NEUROIMAGINGalessandro barbarossa

On cover: Hypothalamus / Neuroimage N. 26 / Oil on Canvas / 160x90cm

NEUROIMAGING

The (neuro) — Imagination of a Painter between Art and Science

Abstract painting explores the world of abstract images: What is an abstract image? How was it born? Where is it born?

The abstract images are born directly in the human mind, they are a product of the human mind, which is why they are unique and fascinating. The mind is in the brain, this fascinating and mysterious organ made up of many parts and zones, each deputed to a series of tasks, and it is here that they harbor emotions. In this place my images are born and then transported on canvas creating my abstract painting: The focus of this exhibition is the point of contact between art and science. Neurosciences study the brain and the mind, so it also studies the abstract images that painting produces. Through my images, I want to take care of my mind and the minds of people who contemplate my paintings and my images, through the eyes, the images, they connect to that part of their mind that is able to perceive these images.

Betty Edwards in «The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain» introduces and explains which part of the brain is visual, then drawing, and painting, that is, the right side, applying the pioneering vision of psychobiologist Roger Sperry, on the dual nature of human thought, and the functions of the hemispheres of the human brain, the analytical verbal one, located above all in the left hemisphere, and the visual perceptive one, located particularly in the right hemisphere; The right side of the brain thinks in models, or figures, does not allow simplifications, or numbers, or letters, or words.

It still states: The brain, this organ, is the only portion of matter in the universe that can observe itself, ask questions, try to analyze and acquire greater control over one’s abilities.Thus, processing and image creation takes place within the mind, and therefore the brain.

I am extremely fascinated by the mind and the brain, my friends psychologists, neurologists, psychiatrists, neuroscientists and researchers explained to me the different mechanisms. So I felt the need to know the parts that make up the brain, completing my knowledge of the human body started in the Academy of Fine Arts, the course of Artistic Anantomy, these Latin names animated my imagination.

IN THE MIND

Hypothalamus, from Greek ὑπό, «under» and θάλαμος, thalamus, is a portion of the brain that contains a number of small nuclei with a variety of functions. One of the most important functions of the hypothalamus is to link the nervous system to the endocrine system via the pituitary gland (hypophysis). The hypothalamus is located below the thalamus and is part of the limbic system. In the terminology of neuroanatomy, it forms the ventral part of the diencephalon. All vertebrate brains contain a hypothalamus. In humans, it is the size of an almond.

The hypothalamus is responsible for the regulation of certain metabolic processes and other activities of the autonomic nervous system. It synthesizes and secretes certain neurohormones, called releasing hormones or hypothalamic hormones, and these in turn stimulate or inhibit the secretion of pituitary hormones. The hypothalamus controls body temperature, hunger, important aspects of parenting and attachment behaviours, thirst, fatigue, sleep, and circadian rhythms.

I imagine it as a huge control panel, but also as a mosaic, wrapped in a dreamlike dimension. He’s always a little sleepy.

Dura Mater, is a thick membrane made of dense irregular connective tissue that surrounds the brain and spinal cord. It is the outermost of the three layers of membrane called the meningesthat protect the central nervous system. The other two meningeal layers are the arachnoid mater and the pia mater. The dura surrounds the brain and the spinal cord and is responsible for keeping in the cerebrospinal fluid. It is derived from neural crest cells. The dura mater has several functions and layers. The dura mater is a membrane that envelops the arachnoid mater. It surrounds and supports the dural sinuses (also called dural venous sinuses, cerebral sinuses, or cranial sinuses) and carries blood from the brain toward the heart.

The dura mater has two layers, or lamellae: The superficial layer (also called the periosteal layer), which serves as the skull’s inner periosteum, called the endocranium; and a deep layer called the meningeal layer; the actual dura mater. When it covers the spinal cord it is known as the dural sac or thecal sac.

I imagine it as something pink hiding behind a thousand transparent bin objects, and like a Mother supervises what is to be monitored, but leaves free when there is to be liberated. Perhaps as a geometry that rises, in its inscrutable thought.

Uncus is an anterior extremity of the Parahippocampal gyrus. It is separated from the apex of the temporal lobe by a slight fissure called the incisura temporalis. Although superficially continuous with the hippocampal gyrus, the uncus forms morphologically a part of the rhinencephalon. The term comes from the Latin word uncus, meaning hook, and it was coined by Félix Vicq-d’Azyr (1748–1794)

I imagine it as a hook, indeed, like a thousand hooks that catch colors, loves, atmos-pheres, unicorns, butterflies, Greek goddesses and Venetian ladies, to make every-thing perfect.

Corpus Callosum, latin for «tough body», is a wide commissure, a flat bundle of commissural fibers, about 10 cm long beneath the cerebral cortex in the brains of placental mammals. It spans part of the longitudinal fissure, connects the left and right cerebral hemispheres, and enables communication between the hemispheres. It is the largest white matter structure in the human brain, consisting of 200–250 million axonalprojections.

I imagine it as a body, I do not know if Greek god or jellyfish, but this corpus callous wants to hover, and transform itself, perhaps in a goddess, into a mermaid, but first, in a thousand white lights, in order to cross the space and the time.

Locus Coeruleus is a nucleusin the pons of the brainstem involved with physiological responses to stress and panic. It is a part of the reticular activating system. The Locus Coeruleus is the principal site for brain synthesis of norepinephrine (noradrenaline). The locus coeruleus and the areas of the body affected by the norepinephrine it produces are described collectively as the locus coeruleus-noradrenergic system or LC-NA system. Norepinephrine may also be released directly into the blood from the adrenal medulla.

I imagine it as a knight, or like a prince, strictly blue, but he can also be a fairy, a sorceress, strong as a storm, and certainly, it is the heavenly vault under which my fantasy resides.

Hippocampus, named after its resemblance to the seahorse, from the Greek ἱππόκαμπος, «seahorse» from ἵππος hippos, «horse» and κάμπος kampos, «sea monster» is a major component of the brains of humans and other vertebrates. Humans and other mammals have two hippocampi, one in each side of the brain. The hippocampus belongs to the limbic system and plays important roles in the consolidation of information from short-term memory to long-term memory, and in spatial memorythat enables navigation. The hippocampus is located under the cerebral cortex (allocortical) and in primates in the medial temporal lobe. It contains two main interlocking parts: the hippocampus proper (also called Ammon’s horn) and the dentate gyrus.

There is always a hippocampus, even in my life, it is one of the most magical crea-tures that exist, for me, in fact, is present in our head, I also have one tattooed. He swims in our mind, like in an ocean.

Cerebral Cortex is the largest region of the cerebrum in the mammalian brain and plays a key role in memory, attention, perception, cognition, awareness, thought, language, and consciousness. The cerebral cortex is the most anterior (rostral) brain region and consists of an outer zone of neural tissue called gray matter, which contains neuronal cell bodies. It is also divided into left and right cerebral hemispheres by the longitudinal fissure, but the two hemispheres are joined at the midline by the corpus callosum.

We have a stick in the head, so we are like trees, a special skin that reminds me of old witches, some bad, some good. Our brain is ancient, just like trees, and we transmit what we are. What’s under a brown bark? maybe a blue, or maybe red, yellow ... or maybe some other thing.

Thalamus, from Greek θάλαμος, «chamber» is the large mass of gray matter in the dorsal part of the diencephalon of the brain with several functions such as relaying of sensory signals, including motor signals, to the cerebral cortex, and the regulation of consciousness, sleep, and alertness. It is a midline symmetrical structure of two halves, within the vertebrate brain, situated between the cerebral cortex and the midbrain. It is the main product of the embryonic diencephalon, as first assigned by Wilhelm His, Sr. in 1893.

It is a place, or not, suitable for apparitions, for unicorns, and for fairies, ghosts and mythological, Greek and Norse creatures. All strictly painted in the shades of the sky.

Epiphysis Cerebri or the Pineal Gland, is a small endocrine gland in the vertebrate brain. The pineal gland produces melatonin, a serotonin-derived hormone which modulates sleep patterns in both circadian and seasonal cycles. The shape and size of the gland make it resemble a pine nut hence its name. The pineal gland is located in the epithalamus, near the center of the brain, between the two hemispheres, tucked in a groove where the two halves of the thalamus join.

Nearly all vertebrate species possess a pineal gland. The most important exception is a primitive vertebrate, the hagfish. Even in the hagfish, however, there may be a «pineal equivalent» structure in the dorsal diencephalon. The lancelet Branchiostoma lanceolatum, the nearest existing relative to vertebrates, also lacks a recognizable pineal gland. The lamprey (another primitive vertebrate), however, does possess one. A few more developed vertebrates lost pineal glands over the course of their evolution.

The results of various scientific research in evolutionary biology, comparative neuroanatomy and neurophysiology, have explained the phylogeny of the pineal gland in different vertebrate species. From the point of view of biological evolution, the pineal gland represents a kind of atrophied photoreceptor. In the epithalamus of some species of amphibians and reptiles, it is linked to a light-sensing organ, known as the parietal eye, which is also called the pineal eye or third eye.

René Descartes believed the pineal gland to be the «principal seat of the soul». Academic philosophy among his contemporaries considered the pineal gland as a neuroanatomical structure without special metaphysical qualities; science studied it as one endocrine gland among many. However, the pineal gland continues to have an exalted status in the realm of pseudoscience.

It is for me like a castle, protected by a pink atmosphere, where all my creatures, unicorns, seahorses, dogs, cats, geese, birds, fairies, witches, goddesses, butterflies, jellyfish, fish, sharks, horsemen, princes, kings and queens, secrets, spells, colors, paintings, drawings and brushes, can find shelter, protection, and a home.

Dedicated to:

Anna Salemme BarbarossaClara Santin BarbanNina Ljubenko Strauss

Dura Mater / Neuroimage N. 06 / Oil on Canvass / 170x60cm

Uncus / Neuroimage N. 11 / Oil on Canvas / 110x60cm

Epiphysis / Neuroimage N. 33 / Oil on Canvas / 100x60cm

Locus Coeruleus / Neuroimage N. 25 / Oil on Canvas / 160x90cm

Hippocampus / Neuroimage N. 29 / Oil on Canvas / 160x90cm

Celebral Cortex / Neuroimage N. 31 / Oil on Canvas / 160x90cm

Thalamus / Neuroimage N. 32 / Oil on Canvas / 100x60cm

Epiphysis / Neuroimage N. 33 / Oil on Canvas / 100x60cm

2018 XSanctuary Xpon Art Gallery, Hamburg. Curated by Florian Huber

2018 Napoli Goldene Nudel Galerie, Ober-Ramstadt. Curated by Sebastian Weissgerber

2018 100 Districts: Dulsberg Stadtlabor.Dulsberg – HafenCity Univerisity, Hamburg

2018 With Love from Hamburg to Rome First Floor, Rome

2018 United Drawing & Colors Bücherstube am Fleth, Glückstadt. Curated by C. Meyer, Palais Aktuelle Kunst

2018 I’m Trying to Find Silence El Almacén, Berlin. Curated by J. Palombi

2017 Enjoy the Silence Raumpatruoille, Hamburg

2017 100 Selected Drawings Limu, Hamburg

2017 Open Studio 17 Hamburg

2016 Open Studio 16 Hamburg

2013 Second! La Telié, Rome

2012 Pigneto Città Aperta II Galleria 26c, Rome

2011 Pigneto Città Aperta I Galleria 26c, Rome

2010 First! La Telié, Rome

2010 Per Isa Istituto Superiore Arte, Rome

2009 Arcolaio Verde Il Mattone, Rome

2009 Neuro-Immagine Parkinson Cover for Springer Editor, Rome

2009 Xylografiche Spazio Oxygene, Rome

2009 La Frattura del Moderno Alphaville, Rome

1998 Nike & Milo Ferdinand Straße, Naples

EXHIBITIONS

Alessandro Barbarossa

1973 Born in Naples, Italy

1998 Moved to Bologna, Italy

2005 Moved to Rome, Italy

2011 Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma, Graduation in Painting and Visual Art, Rome

2011 Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design, Halle an der Saale, Germany

2012 Business Arte, Hoffmann & Partner, Halle an der Saale, Germany

2013 Moved to Hamburg, Germany

2018 Art Teacher at VHS Schleswig- Holstein, Germany

BIOGRAPHY

I am grateful to Asklepios Medical School for the realisation of this catalogue and exhibition.

Special gratitude to:

Dr. Christoph JermannFor his ongoing support throughtout the organisation of the exhibition and for his contributions to the catalogue.

PD Dr. med. Christof TerborgFor the speech at the Vernissage.

Jill Tegan DohertyFor her support, art, and friendship.

Katja SchynawaFor his ongoing support throughtout the organisation of the exhibition.

Nikola Sauter-WenzlerFor the cooperation.

Lena van LeuvensteijnFor the cooperation.

Maximus ChatskyFor the graphic design and photos.

Kuratorin Claudia Meyer For the installation and speech.

Claudia HöhneFor my photo portrait.

Lara Dudekof NDR Norddeutscher Rundfunk.

Dr. Francesco BarbanTo introduce me in the Neuroscience and explain me the Mindfulness.

Dipl.- Psych. Dmitri StraussFor his ongoing support my art.

THANKS

Alessandro Barbarossa© 2018