News

A giant and flashy brain sculpture now in front of the LCSB

  • 28 septembre 2020
  • Thème
    Sciences de la vie & médecine

On the 22nd of September, the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB) inaugurated the new location of the sculpture from the “Mind the Brain” exhibition painted by the artist Eric Mangen, now installed in front of one of the LCSB buildings.

The exhibition “Mind the Brain”, organised in 2019, marked the 10LCSB anniversary of the th. Combining art with science, it exhibited 10 giant sculptures in the shape of a brain throughout the city centre of Luxembourg. Each of the giant brain was painted by a renowned Luxembourgish artist and represented one of the research areas of the LCSB, thus offering a gateway to biomedical science for the public.

At the end of the exhibition the 10 sculptures were sold to support both Luxembourgish art and biomedical research. While some of the sculptures were bought by private buyers, some of them can still be seen around the country. In Luxembourg city, you can still see Stick’s sculpture on the Banque Internationale de Luxembourg’s forecourt and Frank Jon’s one at the International School of Luxembourg. Going south, you can check out Raphael Gindt’s sculpture in Dudelange, Daniel Mac Lloyd’s in Esch-sur-Alzette, Marc Pierrard’s in Belval Parc and Alain’s Welter’s will soon be installed in Pétange.

The LCSB purchased the brain sculpture of Eric Mangen, representing epilepsy, which you can still contemplate in Belval in front of the LCSB’s building Biotech II. To mark this recent acquisition, the LCSB organised on the 22nd of September, an inauguration in the presence of the artist and the mayor of Sanem community. “I was happy to participate to the project Mind the Brain and to see the sculpture now installed here in Belval. The painting of the sculpture was a real challenge because of the size and unusual shape, and I had a lot of thinking for the choice of colors. I wanted colors that would flash and, at the same time, last in time. After some research, I discovered that the paint used on Luxembourgish ambulances was ideal for these purposes and this is why you can still see the brain from far away!” says Eric Mangen, the artist.

“It makes me really happy to see Eric’s sculpture installed in front of our building” points out Prof. Rudi Balling, director of the LCSB. “Not only for its design and flashy colors but also for what it represents. The sculpture in the shape of a brain conveys so well what the LCSB is all about.” For 10 years, the LCSB has brought together “brains” from all over the world to solve burning questions about brain diseases. Some of our talents have studied biology or medicine, others mathematics, computer science or physics. Combining people with different backgrounds and expertise into one interdisciplinary team creates more than the sums of its part and helps us find creative solutions to complex problems.

 

Pictures: © University of Luxembourg