Every culture has its version of the ideal body—a place where aesthetics and politics merge and the power of a place can be expressed symbolically. Muscle Definition is a group exhibition that brings together a selection of paintings, sculptures, photographs, and works on paper, that present a spectrum of visions and attitudes about the body and its representation.

Participating artists include: Richard Baker, Stephanie Barber, Janet Bruhn, G.G. Derviz, Graham Durward, Jillian Dy, Bernard Gilardi, Clarity Haynes, Melissa Hopson, Anthony Iacono, E’wao Kagoshima, Mike Linskie, Clifford Owens, Michael Pellew, Ada Pinkston, Genesis P-Orridge, Irina Rozovsky, Vlad Smolkin, Jennifer Sullivan, Henry Taylor, Noi Volkov, Eric Wesley.

There will also be a selection of historical works, including: an engraving from Buffon’s “Histoire Naturelle” (1778), an 18th Century Italian ink drawing, a Russian chromo-lithographic war cartoon (1914), a Tibetan Medical Thangka painting (mid 20th c), and a signed gelatin silver print of Cal Ripken Jr. (1980’s).

Muscles are elastic string-like fibers, holding the body together. To build muscles, we tear them with purpose so the strings grow back bigger and stronger. It takes around 43 muscles to smile and 17 muscles to cry. Some muscles can be seen from a distance, while others are subtle and hidden.

The impulse for this exhibition arrived when the world went into lockdown at the beginning of the pandemic. Over this period of isolation, there has been a strong sense both of our innate need for contact, and the capacity of government to control and manage that need. As this mass loneliness thaws, bodies become powerful magnets for other bodies and there is acuteness to how we embrace and interact with each other.

The heart’s muscles circulate blood through the body with pristine regularity. As we slowly step back into the public sphere, perhaps a greater awareness and embrace of our natural rhythms can inspire a new and healthier relationship to the body, and in the ways we represent and impose power on and through the body.