles Willson Peale's Philadelphia Museum (est. 1784) and P. T. Barnum's American Museum (est. 1842). These early museums exhibited a dizzying array of curiosities including live menageries, animal and human freaks, taxidermy, artworks, waxworks, cosmoramas, temperance plays, trained bears, the tree under which Jesus’ disciples sat, Jenny Lind, General Tom Thumb, Chang and Eng, and Barnum’s infamous Feejee Mermaid.The Niagara Falls Museum--Canada's oldest museum--was an important early dime museum founded in 1827 and open to the public until 1999. The collection is unique for being a remarkably intact early dime museum collection, showing the kind of breadth and variety rarely seen in the museums of today. Over the course of its tenure, it was notable for hosting such wonders as the mummy of pharaoh Ramses I (repatriated in 2003), early Wild West Shows starring General Custer’s scout “Wild Bill” Hickock and local Woodland Indians, and a number of artifacts from the Pan American Exposition of 1901 including the shell and coral collection famous naturalist Dr. Louis Agassiz. It was also renowned for its strong natural history collection with a focus on local fauna and freak animals living and dead.Over its lifetime, the museum changed location and hands several times, and many collections were added or discarded. It was ultimately purchased by Bill Jamieson--a private collector in Toronto--with the hopes of one day restoring the museum to its original splendor. This year, Mr. Jamieson loaned an assortment of astounding artifacts--including 19th Century waxworks, the remains of Skipper the two-legged dog, taxidermy, Native American artifacts, and seaweed artwork-- from The Niagara Falls Museum to be exhibited as part of The Great Coney Island Spectacularium; these objects are currently on view as part of this exhibition at The Coney Island Museum through April 2012.This Father's Day afternoon, please join us at The Coney Island Museum for a unique opportunity to learn about about the historical, curious, and amazing Niagara Falls Museum surrounded by an assortment of astounding objects from the collection.Bill Jamieson is a historian, ethnologist, museologist, ancient and tribal art dealer and collector. Bill’s interests evolve around the forgotten cultures and customs of the South Pacific, Indonesian, African, South and North American Indians, and Egyptian. His fascination with artifacts from these cultures, as well as oddities and curiosities from around the globe, especially objects of the Macabre. Bill’s fieldwork amongst the Shuar in Ecuador and Peru has helped him with much knowledge of this tribal group. His expertise has been drawn upon by National Geographic’s documentary production unit for a series Headhunting, Human Sacrifice, and Cannibalism as well as by numerous museums and researchers. He has been a member of the Canadian Chapter of the New York Explorers Club since 1997. Bill is active in loaning and donating to such Toronto institutions as the Royal Ontario Museum and Art Gallery of Ontario. Bill is presently working on a pilot for a series for History Television.

Today! Hope to see you at this lecture about the historical, curious, and amazing Niagara Falls Museum (est. 1827) from the mouth of its new keeper, Bill Jamieson, surrounded by an assortment of astounding objects from the museum as installed in The Great Coney Island Spectacularium!And a very special thanks is due to my good friend Mike Zohn of Obscura Antiques and Oddities and TV's Oddities for introducing us to Bill and for making both our exhibition--and this lecture--possible! We hope very much to see him there today.Full details follow; VERY much hope to see you there!

Portrait of a Dime Museum: The Niagra Falls Museum (1827-1999)A Lecture by Historian, Museologist, and Collector Bill Jamieson, Owner of The Niagara Falls Museum CollectionLocation: The Coney Island Museum, 1208 Surf AvenueDate: Sunday, June 19Time: 1:00 PMAdmission: $5Part of the Out of the Cabinet: Tales of Strange Objects and the People Who Love Them SeriesIn the 19th and early 20th Centuries, popular museums--many of them charging a dime for admission, and thus often referred to as “dime museums”-- were a beloved part of the amusement landscape. In the U.S., these attractions were pioneered by Charles Willson Peale's Philadelphia Museum (est. 1784) and P. T. Barnum's American Museum (est. 1842). These early museums exhibited a dizzying array of curiosities including live menageries, animal and human freaks, taxidermy, artworks, waxworks, cosmoramas, temperance plays, trained bears, the tree under which Jesus’ disciples sat, Jenny Lind, General Tom Thumb, Chang and Eng, and Barnum’s infamous Feejee Mermaid.The Niagara Falls Museum--Canada's oldest museum--was an important early dime museum founded in 1827 and open to the public until 1999. The collection is unique for being a remarkably intact early dime museum collection, showing the kind of breadth and variety rarely seen in the museums of today. Over the course of its tenure, it was notable for hosting such wonders as the mummy of pharaoh Ramses I (repatriated in 2003), early Wild West Shows starring General Custer’s scout “Wild Bill” Hickock and local Woodland Indians, and a number of artifacts from the Pan American Exposition of 1901 including the shell and coral collection famous naturalist Dr. Louis Agassiz. It was also renowned for its strong natural history collection with a focus on local fauna and freak animals living and dead.Over its lifetime, the museum changed location and hands several times, and many collections were added or discarded. It was ultimately purchased by Bill Jamieson--a private collector in Toronto--with the hopes of one day restoring the museum to its original splendor. This year, Mr. Jamieson loaned an assortment of astounding artifacts--including 19th Century waxworks, the remains of Skipper the two-legged dog, taxidermy, Native American artifacts, and seaweed artwork-- from The Niagara Falls Museum to be exhibited as part of The Great Coney Island Spectacularium; these objects are currently on view as part of this exhibition at The Coney Island Museum through April 2012.This Father's Day afternoon, please join us at The Coney Island Museum for a unique opportunity to learn about about the historical, curious, and amazing Niagara Falls Museum surrounded by an assortment of astounding objects from the collection.Bill Jamieson is a historian, ethnologist, museologist, ancient and tribal art dealer and collector. Bill’s interests evolve around the forgotten cultures and customs of the South Pacific, Indonesian, African, South and North American Indians, and Egyptian. His fascination with artifacts from these cultures, as well as oddities and curiosities from around the globe, especially objects of the Macabre. Bill’s fieldwork amongst the Shuar in Ecuador and Peru has helped him with much knowledge of this tribal group. His expertise has been drawn upon by National Geographic’s documentary production unit for a series Headhunting, Human Sacrifice, and Cannibalism as well as by numerous museums and researchers. He has been a member of the Canadian Chapter of the New York Explorers Club since 1997. Bill is active in loaning and donating to such Toronto institutions as the Royal Ontario Museum and Art Gallery of Ontario. Bill is presently working on a pilot for a series for History Television.

Today! Hope to see you at this lecture about the historical, curious, and amazing Niagara Falls Museum (est. 1827) from the mouth of its new keeper, Bill Jamieson, surrounded by an assortment of astounding objects from the museum as installed in The Great Coney Island Spectacularium!And a very special thanks is due to my good friend Mike Zohn of Obscura Antiques and Oddities and TV's Oddities for introducing us to Bill and for making both our exhibition--and this lecture--possible! We hope very much to see him there today.Full details follow; VERY much hope to see you there!

Portrait of a Dime Museum: The Niagra Falls Museum (1827-1999)A Lecture by Historian, Museologist, and Collector Bill Jamieson, Owner of The Niagara Falls Museum CollectionLocation: The Coney Island Museum, 1208 Surf AvenueDate: Sunday, June 19Time: 1:00 PMAdmission: $5Part of the Out of the Cabinet: Tales of Strange Objects and the People Who Love Them SeriesIn the 19th and early 20th Centuries, popular museums--many of them charging a dime for admission, and thus often referred to as “dime museums”-- were a beloved part of the amusement landscape. In the U.S., these attractions were pioneered by Charles Willson Peale's Philadelphia Museum (est. 1784) and P. T. Barnum's American Museum (est. 1842). These early museums exhibited a dizzying array of curiosities including live menageries, animal and human freaks, taxidermy, artworks, waxworks, cosmoramas, temperance plays, trained bears, the tree under which Jesus’ disciples sat, Jenny Lind, General Tom Thumb, Chang and Eng, and Barnum’s infamous Feejee Mermaid.The Niagara Falls Museum--Canada's oldest museum--was an important early dime museum founded in 1827 and open to the public until 1999. The collection is unique for being a remarkably intact early dime museum collection, showing the kind of breadth and variety rarely seen in the museums of today. Over the course of its tenure, it was notable for hosting such wonders as the mummy of pharaoh Ramses I (repatriated in 2003), early Wild West Shows starring General Custer’s scout “Wild Bill” Hickock and local Woodland Indians, and a number of artifacts from the Pan American Exposition of 1901 including the shell and coral collection famous naturalist Dr. Louis Agassiz. It was also renowned for its strong natural history collection with a focus on local fauna and freak animals living and dead.Over its lifetime, the museum changed location and hands several times, and many collections were added or discarded. It was ultimately purchased by Bill Jamieson--a private collector in Toronto--with the hopes of one day restoring the museum to its original splendor. This year, Mr. Jamieson loaned an assortment of astounding artifacts--including 19th Century waxworks, the remains of Skipper the two-legged dog, taxidermy, Native American artifacts, and seaweed artwork-- from The Niagara Falls Museum to be exhibited as part of The Great Coney Island Spectacularium; these objects are currently on view as part of this exhibition at The Coney Island Museum through April 2012.This Father's Day afternoon, please join us at The Coney Island Museum for a unique opportunity to learn about about the historical, curious, and amazing Niagara Falls Museum surrounded by an assortment of astounding objects from the collection.Bill Jamieson is a historian, ethnologist, museologist, ancient and tribal art dealer and collector. Bill’s interests evolve around the forgotten cultures and customs of the South Pacific, Indonesian, African, South and North American Indians, and Egyptian. His fascination with artifacts from these cultures, as well as oddities and curiosities from around the globe, especially objects of the Macabre. Bill’s fieldwork amongst the Shuar in Ecuador and Peru has helped him with much knowledge of this tribal group. His expertise has been drawn upon by National Geographic’s documentary production unit for a series Headhunting, Human Sacrifice, and Cannibalism as well as by numerous museums and researchers. He has been a member of the Canadian Chapter of the New York Explorers Club since 1997. Bill is active in loaning and donating to such Toronto institutions as the Royal Ontario Museum and Art Gallery of Ontario. Bill is presently working on a pilot for a series for History Television.