Swine flu as a work of art

I said from the outset of this blog that I wanted to look at how artists 'saw' swine flu. It may seem slightly politically incorrect to use something as potentially fatal as swine flu for inspiration but artists have always used major events in our society in that way. But hats off to artist Luke Jerram who has shown swine flu in a whole new light with his art of the virus as a glass sculpture. Most photos you see used in newspapers are coloured in to make them look a bit more dramatic but Luke has shown that in its true transparent state it is equally captivating. His exhibition, Virology, opens at The Smithfield Gallery in London today and runs until October 3. My thanks to Luke for permission to use the picture (above).

State of the art

Like any major event, swine flu has inspired artists to come up with some creative work. Here are just a few of the posters from zazzle.com.

Patient Zero

.
Who was the first person in the world to get swine flu? Experts are divided between a six-month-old child in Mexico and five-year-old Edgar Hernandez. But Edgar is the one who has caught the attention of the world media (well babies are more difficult to interview) and Edgar even has a statue of himself. The sculptor was Bernardo Luis Artasanchez who seemed to share the net's belief that there is something significant in being the first. The statue is called Nino Cero – Little Boy Zero and it stands in Edgar's home town of La Gloria, Mexico. It may be doing some good. It's starting to attract tourists to the small town, no doubt giving a welcome boost to the economy. But others are unhappy at their town becoming infamous as the place where swine flu started.