The 2022 exhibition Me, My Brain and I used brain-shaped sculpture to explore identity, memory and the experience of living with Parkinson’s.
Presented by Parkinson’s UK at Koppel X in Piccadilly Circus, the exhibition included work by Alex Echo, Gavin Turk, Tracey Emin, Geoff Uglo, LUAP, Nick Veasey and Schoony.
The brain as memory, machine and self
The project asked artists to visualise the organ that holds experience, skills and personality while also controlling movement and perception.
Several sculptures had first appeared at The Other Art Fair in 2021, while the Piccadilly presentation added new works and made the full display available without charge.
Alex Echo, diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2020, created Tremor as a visual account of the condition. He described art as a state in which time, worry and the illness temporarily receded.
Participation beyond the finished sculptures
Daily workshops led by Echo and LUAP invited visitors of all ages to design their own brain images. Selected contributions were later considered for display on the Piccadilly Lights.
The exhibition addressed a condition with more than 40 possible symptoms, including tremor, pain, depression and anxiety. Its visual approach challenged the common reduction of Parkinson’s to shaking alone.
After the public display, the sculptures were auctioned to support research into treatments and a cure.
Me, My Brain and I joined scientific awareness with personal interpretation. The repeated brain form created a common structure, while each artist transformed it according to different experiences of memory, creativity and neurological change.