Anatomy Lessons #4
Anatomy Lessons #4: Dreaming, 1977
Like several of her earlier body-based works in performances that used imagery of organs and peeling skin to suggest psychological states such as the humiliation of exposure or the experience of confinement, these works continue to explore what constitutes identity, gender, and the body. This photo by Rob Blalack is on the cover of a book on Lacy’s work, Spaces In Between by Sharon Irish.
Anatomy Lessons #4: Floating, 1977
These uncanny, dreamlike pictures show the artist serenely floating in or lying beside a pool with sheep organs positioned on or near her torso as if she has been eviscerated. Lacy explored different compositions and sequences of the images, including this one referencing childbirth.
Anatomy Lessons #4: Swimming (1977)
Many of Lacy’s collages explore motion, as she did in texts, such as those with the Prostitution Notes, or performances like Cinderella in a Dragster.
Anatomy Lessons #4: After Mantegna, 1977
Anatomy Lessons #4: Flying, 1977
As early as high school Lacy was dissecting animals and in awe of the beauty of the assembly of organs; later as a premedical student Lacy witnessed autopsies and operations so the interior of bodies was interesting both in its own right and metaphorically.
As performance and body art emerged throughout the 70s, Lacy often made ironic reference to other artworks, particularly painting, that were more embedded in popular imagination and history.
Anatomy Lessons #4: Untitled, 1977
This is one of a few photos that Lacy now shows as a reprint in order to make its scale almost lifelike. Photo by Rob Blalack.