Brainstorm exhibition - GV gallery curator Robert Devcic blasts MP David Amess as ‘small-minded’ - Human brain tissue “degrading” says Tory.

Published: 14 January 2011
by JAMES LACHNO

A GALLERY owner has labelled Conservative MP David Amess “small-minded” after he described an exhibition displaying human brain tissue as “degrading”.

Robert Devcic, who curated the Brainstorm exhibition at GV Art Gallery in Marylebone, criti­cised Mr Amess’s com­ments, which appeared in the Evening Standard earlier this week.

He said: “The MP who made the comments is very small-minded to have made a statement without wanting to know more about the context or who’s behind the project. We’re working with very reputable organisations and scientists. Surely he should have had some faith in their profes­sional­ism. His statement isn’t really appropriate.”

Mr Amess, who has previously sat on a government health select committee, said: “It’s degrading to put body parts on display in a public place. This is a disrespectful way to treat the human body and is unacceptable.”

GV Art is the only private gallery in the UK to hold a licence from the Human Tissue Authority allowing human tissue to be displayed. The exhibition is backed by the Multiple Sclerosis Society’s Tissue Bank.

Slices of two brains – one “healthy” and one showing the degener­ative effects of multiple sclerosis – were installed by Dr David Dexter, a neuroscientist at Imperial College, on Tuesday, and are displayed among a range of drawings, photo­graphs and sculptures all inspired by the human brain. 

Both brains came from individuals who consented in life for their organs to be exhibited. They will be returned for further medical research after the exhibition concludes on 22 January. 

• Brainstorm: Investig­a­ting the Brain Through Art and Science is at GV Art Gallery, 49 Chiltern Street, W1, until January 22. Free. 020 8408 9800