This quintessential likeness of the celebrated geneticist is an electropherogram of the HLA-DQ-alpha portion of James Watson's DNA. Artist Kevin Clarke, who's also a traditional portrait photographer, captures his DNA portraits through blood samples he "processes like rolls of film." He splices the electropherogram with other digital images, then prints it in six 29- by 96-inch panels. Watson's DNA portrait will be shown in the US for the first time as part of Paradise Now: Creating the Genetic Revolution, an exhibit opening at New York's Exit Art gallery (www.exitart.org) on September 9.
Paradise also includes photographer Catherine Wagner's chilling study of biotech labs, Keith Cottingham's computer-generated triplets, and the work of 35 other artists, along with scientific artifacts like one of Watson's first models of the double helix. "We hope this show will bring the implications of genetic research into visual focus," says Carole Kismaric, who curated the show with Marvin Heiferman. "Genetic science has changed the world. Most people don't know it yet, but we're living on a different planet now."
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