Bodies, Bodies, Bodies: raffish vulnerability and profane ambivalence
June 15th – August 26th
Pen + Brush is excited to present Bodies, bodies, bodies: raffish vulnerability and profane ambivalence. Artists in the exhibition pull back the veil on submission, loss, desire, vulnerability, and the body’s ability to symbolize actualities about the turbulent human experience.
The human body has long been a source of interest and expression for artists to visualize the complexities of race, ethnicity, gender, and sex. But here, we add a new layer to dealings of the body in contemporary art: the body as a metaphor and a point of departure during times of increased global awareness and social and political shifts. Works featured range from more literal depictions of the human body to fragmented abstractions and metaphorical illusions—all marked by unconventionality and the weight of, often, mixed, or conflicting emotions.
The formal use of shapes and line become a metaphor for the human body. Absence becomes a metaphor for nostalgic memories or fearful anxieties. Expressions of the mind are conveyed without regard for the body, and in doing so, universalisms emerge that are inseparable from the human experience. Ambivalent thoughts are publicly weighted, irresolution pervades, and conventional hierarchies of the body are profanely rejected.
Artists: Svetlana Bailey, Jennifer R. A. Campbell, Angela Cappetta, Paola Martínez Fiterre, Heather Goodwind, Tatana Kellner, Phoebe Quin Kong, Rosemary Meza-DesPlas, Afla Rós Pétursdóttir, Emily Blair Quinn, Lauren Amalia Redding, Val Sivilli, Shamona Stokes, Aleksandra Stone, Suzanne Unrein, Shihori Yamamoto
38″ x 30.75″
