Genomic Portrait
Marc Quinn, 2001
Commissioned with the support of The Wellcome Trust,
National Portrait Gallery 6591, 6592(1)
This double portrait of the geneticist John Sulston comprising of a realistic photograph and a sample of the sitter’s DNA in agar jelly mounted in stainless steel. It challenges the viewer to consider the accuracy of different forms of portraiture and underlines the complexity of our understanding of personal identity and descent.
