Following their exhibition at Red Gate Gallery earlier this year, the ‘2 Mad Docs’ are returning for a second exhibition of paintings and photographs. The ‘2 Mad Docs’ are Nora Rahman who is a GP in London and Vaikunthan Rajaratnam who is a surgeon in Birmingham. This exhibition explores the link between the practice of doctors and artists; the powers of observation and interpretation.

Nora’s current collection of paintings is entitled ‘Hands on Nature’ which is inspired by her recent travels both locally and abroad. She tries to capture the constant change of nature’s beauty and the transient delight of cyclical changes; daylight to night, weather changes and the wonderful seasons are evoked in her current series. She has used her hands to take snapshots of nature’s beauty.
Most of us have childhood memories of dipping our fingers into thick gooey paint and having a fantastic time. Fingers are great for painting. This process has captured Nora’s interests as she has continued to pursue this unusual process of producing art. She finds it very sensual, relaxing and therapeutic, allowing her to connect with her work. By employing a wider colour palette she has produced some exciting and engaging new work. Her love of art has continued to help her with her medical practice and enabled her to help her patients focus on the positive aspects of their health.

Raj continues his photographic series on the hand, entitled ‘The Working Hands’. For a surgeon, one of the most important functions of the hand is vocational. Raj has framed the hand in various settings being used to earn a livelihood – from the most gross and power grips to the more fine and subtle positions of the hand. He uses digital photography in his extended role as a surgical educator to impart surgical skills to his trainees to document the hand at work in its various settings. Some of these photographs are from his travels and from his work environment.

Private View: Saturday 24th of October 2009 – 6 pm to 11 pm
Exhibition runs from: Friday 23rd to Thursday 29th of October 2009
Gallery Opening Hours: Fri, Sat, Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs: 2.30 pm – 6.30 pm
Sun: 5pm to 10.30pm
Last day of Exhibition: Thurs 29th of October: 11.00am to 5.00pm

Two Mad Docs An exhibition of works by Nora Rahman and Vaikunthan Rajaratnam

20. Feb – 5. Mar 09 / endedRed Gate Gallery

Fri from 2.30pm

Two Mad Docs

Private View: Friday 20th of February 2009 – 6 pm to 11 pm
Exhibition runs from: Friday 20th of February to 5th of March 2008
Gallery Opening Hours: Fri, Sat, Mon, Tues, Wed: 2.30 pm – 6.30 pm
Last day of Exhibition: Thurs 5th of March: 11.00am to 5.00pm

‘The two mad docs’ are two professional doctors who have been practicing medicine for the last 30 years, and having worked and lived in the Far East prior to moving to the UK in 2000.
Though not artists by trade and training, in this collection they have compiled their personal interpretation of the ‘Art of Medicine’. The exhibition includes paintings and digital photographs of the body; expressing the beauty of medicine and surgery, and giving these doctors, who ordinarily spend so much of their time caring for patients and others, the chance to explore their inner soul and imaginations.
Nora, with some formal art training in her youth, now continues to explore her creative side with drawings, paintings and more recently, pottery, glass fusion and Raku. In spite of her busy schedule as a full time doctor working in the city and bringing up 2 children, Nora has found the time to express herself in some exciting new work – experimenting with finger painting, an extremely therapeutic technique, and producing some surprising and engaging work. Her most recent pieces delve into the emotional side of medicine as seen from her perspective as a doctor.
Raj, a hand surgeon currently working in Birmingham, is passionate about the beauty of the body parts he works with every day. With more than 2 decades of experience in educating and training surgeons worldwide using digital photography in his teaching practices, he has now transferred these skills to the world of art in order to explore through the camera, the fascinating world of hand surgery in more detail. This collection of his digital work showcases a variety of models; the young, the old, the healthy, and diseased, and gives an insider’s view of hand surgery in all its glory.
As part of the private viewing night Nora & Raj will invite visitors to join in a happening of live collective finger and hand painting – participants are able to re-discover the fun, interaction and creativity of past playschool memories. The collective finger/hand paintings will with permission of the participants be exhibited in Nora & Raj’s next project.