No Play Fighting
No Play Fighting
CHRISTOPHER BATTEN
Creative Alliance. Baltimore MD, August 24 - September 28, 2020
Creative Alliance. Baltimore MD, August 24 - September 28, 2020
The Exhibit
The intersection of Creative Alliance resident artist Christopher Batten’s passions - fine arts and martial arts are on display through the portraits and abstract work in No Play Fighting. This exhibition exposes Batten’s dual interests in both fine arts and martial arts, while at the same time calling attention to how fights led both inside and out of the ring are equally visceral.
Contrary to painting, physical fighting enabled Batten to compartmentalize and even suppress his emotions. In the heat of battle, fighters are forced to think their way out of predicaments; therefore, emotions must be controlled.
Batten writes, “Throughout my time as a fighter, all of my greatest lessons came from the one thing fighters dread - getting hit. It isn’t until one accepts getting hit that they acquire the fearlessness needed to be a successful fighter. All of us like to be the victor, but the true fighter in an individual can only emerge the moment their opponent catches him or her with a good shot.”
Batten acknowledges that we are all combatants fighting for and/or against something. The most critical of these battles is the one that takes place inside us on a daily basis when we reflect on how our experiences have affected us throughout our lives. No Play Fighting compels viewers to ask themselves: what am I fighting for?
