Bodies of Work

By Yuriko Chavez

The body is but a fleshy bag that encapsulates the bone, the muscle, and the soul — at least that’s what Figure Drawing Club’s “Bodies of Work” delves into. 

The gallery is made up entirely of the artists that frequent a bi-weekly club, where they consistently create figure art. In their panel of text leaned up against the wall, they share that each artist approaches the creation of the artistic body in their own way — whether that is a focus on muscle, flesh, light, and shadow. 

The first room of the Glass Box Gallery is adorned with few framed sketches on the walls, and a clay womanly figure takes center stage. She is bereaved, blonde, and gray-skinned — hunched over and exhausted. Her contorted body is juxtaposed with the sprawled nudity of the bodies on the wall — illustrated in lines of pinks, greens, and charcoals. The blue vinyl text above them, shimmers in the spring light, each quote being from a different perspective: the artist, the subject, or the subject’s partner. The quotes explore the emotional intimacy of being drawn, being displayed, and being the creator. 

The first room feels like a vulnerable whisper whereas the second room is a shout of celebration. As soon one enters the second room they are welcomed with a burst of bodies plastered on every wall. Assorted as in a style reminiscent of a Victorian gallery wall, the pieces chatter together, a variety of different styles and tones. The women dominate the visual scope — often topless and glimmering in the presence or absence of color; the folds of their skin crafted with a tender boldness. The men whose muscles shape their figure, are drawn with such a softness that invites a gentle gaze. 

“Bodies of Work'' is a title that doesn’t quite capture the illuminating feeling of intimacy within this gallery. In a time where all our bodies are calloused, bruised, and broken,

within an undeniably exploitative capitalist system, the exhibition highlights a moment of rest. Portraits sketched on bed sheets and pillows, brushstrokes of bodies pressed into each other, a faceless body with laid-out limbs, or eyes that stare and welcome the interest of your gaze —“Bodies of Work” is undeniably a love letter to our bodies. The shape that they take — whether abstract, painted, sketched, slim, plump, muscular — they’re our very own work of art.