Hunter Cole is an artist and geneticist. She reinterprets science as art through the creation of living artworks, abstractions, digital art and installations confronting issues related to biotechnology in our culture.

Early life and education

Hunter Cole was known as Hunter O'Reilly until January 2009. She has a bachelor's degree from the

University of California-Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant univ ...

and a Ph.D. in Genetics from the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...

.Ludwig, Stephanie. "Hunter O’Reilly: Finds the Art in Pathology."
''Breakthroughs Magazine: College of Natural Resources'' (University of California – Berkeley) Fall 2007.

Career

''Living Light: Photographs by the Light of Bioluminescent Bacteria'' exhibitions

Hunter Cole has created several photographic series that incorporate the medium of bioluminescent bacteria. Entitled, ''Living Light: Photographs by the Light of Bioluminescent Bacteria,'' the series include ''Living Drawings,'' ''Bioluminescent Portraits and Installations,'' ''Bioluminescent Weddings,'' and ''Bioluminescent Nudes,'' each its own thematic grouping of images which will be shown in a solo exhibition at the ARC Gallery in Chicago in January 2018. The ''Bioluminescent Nudes'' series is the most recent starting in 2017. In ''Living Drawings'' Cole created drawings with living bioluminescent bacteria and photographed them as they grow and die. Cole has also photographed artists and scientists, wedding photographs, and nudes by the light of bioluminescent bacteria. One of the biological functions of bioluminescence in nature is communication for mating. Cole is recognized among the innovators in the art/science genre, and is one of the first artists to produce significant works using bioluminescent light. ''Living Light: Photographs by the Light of Bioluminescent Bacteria'' have been discussed recently in ''Interalia Magazine,''"Living Light: Bioluminescent Art."
''Interalia Magazine'' December 2016. ''Art the Science,''Pederson, Alex. " Creators-Hunter Cole."
''Art the Science'' October 7, 2016. ''PNAS,''Madhusoodanan, Jyoti. "Science and Culture: Petri palettes create microbial masterpieces."
''PNAS'' October 4, 2016. ''Clot Magazine,'' and ''MEDinArt.'' Images of the ''Living Light'' series have been shown at several group exhibitions including ''Cognitive Bias: Visual thinking for a digital age'' at the Drawing Room, London, England, ''Fusion: Art Inspired by Science'' at the Westchester Community College Center For The Arts, White Plains, NY, ''Head, Shoulders, Genes & Toes'' at Florida State University Museum of Fine Arts in Tallahassee, Florida, ''Post Natural'' at The ISIS Gallery at the University of Notre Dame in conjunction with the Society for Literature, Science and Art Conference in Notre Dame, Indiana, and ''Vital Signs'' at New York Hall of Science, Queens New York.

''Living Drawings'' exhibitions

She is creating a series of ''Living Drawings'' with bioluminescent bacteria. These ''Living Drawings'' depict the cycle of life and death calling attention to our own mortality. Cole creates controlled line drawings using bioluminescent bacteria. The bacteria then grow in the host environment. Bacteria become collaborators in the art as it grows and dies. First appearing with bright light, bacteria in the drawing are photographed as it uses up available nutrients, gradually dying-off over a two-week period. Cole's ''Living Drawings'' have been discussed recently in ''Interalia Magazine,'' ''Art the Science,'' ''PNAS,'', ''Clot Magazine,''Criado, Lula. "Hunter Cole."
''Clot Magazine'' January 2016. and ''MEDinArt.''Hatzis, Vasia. "Hunter Cole: Living Drawings with Bioluminescent Bacteria."
''MEDinART'' October 2015. The cover of the April 2004 issue of ''Nature Genetics'' featured one of these ''Living Drawings''.
(April 2004): cover.
(April 2004): cover. Cole's Living Drawings have been a part of several group exhibitions such as ''Cognitive Bias: Visual thinking for a digital age'' at the Drawing Room in London, UK in 2016, ''Fusion: Art Inspired by Science'' at Westchester Community College Center for the Arts in White Plains, NY in 2016, and ''It's Alive! A Laboratory of BioTech Art'', at

Montserrat College of Art Montserrat College of Art is a private, non-profit art college located in Beverly within Essex County of Massachusetts. The school is accredited by both the New England Commission of Higher Education and the National Association of Schools of A ...

in Beverly, Massachusetts in 2007.Weir, Kirsten. "Biotechnology on display: A gallery-turned-laboratory fuses art and science."
''www.the-scientist.com'' 9 March 2007.Schoonmaker, Rebecca. "Montserrat comes ‘Alive’ with a new show melding science and art."
''The Eagle-Tribune'' 16 February 2007.Cook, Greg. "Culture War Games."
''The Phoenix'' (Boston, MA) 27 March 2007. Cole's ''Living Drawings'' have had solo shows at the Loyola University Museum of Art in Chicago, Illinois in 2006
''Chicago Tribune'' 7 April 2006. and the Honors College at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan in 2005.

Academia

Cole is often listed with other artists who create what is often referred to as bioart.Philipkoski, Kristen. "Behold: ‘Ebola Is Beautiful."
''www.wired.com'' 19 August 2002.Herrera, Stephan. "Eduardo Kac."
''Nature Biotechnology'' 23.11 (November 2005): 1331. Cole has taught both biology and art at Loyola University Chicago, the

University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee The University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (UW–Milwaukee, UWM, or Milwaukee) is a public urban research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It is the largest university in the Milwaukee metropolitan area and a member of the University of Wiscon ...

and the

University of Wisconsin–Parkside The University of Wisconsin–Parkside (UWP) is a public university in Somers, Wisconsin. It is part of the University of Wisconsin System and has 4,644 students, 161 full-time faculty, and 89 lecturers and part-time faculty. The university o ...

. She joined the faculty in the Biology Department at Loyola University Chicago in the Fall 2004.''Inside Loyola'' (News for Faculty and Staff of Loyola University Chicago)
June/July 2005. Notedly, in 2001, Cole created a course, ''Biology through Art'', first offered at

, where students have opportunities to create innovative artworks in a biology laboratory.Cole, Kevin. "Art and Science 101, Deconstructing Hunter: Will the Real Bionic Woman Please Stand Up?"
''Dialogue: the art, architecture, and design journal of the Heartland'' July/August 2003. Currently she teaches this course at Loyola University Chicago. ''Biology through Art'' helps students from all disciplines to think outside the box. This course focuses on several areas in the biological sciences from molecular biology to human anatomy. Students view microorganisms; use DNA as an artistic medium, create music based on DNA sequence, and see anatomy as art. Contemporary artists that use biological concepts and biological materials in their art are discussed. Beginning Fall 2008 at Loyola University Chicago, Cole taught a new course she created titled, '' BioArt: Exploring Living Organisms through Art''. The course focuses on art that incorporates living organisms. The course will also look at art that incorporates actual blood as a medium in the art. With her extensive laboratory experience, Cole brings a unique and challenging perspective to the world of biotechnology via art.

Grants and commissions

Cole has received grants from the Chicago Community Arts Assistance Program, the

Puffin Foundation The Puffin Foundation, established in 1983, is a non-profit organization that aims to amplify the voices of minorities who may underrepresented due to their race, gender, social philosophy, etc. The foundation achieves this mission of fostering ...

and the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

Life Sciences, Values and Society Program to create art for exhibitions reinterpreting science as art looking at positive aspects of biotechnology. In 2006 the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late ...

commissioned her to create paintings based on cancer genomics and cancer proteomics.

''Genetic Revelations'' and ''Radioactive Biohazard'' exhibitions

Cole's exhibition ''Genetic Revelations'' was presented at the University of Alabama School of Public Health in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

from January to April 2004.Stannard, Jennifer. "O'Reilly Art Exhibit Fuses Art and Science."
''Kaleidoscope'' 17 February 2004. ''Radioactive Biohazard'' showed the Porter Butts Gallery at the University of Wisconsin–Madison in January/February 2003, 2at the Warren Robbins Gallery at the University of Michigan in September 2002,Provenzano, Frank. "DNArtist: The lab inspires geneticist's artwork, on exhibit at U-M."
''Detroit Free Press'' 4 September 2002.
''Ann Arbor News'' 14 September 2002.
''The University Record'' (University of Michigan) 3 September 2002. and at the Walker's Point Center for the Arts (Milwaukee) in 2001.
''AbsoluteArts.com Arts News'' 20 April 2001. In the ''Radioactive Biohazard'' exhibit, Cole confronts issues related to human cloning, stem cell research, and the human genome project, among others. Cole's art has been shown internationally including New York, San Francisco, England, Italy, Japan and the Czech Republic.

Journal covers

Cole's art also has been featured on the covers of several scientific journals including ''Nature Biotechnology'' (July 2005),
(July 2005): cover. ''Nature Genetics'' (April 2004), ''Genetics in Medicine'' (September/October 2002; November/December 1999
(November/December 1999): cover.), ''Nature Reviews Genetics'' (September 2001;
(September 2001): cover.
(September 2001): cover. August 2001;
(August 2001): cover.
(August 2001): cover. January 2001
(January 2001): cover.
(January 2001): cover.), ''Trends in Ecology and Evolution'' (June 2001),''Trends in Ecology and Evolution'' 16.6 (June 2001): cover. ''Developmental Dynamics'' (September 2000),
(September 2000): cover. ''The EMBO Journal'' (December 15, 1999);
(December 15, 1999: cover.
(December 15, 1999): cover. November 2, 1998;
(November 2, 1998): cover.
(November 2, 1998): cover. (August 3, 1998)
(August 3, 1998): cover.
(August 3, 1998): cover. and ''Neural Notes'' (Winter 1999).
(Winter 1999): cover.

Articles

Cole co-authored a paper on "Art and Genetics" with Joe Davis, Dana Boyd and Marek Wieczorek published in the ''Encyclopedia of Life Sciences (ELS)''.Joe Davis, Dana Boyd, Hunter O’Reilly and Marek Wieczorek. "Art and Genetics."
''Encyclopedia of Life Sciences (ELS)'' ed. 2006. Cole has been the subject of numerous newspaper and magazine articles. Publications that have discussed Cole's work in art and science, among others, include ''Science'',
''Science'' 26 July 2002. ''The Scientist'',
''The Scientist'' 11 November 2002.
''The Scientist'' 30 September 2002. the ''Chicago Tribune'', ''Detroit Free Press'',Provenzano, Frank. "Biotechnology and ethics." ''Detroit Free Press'' 4 September 2002. ''Muy Interesante''Sacristán, Alejandro. "Genes con arte." ''Muy Interesante'' March 2003. (Spain) in Spain, ''Le Monde''"Désirs de Clonage." ''Le Monde'' 28 December 2002. (France) in France and ''Beaux Arts magazine''
''Beaux Arts magazine'' November 2002. (France) in France. Additionally, Cole has presented seminars on bioart at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

(MIT) and at the Dialogue Between Science and Art Workshop in Hluboka, Czech Republic.

References

External links

Hunter Cole's official websiteHunter Cole's Colorful and Figurative Prints
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Hunter Cole on FacebookHunter Cole on Instagram
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cole, Hunter Living people Loyola University Chicago faculty University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Agricultural and Life Sciences alumni University of California, Berkeley alumni BioArtists American geneticists New media artists American conceptual artists University of Wisconsin–Parkside faculty 1971 births