Offsite Gallery: October 28 – December 2, 2016
Betty Oliver passed away from a long battle with breast cancer in 2000. Her sister Lynne Adams curated an exhibition of her work at the gallery in 2016.
Buddha in a birdcage, Buddha on a plate,
Buddha stuffed with rags in a reliquary state,
Buddha under glass in a red metallic shroud,
Buddha wrapped in paper, twelve times on twelve shelves,
Buddha in the sketchbook, Buddha in the words,
Buddha as the first name of the ex-husband of a hairdresser from Burnsville named Priscilla,
Buddha as a friend of friends who study on his ways,
Buddha as my uncle, noodling in my dream
on an ever-dwindling chopstick held between his knees,
Buddha on 109th street, leaning out the window on a red pillow in a red brassiere,
Buddha as a child’s shoe, washed up on the beach,
Buddha as the chicken I ate last night,
Buddha as a line drawn, followed, and erased,
Buddha as the case I make for nothing, a space,
Buddha sitting shiva, Buddha kicking ass,
Buddha watching TV, Buddha cutting grass.
– Buddha in a Birdcage, by Betty Oliver
