John Gurche presents The Ancestral Connection at the 10th Standard Bank/PAST lecture

[Standard Bank Team]

The paleo-artist brings together science and art by using fossils to create life-like reconstructions of our human ancestors that roamed the earth millions of years ago.

John Gurche is an American scientist and artist who creates hauntingly realistic sculptures from palaeontological findings. For the 10th Annual Standard Bank/PAST Keynote Lecture Gurche explores The Ancestral Connection: Portraits of our Prehistoric Human Family at the Wits Great Hall in Johannesburg on 16 October 2014.

The Palaeontological Scientific Trust (PAST) is a non-profit trust dedicated to preserving Africa’s rich fossil heritage, and funding ongoing scientific research on the continent. Through Standard Bank Group’s sponsorship of the Annual Lecture Series, PAST exposes South Africans to the world’s leading origin scientists.

With a BA in Geology, focussing on palaeontology, and an MA in Anthropology, John Gurche has spent three decades decoding fossils. Through painstaking work, he brings our ancestors to life, blending artistry with anatomy. His sculptures are a tangible link to our antecedents, who would otherwise be abstract bones and skulls. Adding flesh, hair and skin gives us a much stronger connection with where we came from and of our unique evolutionary path that began in Africa and for which South Africa's Cradle of Humankind contributes valuable fossil evidence.

Widely recognised for his depictions of prehistoric life, Gurche’s work has been on display at the American Museum of Natural History, the Field Museum of Natural History and the Smithsonian Institution. Currently an artist-in-residence at the Museum of the Earth’s Paleontological Research Institute in Ithaca, New York, Gurche received the Lansendorf Paleo Art Prize from the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology in 2000 for his mural of Sue the Tyrannosaurus, a piece which accompanies the dinosaur's skeleton at the Field Museum.

Gurche’s book, Shaping Humanity: How Science, Art, and Imagination Help Us Understand Our Origins (Yale University Press) gives more insight on his methods, which is usually a collaborative effort with dinosaur and hominid fossil experts. As is so often the case, interpretation leaves room for debate and Gurche talks candidly about his controversial depictions.

To delve deeper into Gurche’s work and our own history, be sure to attend the 10th Annual Standard Bank/PAST Keynote Lecture The Ancestral Connection: Portraits of our Prehistoric Human Family at the Wits Great Hall in Johannesburg 16 October 2014 at 18.30. Entrance is free so get there early to claim your seat.

Read more about John Gurche and his work at www.gurche.com. For more information on the important work of PAST that Standard Bank Group supports, visit www.past.org.za.