December 8 – January 18, 2022
Claudia Bitran | Paulina Freifeld | Alessandra Del Gatto | Eden Taff | Philemona Williamson
Chemicals and pollutants, stress, and anxieties all add a certain weight to the body. Bodies are fertile grounds for physical and emotional toxins—from the air we breathe to the company we keep. Absorbing or “taking these in” is easy and comes naturally to social beings in search of connection.
In this collectively organized exhibit, Body Burdens is an exploration of the multiple ways in which emotional toxins are held in the body. Curators worked with local female-identifying artists to produce a collection of figurative paintings that present both mental and physical responses to intense, indescribable feelings. Allocating the role of curator to 17 people already challenges traditional modes of organization within a gallery space. However, it also produces a burden when the collective body tries to express itself. Disruptions in communication and decision-making were common, but ultimately this process widened the scope of consideration for what Body Burdens means.
Here, art is used as a mode of secretion, transformation, and relief to articulate the manifestation of stressors on the body. But what happens when we’ve absorbed more than our bodies can hold? How do our bodies communicate the dangers of excess to us? How do we go about identifying these bodies’ burdens, and releasing them?
Taking into consideration the history of representation—especially that of female bodies—Body Burdens grapples with the ways our bodies communicate the dangers of excess to us, how we go about identifying these bodies’ burdens, and finally, how we release them.
This group show was curated by the students of Collective Curating in collaboration with Professors Keith Miller and Eugenia Kisin.
Special thanks to the student curators:
Lux Blum, Emmie Colby, Luis Diaz, Maia Fauvre, Carly Harrison, Rebecca Kaufman, Sascha Lewit, Alex Martha, Sterling McCrann, Ruthy Micha, Maya Ribeiro, Marlo Rimalovski, Veronica Sanchez, Nurit Schwartz, Nunyala Sogbo, Eden Taff, Maggie Wei
Please note the gallery will be closed December 15 – 17 to accommodate other Gallatin events.
You must be logged in to post a comment.