EXHIBITION STATEMENT

Considering the contemporary socio-political landscape, it’s rather naïve to think one doesn’t need to have or acquire, at least, the basic ability to defend oneself against physical attack.  

Artist Christopher Batten began his journey as a martial artist when he was 8-years-old. Now that he’s an adult, he’s aware that fighting both inside and outside of the ring is just as visceral as painting.

He has witnessed family members, colleagues, and close friends, both win and lose fights against cancer. 

He’s become keenly aware of homelessness throughout Baltimore. Also, during his morning commutes to work, he occasionally witnesses the infamous “lean” experienced by people engaged in personal battles against addiction. As a teacher, he has witnessed some of his students fight battles outside the classroom that trigger conflicts inside the classroom. In his portraits, Batten addresses the emotions of Baltimoreans who experience internal and external battles on the daily.

In the portrait, Frankie, Batten illuminates the tenacity of Dr. Francesca Gamber who is the Head of Bard High School Early College Baltimore and her quest to insure Baltimore students achieve a quality education, with a chance at earning an associates degree. The Cat, emphasizes the determination and strength of Batten’s father who, aside from being a renowned martial arts fighter and trainer, is a cancer survivor.

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. When Joan Waltemath, Director of the LeRoy E Hoffberger School of Painting, suggested he tap into his martial arts training as a means of expanding his repertoire of gestures in his painting, he was completely opposed. At the time, he reserved painting for his feelings and fighting for rational thinking - merging the two seemed to be a betrayal. However, when he tapped into his martial arts training, it took him on a subconscious journey into abstraction. Subsequently, he worked on each piece in timed intervals like rounds of a fight. By expanding his viewpoint of fighting, he was able to combine the physical, rational, and emotional facets of himself in his paintings and nurture his abstract and portrait work simultaneously.

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.”

Everyone in this room and beyond, should you choose to accept it, has to fight to make an impact on the world in the time you’ve been allotted on this earth - whether your impact is positive or negative is a matter of choice. We are all combatants who fight for and/or against something. The most critical of these battles is the one that takes place inside us daily when we reflect on how our experiences have affected us throughout our lives. As you view this exhibition ask yourself: what am I fighting for?