Yulia Pinkusevich, โ€œNuclear Sun Seriesโ€ (2010), charcoal on paper.Courtesy of the artist and Rob Campodonico, ยฉ Yulia Pinkusevich.

For Dear Life: Art, Medicine, and Disability

A new exhibition explores how artists with disabilities and chronic illnesses have used their experiences to confront societal norms surrounding health and the body.

For Dear Life: Art, Medicine, and Disability at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego provides a fresh perspective on wellness, illness, and disability. The exhibition explores how artists with disabilities and chronic illnesses have navigated their challenges and used their experiences to confront societal norms surrounding health and the body.

Tracing how disability and illness themes have been portrayed in art since the 1960s, For Dear Life takes an inclusive approach to disability, reflecting not only individuals with clear diagnoses, but also those dealing with chronic conditions, mental health challenges, and mobility impairments. Many of the featured artists use their personal experiences with illness or disability as a means of artistic empowerment, confronting medical narratives, and offering new ways of understanding the body, vulnerability, and healing.


One of the most compelling aspects of the exhibition is its focus on the sickbed as a site of creative production. For many artists coping with illness or disability, their homes, beds, and even hospital rooms became spaces for artistic expression. These environments, typically seen as passive backdrops, were reimagined as sites of innovation and transformation.

At its core, For Dear Life emphasizes the importance of collaboration and mutual care in navigating illness and disability. Many of the artists in the exhibition have worked closely with medical professionals, fellow artists, and community activists, creating new relationships of support and solidarity. The exhibition also draws on the powerful histories of collective support during the HIV/AIDS epidemic when artists in cities like New York and Los Angeles not only created art but also supported each other through the crisis.


More than a survey of artistic responses to health, For Dear Life is a call to rethink our relationships with our bodies, illnesses, and each other. By portraying illness and disability as generative experiences, the exhibition reminds viewers that vulnerability, care, and collaboration are central to the human experience, and that art can heal, challenge, and help build a more compassionate and inclusive world.

Riva Lehrer, Riva and Zora in Middle Age, 2006, gouache on paper, 36 ร— 24 inches.

Riva Lehrer is celebrated for her poignant portraits depicting individuals with disabilities, which challenge traditional notions of portraiture by presenting disabled bodies as worthy subjects and emphasizing their nonnormative beauty. Her work, characterized by realistic renderings and deep emotional connections with her subjectsโ€”many of whom are influential figures in disability studies and social justiceโ€”articulates a vibrant aesthetic of disability that highlights the profound presence and beauty found in those who navigate social stigma.

Yvonne Rainer, Still from Hand Movie, 1966, 8mm film transferred to video; black-and-white, silent; 8 minutes.

โ€œI was very ill, but I could move my hand,โ€ recalls the dancer, choreographer, and filmmaker Yvonne Rainer about the circumstances of her first cinematic foray, a short film entitled Hand Movie, recorded in 1966 as the choreographer recovered from major surgery.

Cite this Article

Issues, . โ€œFor Dear Life: Art, Medicine, and Disability.โ€ Issues in Science and Technology 41, no. 2 (Winter 2025): 52โ€“58. https://doi.org/10.58875/AGNE5599

Vol. XLI, No. 2, Winter 2025