Timo Viialainen's exhibition PALA
22.8.2026 - 15.9.2026
00.00 - 00.00
Gallery Mältinranta, Kuninkaankatu 2, 33210 Tampere
Johanna Naukkarinen's exhibition Attractive Specimen examines gender roles in medical history anatomical illustrations and the history of medical sexism.
Johanna Naukkarinen: Attractive Specimen
Galleria Mältinranta
Kuninkaankatu 2, 33210 Tampere
22.8-15.9.2026
What would it be like to study human anatomy with pin-up images? And what would a feminine autopsy table look like?
Johanna Naukkarinen's exhibition Attractive Specimen examines the gender roles of medical anatomy illustrations and the history of medical sexism. At its core are digital image collages, photographs and fictional infographics that explore the position of the body defined as female as an object of scientific observation. The exhibition is structured as an imaginary museum where the history of science and art collide.
At a time when the conservative movement seeks to limit the right of women and sexual minorities to know about their own bodies, Naukkarinen uses historical examples to illustrate the sexist traditions of medicine. In the images selected from different eras, women are presented as bodily spectacles, similar to art historical images. Sometimes more directly, sometimes more enigmatically, Attractive Specimen asks: who is allowed to appear as a neutral image of knowledge that studies humans?
One of the central themes of the exhibition is the tradition of autopsy paintings at the interface between scientific and artistic imagery. For centuries, male bodies were a standard image in painting, until in the 19th century, dead women also appeared in autopsy paintings, which brought new aesthetic conventions to the genre. Naukkarinen brings together autopsy paintings from different centuries and compares their gender roles.
The exhibition space also features the controversial textbook The Anatomical Basis of Medical Practice (1971). It originated at Duke University in North Carolina, when a group of male professors wanted to reform the learning materials for first-year medical students. Their decision to commission pin-up-style images of female anatomy from Playboy photographers for the book caused a stir. At the same time, it brought to light the sexism that prevailed in medical schools in the early 1970s. In his book on the book, Naukkarinen dismantles its imagery as if it were imaginary health posters.
In the preface to the anatomy textbook, the authors state that the book should prepare medical students for the arrival of exceptionally beautiful women (attractive, well-turned specimens) at their future appointments. The depiction of women as “attractive specimens” is part of a long continuum of medical sexism, but as the title of the exhibition, it is now also part of Naukkarinen’s long-term artistic work exploring gender roles in the history of medicine.
The exhibition is supported by the Arts Promotion Centre of Finland, the Finnish Cultural Foundation (Southwest Finland) and an anonymous donor. The table in the poster was created by sculptor Eero Nives.
Johanna Naukkarinen (b.1988, Kuopio) is a Turku-based photographic artist who has worked with themes from the history of medicine since 2015. Naukkarinen graduated as a visual artist from the Turku University of Applied Sciences' Academy of Arts and a Master of Philosophy in Media Studies from the University of Turku. Her solo exhibitions have been seen in galleries all over Finland, such as the Turku Art Museum Studio, Galleria Huudo, GalleriA and Photo Centre Peri. Naukkarinen's works are in the collections of the Turku Art Museum, the City of Turku, the Kuopio Art Museum and private individuals.
Johanna Naukkarinen:
Attractive Specimen
When medical professors taught anatomy with Playboy pictures
An old, worn anatomy textbook is on display in a display case. When you stop to look at its pages, you notice that the book presents anatomy using Playboy models. The exhibition Attractive Specimen by photographer Johanna Naukkarinen brings a rare and controversial anatomy textbook to Galleria Mältinranta and examines its possible connections to why women's health is still in the shadow of medicine.
The media has recently highlighted the gender distortion of medicine. Many common diseases that affect women in particular are under-researched, and in some emergency situations, life-threatening symptoms typical of women are not recognized. Women treat gynecological symptoms at their own expense in private healthcare.
For a decade, Johanna Naukkarinen has depicted in her art the challenging relationship between medical historical imagery and women. In these imagery, female figures are often depicted in a more eroticized manner than male figures, according to the art historical conventions of the time. This emphasizes the binding of medical knowledge to the cultural norms of the time. In her works, which play with the aesthetics of the history of science, Naukkarinen highlights confusing phenomena from the history of medicine, which nevertheless resonate with the experiences of many women today.
Galleria Mältinranta
Kuninkaankatu 2, 33210 Tampere
22.8-15.9.2026
What would it be like to study human anatomy with pin-up images? And what would a feminine autopsy table look like?
Johanna Naukkarinen's exhibition Attractive Specimen examines the gender roles of medical anatomy illustrations and the history of medical sexism. At its core are digital image collages, photographs and fictional infographics that explore the position of the body defined as female as an object of scientific observation. The exhibition is structured as an imaginary museum where the history of science and art collide.
At a time when the conservative movement seeks to limit the right of women and sexual minorities to know about their own bodies, Naukkarinen uses historical examples to illustrate the sexist traditions of medicine. In the images selected from different eras, women are presented as bodily spectacles, similar to art historical images. Sometimes more directly, sometimes more enigmatically, Attractive Specimen asks: who is allowed to appear as a neutral image of knowledge that studies humans?
One of the central themes of the exhibition is the tradition of autopsy paintings at the interface between scientific and artistic imagery. For centuries, male bodies were a standard image in painting, until in the 19th century, dead women also appeared in autopsy paintings, which brought new aesthetic conventions to the genre. Naukkarinen brings together autopsy paintings from different centuries and compares their gender roles.
The exhibition space also features the controversial textbook The Anatomical Basis of Medical Practice (1971). It originated at Duke University in North Carolina, when a group of male professors wanted to reform the learning materials for first-year medical students. Their decision to commission pin-up-style images of female anatomy from Playboy photographers for the book caused a stir. At the same time, it brought to light the sexism that prevailed in medical schools in the early 1970s. In his book on the book, Naukkarinen dismantles its imagery as if it were imaginary health posters.
In the preface to the anatomy textbook, the authors state that the book should prepare medical students for the arrival of exceptionally beautiful women (attractive, well-turned specimens) at their future appointments. The depiction of women as “attractive specimens” is part of a long continuum of medical sexism, but as the title of the exhibition, it is now also part of Naukkarinen’s long-term artistic work exploring gender roles in the history of medicine.
The exhibition is supported by the Arts Promotion Centre of Finland, the Finnish Cultural Foundation (Southwest Finland) and an anonymous donor. The table in the poster was created by sculptor Eero Nives.
Johanna Naukkarinen (b.1988, Kuopio) is a Turku-based photographic artist who has worked with themes from the history of medicine since 2015. Naukkarinen graduated as a visual artist from the Turku University of Applied Sciences' Academy of Arts and a Master of Philosophy in Media Studies from the University of Turku. Her solo exhibitions have been seen in galleries all over Finland, such as the Turku Art Museum Studio, Galleria Huudo, GalleriA and Photo Centre Peri. Naukkarinen's works are in the collections of the Turku Art Museum, the City of Turku, the Kuopio Art Museum and private individuals.
Johanna Naukkarinen:
Attractive Specimen
When medical professors taught anatomy with Playboy pictures
An old, worn anatomy textbook is on display in a display case. When you stop to look at its pages, you notice that the book presents anatomy using Playboy models. The exhibition Attractive Specimen by photographer Johanna Naukkarinen brings a rare and controversial anatomy textbook to Galleria Mältinranta and examines its possible connections to why women's health is still in the shadow of medicine.
The media has recently highlighted the gender distortion of medicine. Many common diseases that affect women in particular are under-researched, and in some emergency situations, life-threatening symptoms typical of women are not recognized. Women treat gynecological symptoms at their own expense in private healthcare.
For a decade, Johanna Naukkarinen has depicted in her art the challenging relationship between medical historical imagery and women. In these imagery, female figures are often depicted in a more eroticized manner than male figures, according to the art historical conventions of the time. This emphasizes the binding of medical knowledge to the cultural norms of the time. In her works, which play with the aesthetics of the history of science, Naukkarinen highlights confusing phenomena from the history of medicine, which nevertheless resonate with the experiences of many women today.