The Brooklyn Rail

Walking into Bennington College’s Usdan Gallery, one encounters the current exhibition housed in a weather-beaten gray, wooden structure, one of the largest of its kind. Overbody: New Works by Sreshta Rit Premnath, curated by the gallery’s director and curator Anne Thompson, is an ongoing exploration into the travails of the immigrant odyssey, not only focused on the journey, but also the never-ending grind of leaving one familiar place only to reach a strange, new land. Premnath examines the forces, both external and internal, that exert pressure to conform—to be unseen at all costs.

The gallery, a classic four-thousand-square-foot white cube inspired by Marcel Breuer—an immigrant himself—is transformed by the artist into a landscape of remnants that portray the worst and the best of humanity. Though described as a new body of work composed of paintings, sculptures, and weavings, it is easily seen as one installation conjuring the detritus of the immigrant passage. What is left behind, lost, and endured emanates from each of the works, becoming experiences that are best left forgotten. These are not realistic renderings but works that evoke the sensation and emotion of the experience.

Premnath is influenced by several ideologies ranging from those of French philosophers such as Georges Bataille to practitioners of Japanese Buddhism, members of postwar radical contemporary movements such as architect and founder of the Metabolism Movement, Kisho Kurokawa, and practitioners of the contemporary dance form, Butoh, including Tatsumi Hijikata and Kazuo Ohno.

There are nineteen artworks in the gallery; each is uniquely fabricated using found and ephemeral materials and a palette similar in fashion to post-Minimalist artists, particularly Eva Hesse. Using these elements enhances the concept permeating the show—that a moment in time is fragile and transitory. Shredded burlap, resin, foam, and fiberglass are impermanent, but their deliberate incorporation affirms the dual notion that something dark and regressive such as death or deterioration can metaphorize into something beautiful and progressive.

Premnath frequently teeters on the precipice of both abstraction and figuration. Some works in the show are clearly figurative, but out of context. Speech Act (2025), an enormous gray tongue that seems to be erotically oozing off of a chair is a nod to Surrealism while stressing the power of language and speech.

Procession 1 (2025) is a diptych, 30 by 70 inches, that is loosely hung on the wall with the bottom naturally rolling up. The painting is rendered in sumi and India ink on Yupo paper and bisected horizontally. The top is almost solidly blacked out while the bottom depicts silhouettes of figure-like forms reminiscent of Alberto Giacometti. Informed by the title, one is taken by the ongoing slog to an unknown destination of hopeful safety or a march from what has become unbearable.

Several “slumps”—sculptural shapes that resemble moribund bodies from another universe—are fabricated using steel, foam, fiberglass, Aquaresin, burlap, and encaustic. Painted in a gray inspired by Japanese post-war architect Kisho Kurokawa’s implementation of “Rikyu Grey” (produced by mixing all colors together), engenders not only a feeling of mortality but also provides an ethos of hope. The “slumps,” much like Butoh’s radical dance, are twisted and turned in unwieldy shapes and balances that can be interpreted as a revolt against the status quo.

These pieces unmistakably touch on the idea of immigrants as aliens rather than members of our common humanity. Their shapes inspired the title of the exhibition, Overbody, and act as a metaphor for the invisible pressure exerted on immigrants to conform and comply.

Passage 1 (2024), a wall piece created using twine and mulberry paper, simulates a chainlink fence with rips and tears, some tiny, some large enough for a person to crawl through. From a distance it resembles an exquisite, fragile, lace-like tapestry suffering the crumbling insults of rotting linen; close-up, it is the quintessential barrier to imagined freedom, a symbol commonly erected on borders to keep out those not needed nor welcomed.

Four new “sign paintings,” Under/See, Sink/Soul, Shadow/Fold, and Over/Body (all 2025), were all created on maple panels, 10 by 12 by 1 inches, and painted using acrylic and Flashe. Designed to mimic exit signage, they mirror the concept of exiting one place as a means of entering another environment.

Inspired by Butoh, Premnath collaborated with Butoh practitioners and Bennington dance faculty, Mina Nishimura and Kota Yamazaki who created movement scores that responded to Premnath’s sculptures and presented alongside his preparatory drawings in the exhibition catalogue. This partnership was conceived to offer a prompt for viewers to respond to works physically as they move through the exhibition.

Sreshta Rit Premnath’s Overbody is a deep visual response and investigation into the irrational and unrealistic concept of borders. Contemporary borders were established by imperialist countries specifically after World War II that rewarded colonialists. These demarcations are only secure as long as they serve those who maintain them. In a shrinking world that is rapidly changing due to climate change and the immediacy of contemporary international travel, this draconian system serves no one but a few oligarchs.

Born in Bangalore, India, the artist came as a student to the United States and has since become a US citizen. Anyone who has trekked through this experience knows firsthand the constant burden of the pressure to behave in a superimposed manner. This includes but is not limited to language, cuisine, culture, and even one’s clothing and posture. Premnath’s exhibition not only denotes the trials of immigration but also depicts the inner strength and stalwart determination of everyday people. It further speaks to the resiliency and human decency of those who make this journey.