‘After Hours’ With Eric Fischl, Sara Cochran and Philip Schultz

On Saturday, August 18, at 6 p.m., The Church in Sag Harbor will host “After Hours,” a talk with Sara Cochran and Eric Fischl co-curators of the current exhibition “Strike Fast, Dance Lightly,” and readings from poet Philip Schultz.

“This show is a sermon about the belief and value we put on the struggle to be, to live, to understand, to love, to try and to never give up,” said Fischl when describing “Strike Fast, Dance Lightly: Artists on Boxing.”

Hear more from Fischl and Cochran as the co-curators converse on the conceptual and curatorial process revolving around this mammoth of an exhibition featuring 70 works of varying mediums by 56 nationally and internationally known artists. Fischl and Cochran will lead a tour of the exhibition, after hours when the building is closed, allowing guests an exclusive viewing of the gallery.

After the tour esteemed poet Philip Schultz will offer a reading. When reflecting on the exhibition, he writes, “All artists are boxers, going up against their angst, the creative storm to define the essential nature of their personas. In this powerful boxing exhibition, the fighter in Eric Fischl’s painting looks overwhelmed and confused, his fists and psyche bloodied and exhausted, imprisoned in a story that perhaps also deals with the new and distraught roles masculinity plays today.

“I grew up playing games of chicken in my immigrant neighborhood in Rochester, and later with Norman Mailer, endless contests in which there were no real winners or losers, only bouts between raw ambition and fear and self-doubt,” continued Schultz. “Norman was the teacher and I the student, that is until a woman wandered by, and I’d find myself lying on the ground, having water splashed in my face. Because I would regularly beat Mailer at Indian wrestling, he once set up a bout between me and Jose Torres, the light heavyweight champ, at his house in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, which ended with me being made to hide in his attic all night. I’ll read pieces like these from my memoir, ‘Comforts of the Abyss.’”

The evening will conclude with a lively conversation between Cochran, Fischl and Schultz as they discuss the show, the emotional tension it evokes, and the varied interpretations of boxing within contemporary art. Following the conversation, will be a light reception with mocktails.

Philip Schultz is the author of eight poetry collections, including “Luxury” and the Pulitzer Prize-winning “Failure,” as well as “Comforts of the Abyss,” the memoir “My Dyslexia” and “The Wherewithal,” a novel in verse. The founder of The Writers Studio, he has been teaching creative writing since 1971. He resides in East Hampton

Tickets for “After Hours” are $25 ($20 members) at thechurchsagharbor.com. The Church is at 48 Madison Street, Sag Harbor.