The Loving soul is perhaps the most universal. Love can be found anywhere, if you look hard enough.
Explore the works below. Before expanding the text, think to yourself:
What do you see?
What do you feel?
What might it be addressing?
What questions do you have?
Do you like it? Why or why not?
Expand to learn more
This is Leatherboys by Louka Anargyros. Leatherboys presents two male bodies in dressed in motorbike suits, covered from head to toe. Despite their flawless appearance, these sculptures are made in ceramic, not leather. With a closer look, the suit is covered—not in the typical branding—but in slurs and degrading language that Anargyros was subjected to growing up. Here, the suit serves as a suit of armor, one that wears the battle scars of living as a queer person.
About the Artist
Louka Anargyros (b. 1992) is a French artist who works primarily in sculpture that deals with queer politics and intergenerational trauma particularly around existing outside of your ancestral homelands. He investigates these topics primarily through the human body.
Expand to learn more
These are photos from the series The Adventures of Guille + Belinda and the Enigmatic Meaning of their Dreams (first two photos) and its sequel The Illusion of an Everlasting Summer by Alessandra Sanguinetti. The series follow two cousins, Guille and Belinda, and their relationship with Sanguinetti over the years. The first series focuses more on the playful youthfulness of the girls and their dreams and fantasies for the future. Immaculate Conception (the middle photo) depicts the two girls with fake pregnancy bellies while the photo on the right shows the girls—adult women now—with their own children.
About the Artist
Alessandra Sanguinetti (b. 1968) is an Argentinian photographer who primarily explores the relationship between people and their environment. Her photos, though depicting real people and real stories, have an air of mythology and mysticism around them. Whether it is in the fantastical situations or the willingness to show the hard side of life, her work is incredibly personal and draws you in.
Expand to learn more
This is Love is the Drug, a punching bag turned sculpture by Jeffrey Gibson. Love is the Drug is part of a series of punching bags refurbished and decorated by Jeffrey Gibson. At the top and the bottom of the bag are panels of beads that form white and black hearts, as well as the works “LOVE IS THE DRUG”. In the center are hundreds of heart-shaped kitsch collected by Gibson, reminiscent of the clusters of couple-locks on bridges across the world.
Where the rest of the text takes on a bronze color, the I and the U in the text are red. This plays in to a general theme of Gibson’s work. Text plays a major role in his works, and over time, he has developed a visual language in which words or letters are highlighted out of other words. Often, these words are pronouns. In Love is the Drug, the I and U create a conversation, both between Gibson and who he loves and between us and who we love.
At the bottom, Gibson attaches adornments from Jingle dresses, arranging them in a manner that creates a rounded base, creating an overall phallic image.
About the artist
Jeffrey Gibson (b. 1972) is an American artist working across a variety of media (painting, textile, sculpture, ceramics, and more). His work deals with a variety of topics ranging from his multifaceted identity as a gay, Cherokee-Choctaw man, to love and relationships, to global and political conflict. He finds inspiration across narratives and cultures, taking as much from Native American aesthetics as he does the Queer clubbing scene.