I am afraid to own a Body
Sept. 24 - Oct. 24, 2021
Opening reception: Sept. 24, 5 - 7pm
I am afraid to own a Body—
I am afraid to own a Soul—
Profound—precarious Property—
Possession, not optional—
Double Estate—entailed at pleasure
Upon an unsuspecting Heir—
Duke in a moment of Deathlessness
And God, for a Frontier.
—Emily Dickinson
Poker Flats’ third and final exhibition in Williamstown, “I am afraid to own a Body,” takes its title from an undated poem by Emily Dickinson, a native of Western Massachusetts. Known for her reclusive and obsessive tendencies, Dickinson explored in her work the complicated relationship between body and soul, which she describes in this two-stanza poem as “Profound—precarious Property.”
The works in this exhibition engage varying modes of figuration and an expanded notion of portraiture—non-literal, abstracted, fragmented, or obscured—to explore the metaphysical clash between inner and outer worlds, conjuring the alienating effects and occasional pleasures of a lifelong struggle to reconcile the two.
Laylah Ali
Jared Buckhiester
Elijah Burgher
Josh Dihle
Mari Eastman
Murad Khan Mumtaz
Aubrey Levinthal
Arnela Mahmutović
Pallavi Sen
Lui Shtini
Michael Stamm
Emma Steinkraus
Ann Toebbe
Also on view: works by Frank Jackson and Sean Noonan
Installation view, I am afraid to own a Body, Sept 24 - Oct 24, 2021
Installation view, I am afraid to own a Body, Sept 24 - Oct 24, 2021
Michael Stamm, The Coward, 2021, acrylic and pigmented wax on canvas wrapped panel, 30 x 23 in.
Josh Dihle, Cuttings, 2021, colored pencil and tung oil on walnut, 18 x 14 x 1 1/2 in.
Josh Dihle, Cave Dog, 2020, teeth, pastel, and colored pencil on walnut, 24 x 18 x 3 1/2 in.
Aubrey Levinthal, Red Sun, 2021, oil on panel, 16 x 16 in.
Installation view, I am afraid to own a Body, Sept 24 - Oct 24, 2021
Installation view, I am afraid to own a Body, Sept 24 - Oct 24, 2021
Ann Toebbe, Hardwood Floors, 2020, gouache, acrylic and cut paper collage on panel, 35 x 35 in.
Laylah Ali, Untitled (Harbinger), 2020, acrylic, gouache and pencil on paper, 10 x 8 in., 16 1/2 x 14 1/2 in. framed
Installation view, I am afraid to own a Body, Sept 24 - Oct 24, 2021
Elijah Burgher, Bathing devil, 2020, ink and bleach on inkjet print, 19 x 13 in., 22 3/4 x 16 3/4 in. framed
Jared Buckhiester, He was a very clever boy, 2020, watercolor on paper, 20 1/2 x 17 in., 24 x 20 in. framed
Lui Shtini, Moa, 2019, oil on Dibond, 28 x 24 in.
Installation view, I am afraid to own a Body, Sept 24 - Oct 24, 2021
Emma Steinkraus, Strawberry Patch (for Deborah Griscom Passmore), 2021, oil and acrylic medium photo transfer on canvas, 11 x 14 in.
Pallavi Sen, Sōfū Teshigahara's Arrangements, 2021, watercolor on paper, 18 x 24 in., 19 3/4 x 25 3/4 in. framed
Mari Eastman, Cactus Rat, 2021, oil on clay board, 8 x 10 in.
Mari Eastman, Woman in Blue Pants, 2021, oil on yupo paper, 14 x 11 in.
Arnela Mahmutović, Spellbound in my heart's root, 2019, oil and pastel on canvas, 46 x 34 in.
Pallavi Sen, Teaching and Thinking about Colour Theory, with Rubber Snake and Mobile, 2019, watercolor on paper, 14 x 10 in., 18 x 14 in. framed
Installation view, I am afraid to own a Body, Sept 24 - Oct 24, 2021
Murad Khan Mumtaz, Fez, 2021, watercolor, natural pigments, tea wash and shell gold on handmade vasli paper, 11 1/2 x 9 1/8 in., 21 x 17 in. framed
Murad Khan Mumtaz, Yogini, 2021, watercolor, natural pigments, tea wash and shell gold on handmade vasli paper, 7 x 6 3/4 in., 12 3/4 x 12 in. framed
Murad Khan Mumtaz, Warrior Ascetic, 2021, watercolor, natural pigments, tea wash and shell gold on handmade vasli paper, 15 x 10 5/8 in., 21 x 16 1/2 in. framed
Viewing room, installation of works by Frank Jackson, Sept 24 - Oct 24, 2021
Viewing room, installation of works by Sean Noonan, Sept 24 - Oct 24, 2021
Sean Noonan, Rio Tinto River, 2021, oil on found wood, 9 1/4 x 15 1/2 in., 11 x 17 1/4 in. framed
Sean Noonan, Another Place, 2021, oil on found wood, 11 1/8 x 15 7/8 in., 12 7/8 x 15 5/8 in. framed
Sean Noonan, Where I Wanted, 2021, oil on panel, 8 x 11 1/2 in., 10 1/4 x 14 in. framed