Von Hagens by Sanges

“The project Von Hagens by Sanges is a very sophisticated series of photographs, inspired by Rembrandt’s well-known Anatomy Lesson. It consists of mystical and yet almost hilarious photographic images, starring Gunther von Hagens, famous for his plastinated bodies. The photographs reflect not only the omnipresent reference to death but are at the same time also celebrating life and the moment.” - Edwin Becker, Chief Curator of Exhibitions, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

This summer the Olympic Park in Munich hosts visionary art photography created by Marco Sanges in collaboration with Gunther von Hagens. The pictures will be exhibited alongside the Körperwelten (Body Worlds) exhibition at the Kleine Olympiahalle in Munich. The aesthetic inspiration behind the project came from Rembrandt’s famous painting The Anatomy Lesson. The images were taken at the Plastinarium in Guben, Germany where Gunther von Hagens works. Sanges became fascinated by anatomy and was intrigued by the person behind Plastination, a man who after his death wants his own body to be plastinated and displayed.

The story is a journey about life and death with a surreal twist, beginning with the Plastinator at work dissecting a human corpse. Eventually, he starts questioning his own mortality by praying by the cross and ending being dissected by the plastinated corpses he created. Sanges believes in the immortality of film photography and his iconic photography is inspired by sequential nature of cinema, in particular the luminous black and white films of the silent era. With this photographic story Sanges highlights the drama of life and captures the sincerity of the journey, also confronting human vulnerability and challenging our own fragility and it is also a homage to Gunther von Hagens.

Marco Sanges. Born in Rome, Marco Sanges is a man of many talents. Based in London, his theatrical vision and award-winning work has regarded him as one of the most innovative photographers working today.

clients include: Cutler and Gross, Agent Provocateur, Vogue, Sunday Telegraph, Photo, Katalog, Dolce&Gabbana, Eyemazing.

Books include: Circumstances, Venus, Wild, and Erotic Photography.

Past exhibitions include: Hay Hill Gallery London (2014), THAN New York Academy of Art (2013), Da End Gallery Paris (2013), At Home with Art in aid of the Prince's Trust London (2013), Art Warehouse Rotterdam (2013), Proud Gallery London (2012), Eduard Planting Fine Art Photographs Amsterdam (2012), Art and Design London (2012), Gosh Art Auction curated by Tamara Ecclestone London (2011), Edward James Foundation (West Dean) (2011), Espai Barcelona(2010), Hay Hill Gallery, Cork street, London, (2010), Hackney Empire, London, (2010), Windsor Arts Centre (2010), GG Gallery, London (2010), Wanted gallery, London (2010), Take Home a Nude, NY Academy of Arts curated by Eileen Guggenheim New York (2009), Jonathan Cooper Park Walk Gallery London (2008), British Art Fair London (2008), Art London (2008), Arte Fiera Bologna (2004).

Marco's work is in the permanent collection of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in the USA. A multi disciplinary artist, his film Circumstances won Best Art Film, The Portobello Film Festival 2008, London and Best Experimental Film in Open Cinema Film Festival 2009, St. Petersburg, Russia.

Gunther von Hagens' life reads like an archetypal scientist's resume—distinguished by early precocity, scholarship, discovery, experimentation, and invention. It is also the profile of a man shaped by extraordinary events, and marked by defiance and daring. He is mainly known as the anatomist who invented the technique for preserving biological tissue specimens called plastination and founded the Institute of Plastination in Heidelberg in 1993. He creates the Body Worlds exhibitions, showing whole bodies plastinated in lifelike poses and dissected to show various structures and systems of human anatomy, which has since met with public interest and controversy all around the world. Gunther von Hagens' Body Worlds exhibitions have been on display in America, Africa, Asia, and Europe. "The human body is the last remaining nature in a man-made environment," he says. "I hope for the exhibitions to be places of enlightenment and contemplation, even of philosophical and religious self-recognition, and open to interpretation regardless of the background and philosophy of life of the viewer." More info at: http://www.bodyworlds.com/en.html