The Loneliest Sport

Amanita presents its first show in New York, a group exhibition curated by Jacob Hyman and Caio Twombly. The works in the show pertain to the sport of boxing. A boxing ring will be installed in the gallery space, with the opening night being a Fight Night. The boxing ring will remain in the exhibition space for the duration of the show with paintings being installed around it and throughout the space. The exhibition will bring together 23 international artists including: Eva Beresin, Alic Brock, Deborah Brown, William Buchina, Travis Fish, Al Freeman, Jenna Gribbon, Minku Kim, Pierre Knop, Robert Nava, Rebecca Ness, Julian Pace, Octavia Parker, Anthony Rianda, Marco Scarpi, Adrian Schachter, Lucien Smith, David “Mr. StarCity” White, Joseph Olisaemeka Wilson, Tyrrell Winston, Oscar Yi Hou, Damien H. Ding, and Monsieur Zohore.

Boxing, christened as The Loneliest Sport, is a self-governed, autonomous pursuit by which the boxer is left alone, fighting for themself. Like the artist, the boxer defends themself with only their hands and arms. The artist too finds themself alone, defending their vision, their imagination, with their limbs. Such tacit solitude requires discipline, courage, resilience, and in turn, an intimacy with one’s medium, whether that be the boxer and their blows or the artist and their stroke.

Through closer investigation, the humanity, universality, and implicit irony of combat sport, specifically boxing, becomes apparent. Fundamentally, and more simply, boxing is a contest between two individuals who compete for a common goal. This logical conclusion, as such, implies a science of the future; a future which is determined by, but not limited to, preparation, permission, ability, and will. Despite this simplicity, boxing, like many world phenomena and social institutions, has been impregnated by standards, expectations, and barriers be they social, physical, or psychological.

Boxing, like painting, is a physical endeavor; the intimacy and passion of which is often concealed and rationalized by its strategy and necessity. After exchanging blows, slipping punches, and dancing around the ring for minutes on end, the boxer finds themself at their breaking point, only to rely on their adversary. Approaching their last breath, the boxer strategically engulfs their opponent in a clinch. Their arms wrapped around one another’s shoulders; their heads connected as they exchange beads of sweat. The boxer feels their opponent; their breath; their sweat; their fatigue; their desperation. Without context, such an embrace could be viewed simply as a hug, interpreted perhaps as endearing, affectionate, vulnerable, and even sexual. But as contexed viewers, looking into the ring, into the throws of the fight, what do we make of this embrace? What does this tell us about interaction? About dependence? About taboo? More generally, about context and how we perceive action and intention?

The present day machismo associated with boxing can be likened to historical perceptions around painting. For centuries, painting and the arts more generally had been viewed as a masculine endeavor. Necessarily, these barriers in sport and art have slowly been breaking down over time. As these obstructions become dismantled, we come to a better understanding of ourselves, through the lens of various identities and backgrounds. Painting, and boxing alike, are necessary for this discovery; discovery of ourselves, our abilities, our limitations, our desires, and more.

The artists in this show use boxers as their muse, questioning, challenging, and upending our preconceptions of identity, politics, and much more. Through the interactions and motions of both boxing and painting, the artists in the show demonstrate how sport and art help us to self-realization, telling us a little bit more about ourselves and the ethos of humanity.

Download list of works