People killin’, people dyin’/Children hurt and you hear ’em cryin’/Will you practice what you preach?/And would you turn the other cheek?
-The Black Eyed Peas
Welcome to the Gagosian Gallery, located at 555 W24th Street, in the Chelsea district of New York City. In light of recent world events, the Gagosian has opened an exhibit titled, WHERE IS THE LOVE, created by an unknown artist. This exhibit will be on display through the end of 2017, when we reach the turning point for a new year in the hopes that it will be filled with positivity and light.
As you enter the gallery, soft music is playing in the background. The headphones nearby encourage you to plug in and listen to the accompanying Spotify playlist as you walk through the first room.
The first room is almost completely dark- save for lone spotlights beaming down from the tall ceilings. It is eerily similar to a blackened stage, with each spotlight trained on a person or a presence; waiting for something to happen. Each beam of light centers itself on a single display, with each display placed in a clockwise direction around the room. The largest spotlight shines on a centered wall, the first thing one would see when entering the exhibit. It reads:
“The artist, at the age of 18 years old, has seen a world of destruction. Since 1999, at the close of the century, the United States and beyond has faced some of history’s greatest devastations. It seems that every newspaper headline heralds news of devastation, every TV newscast signals acts of destruction, every car radio station talks of events of horror. It seems as though we just can’t escape from the depths of darkness and cruelty that this world holds. Racism, abuse, inequality, terrorism, violence, murders, rapes- these are just some of the evils that escaped Pandora’s Box and made its way into our flawed world. We are constantly surrounded by things that drag us down, that eliminate our faith in the world. We forget to have hope in the goodness of humanity, in the beauty of our natural world, and most importantly, we forget the strength and the power we find in love. In the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”
There are a total of five spotlights trained on five different pieces in this room.
*Note that all the pieces in this gallery can be found in an online slideshow here.**
The first spotlight features a lone photograph, an image taken right after the World Trade Center terrorism attack on September 11th of 2001. The next photograph is taken in Israel of 2002, in the aftermath of the destruction of the Jenin Refugee Camp by Israeli military. The third spotlight focuses on a photograph taken in a Children’s Cancer Hospital in Belarus, as a broken-down father sits beside his terminally-ill daughter. The fourth image is one of a burning Swastika, taken at a yearly white supremacist and NeoNazi festival. The last photo in this dark room is taken in Russia, where two teenagers sit in a squatter house, their faces red and their bodies taken over by drugs and alcohol. It is the curator’s hope that the viewer will take a few minutes to truly absorb the photos and their subjects.
After you have taken the time to speculate upon the artwork in the dark room, you come upon a door that opens up into another small room- this one lit with warm-colored string lights. The string lights are reminiscent of festival lights, and upon these strings hangs another set of five photographs. Each photograph is hung by simple wooden clothespins. There is another set of headphones by the main entrance to the room, this one allowing viewers to listen to a different playlist.
The first piece one comes upon in this room is a painting of a mother and her young son. There is a peace in her face that communicates the joy and happiness that this young boy brings to her. The second photograph is taken in Beijing, as a young bride is preparing for her big day. The man who is presumably her groom, sits next to her looking in awe. The third photograph is of a physical therapist working with children. The children are obviously delighted and Valentine, the therapist himself seems to enjoy his time working with these kids. The fourth piece in this exhibit is a painting titled, Rose. It is painted with bright, vibrant reds, pinks and violets. This piece is included in the exhibit because it is meant to conjure up feelings of passion, love, and bright joyful colors. This painting serves as a static, ambiguous piece of artwork that can universally be a reminder of these feelings of gladness. The final piece in this exhibit is an acrylic and photo collage titled, What Do You Love About This Place. This is the final and arguably the most encompassing piece because its subject portrays three human faces of varying age, their bodies collaged to reflect “things they love about the United States.” The background of the collage is the American flag while the bodies of the three people on the collage are composed of a variety of “national treasures” from American basketball, to the age old tale of the Wizard of Oz.
After one has taken the time to absorb the contents of this room, there is a blank white wall that contains a large scroll of words. These are the words of the artist, a final message to her audience. Her words serve both as a message to viewers, as well as a self-reflection and analysis of her first exhibit of work. This wall reads:
“Love is one of the things I value the most. As a young girl, the presence of love and all the principles associated with it, such as kindness and compassion has been not only the strongest part of my character, but part of what I believe fulfills my purpose and actions as a human being in life.
This exhibit was curated after the occurrence of three consecutive hurricanes across the world, after an astounding KKK demonstration took place in Virginia, after police brutality surpassed unprecedented boundaries, after immigrants and innocent people of the world were targeted by the dawn of a new presidency. . It was created out of the thought of wondering where the love lies in all of this; why world events such as these occur in the name of hate and cruelty; why human beings forget to fight hate with love.
My goal as the artist of this exhibit is simple. It is to remind people that although we live in a world where tragedy and wickedness are inescapable, our greatest weapon and the strongest battle we can fight is through the expression and utilization of our love. Racism, abuse, inequality, poverty, and war will always be present. But it is in the love of a mother for her child, the kindness of a doctor towards her patient, the job you feel inside when you see a beautiful piece of art- all of this is where our greatest hope lies.
The selected images in this exhibit are few, but they are impactful in their presence on these walls. Each one displays a different facet of either the evil of the world or the love that exists. There are snapshots from some of the most devastating moments in history and then there is even the inclusion of a simple colorful painting. These pieces come from all over the world, from different years since my birth, and from all different perspectives, but I chose these images because I knew they would leaving the most memorable mark. As an artist, there is nothing greater than I can ask for than this. The various photographs and images are displayed simply- with the use of a dark room and spotlights and then alternatively with warm colored string lights because I wanted the artwork and their messages to be the central command of attention. The inclusion of the Spotify playlist for both rooms was to really allow my viewers to get into the moods of each of the rooms. The songs on each playlist emulate the tone and the essence of the physical pieces of art in the room.
In my eighteen years alive, I’ve seen the degree of cruelty humanity can wreck upon itself, both personally and on a universal scale. Recent events in 2017 have truly shown me that there is a great need to remind ourselves to fight our fights with love. It is my greatest hope that the power of kindness and compassion will one day move nations and stop wars. In our weakest moments and even in our everyday lives, there will always be love. Love for our friends, for our family, for our husbands and wives, for art, for nature, for peace and most of all, love for our world and love for humanity.”
The artist would like to thank you for your time here at WHERE IS THE LOVE. It is her hope that love will one day move nations and end wars, but most of all, it is her hope that it will start with every single one of you.
All additional materials can be found here. Gagosian Gallery logo courtesy of https://www.gagosian.com.
