BODY ANXIOUS

The Cressman Center for Visual Arts
100 East Main Street • Louisville, Kentucky

"Perform your duty to the body with joy but with non-attachment. More and more you will realize this truth, that man is a soul, but has a body; you will no longer dread parting with the fleshy garment." -- Paramahansa Yogananda

"BODY ANXIOUS" brought seven artists - from six different parts world, representing multiple generations, using art-historically unrelated styles - together using the underlying conceptual theme of anxiety. All of the artists were connected by themes of hypothetical or real anxiety associated with medical procedures, instruments, and experiences. Each artist translated the human condition; the vulnerability and anxiousness that comes with living in a human and mortal body, while showing us that our anxious experiences in our physical bodies make us who we are and ultimately connect us to ourselves, and to one another. "BODY ANXIOUS" created an opportunity for a visual dialogue between artworks dealing with the uncomfortable topics of medical procedures and bodily human pain. The show was critically acclaimed, and attended by a large, diverse audience. One art critic said that even though there was an obligatory “Viewer Discretion Is Advised” sign at the gallery entrance, "No one left because the whole show was so human. It spoke to each of us who experienced it.”