Giovanni Intra: Side Effects examines the inner workings of Giovanni Intra (1968-2002) as he traversed the social impacts of modern medical theory upon society. During the 1990s, Intra formed an observational critique of Western medicine, identifying it as a substitute for religious phenomena. Intra considered art and science to be contaminants of each other, as opposing protagonists, reactive to new technological and social advances. He identified the significance of photography and its role in medical science, particularly in pathology, the study of disease and injury. The works in Side Effects acknowledge these psychoanalytical realisations of Intra’s, proposing reconsideration and relevancy in a present-day context.

Giovanni Intra was an artist, art writer, curator and gallerist working between Aotearoa New Zealand, where he grew up, and the United States. He co-founded artist-run spaces Teststrip (1992-1997) in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland and China Art Objects (1999-) in Los Angeles alongside close friends. Intra completed a Master of Fine Arts at the Elam School of Fine Arts, The University of Auckland Waipapa Taumata Rau, in 1993 and was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to study Critical Theory at ArtCenter in Pasadena, California in 1996.

Giovanni Intra: Side Effects is a research-led exhibition realised through key works in the Dunedin Public Art Gallery collection, supported by archival material from the E H McCormick Research Library and private loans. Curated by Anna McLean, Side Effects has been developed through the Dunedin Public Art Gallery Curatorial Internship with support from Creative New Zealand Toi Aotearoa.