PADUCAH, KY (August 30, 2016) – The Clemens Fine Arts Center Gallery will host a free opening reception for Antonio Jacob Martinez’s How to Hug and Other Sublimations of Men Thursday, September 8 from 5–7 p.m.
The exhibit, which free and open to the public is an “expressionistic interpretation of the modern sport of mixed martial arts (MMA), also known as cage fighting, with emphasis on the conflation of violence and intimacy between two men who compete to win the respect and praise of spectators,” said Brian Heller, WKCTC Clemens Fine Arts Center director.
Martinez trained and participated in the popular sport of MMA in southern Illinois from 2008-2010, and said it was a way to understand why male amateur athletes, young and old, would participate in a violent sport during their leisure time.
“After experiencing my first fight, I recognized the spiritual, psychological, and visceral components in this vestigial rite of passage for alpha male dominance,” said Martinez.
The Clemens Gallery is located in the Clemens Fine Arts Center on the campus of West Kentucky Community and Technical College. The exhibit will remain on display through November 13. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
For more information, contact Brian Heller at brian.heller@kctcs.edu or (270) 534-3213.
The exhibit, which free and open to the public is an “expressionistic interpretation of the modern sport of mixed martial arts (MMA), also known as cage fighting, with emphasis on the conflation of violence and intimacy between two men who compete to win the respect and praise of spectators,” said Brian Heller, WKCTC Clemens Fine Arts Center director.
Martinez trained and participated in the popular sport of MMA in southern Illinois from 2008-2010, and said it was a way to understand why male amateur athletes, young and old, would participate in a violent sport during their leisure time.
“After experiencing my first fight, I recognized the spiritual, psychological, and visceral components in this vestigial rite of passage for alpha male dominance,” said Martinez.
The Clemens Gallery is located in the Clemens Fine Arts Center on the campus of West Kentucky Community and Technical College. The exhibit will remain on display through November 13. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
For more information, contact Brian Heller at brian.heller@kctcs.edu or (270) 534-3213.