The advent of cinema in the late 19th century allowed artists and scientists to record motion for the first time. Developed concurrently, X-ray technology extended vision beneath the skin, allowing people to view the body’s interior. Together, these tools produced spectacular new images that shaped modern conceptions of the body.
Overexposed: Art, Technology, and the Body brings together research-based and educational films with contemporary artworks by 16 American and international artists to examine the historical, medical, and sociopolitical implications of seeing inside the body. The works on view were created between 1891 and 2025. They include pieces by Panteha Abareshi, Peggy Ahwesh, Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Verena Paravel, Barbara Hammer, Ana Mendieta, Agnes Questionmark, and Leslie Thornton.
The show is organized into three overlapping sections. “Technology and Power” explores how film and X-ray technologies shaped Western claims to scientific objectivity. “Limits of the Gaze” features artists who engage with archives and found footage, and investigate their own bodies to expose and challenge the normative assumptions embedded in medical images. “Care and Control” examines how imaging tools have transformed practices of care. Overexposed invites visitors to reflect on how visualizing the inside of the body shapes medical knowledge and human experience.
Organized by Sonia Epstein, Curator of Science & Technology
Lead support for Overexposed was provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. Additional generous support was provided by Romy Cohen, The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, Elaine Goldman, May & Samuel Rudin Family Foundation, and Doug Pugh.
Access to Overexposed is included with general Museum admission tickets.
