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Love & Anarchy

June 22, 2023 – July 07, 2024
María Magdalena Campos Pons, Nesting III, 2000. Installation of four Polaroid Polacolor Pro photographs, 32 1/4 × 56 inches (81.92 × 142.24 cm) each. Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University. Museum purchase, 2022.21.1. © María Magdalena Campos Pons.

Tangentially Related, Often Intertwined

Suchitra Mattai
Suchitra Mattai, the light we know and the dark we keep, 2022. Vintage saris, fabric and tassels; 122 × 115 inches (309.88 × 292.1 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University. Museum purchase with additional funds provided by Jennifer McCracken New (A.B.’90, J.D.’94) and Jason G. New (J.D.’94), Stefanie (P’11, P’13, P’20) and Douglas Kahn (P’11, P’13, P’20) and The Duke Endowment, 2023.7.1. © Suchitra Mattai. Courtesy of the artist and Kavi Gupta, Chicago. Photo by Brian Quinby.

On the surface, love and anarchy may seem like unrelated or even conflicting notions. Love is synonymous with care, compassion, and affection, while anarchy is generally accepted as an absence of authority, a state of disorder, or an ungovernable condition. These concepts, more than tangentially related, are often intertwined and even sometimes mutually dependent. Indeed, moments of disarray and frustration are intrinsic to love, while love sometimes emerges out of disorder and chaos. Drawn from the Nasher Museum’s extensive historical and contemporary collections, Love & Anarchy demonstrates some of the ways in which these two concepts have inspired artists, visually and conceptually, over millennia.

Love has been a subject in art for eternity. In antiquity, Aphrodite, goddess of beauty and love, and her offspring, Eros, repeatedly appeared in painting, sculpture, and pottery. From an ancient Greek depiction of the goddess to a 12th century sculpture of the Virgin enthroned to Marc Quinn’s 21st century rendering of animal carcasses in Mother and Child, Aphrodite’s image resonates across eons. Contemporary depictions of love reveal recognizable poses, gestures, or touch as in Zanele Muholi’s photograph, Katlego Mashiloane and Nosipho Lavuta, Ext. 2, Lakeside, Johannesburg.

Interconnectedness and Interdependence

Liên Trương
Liên Trương, My mother, she fell from the sky, 2021. Oil, silk, acrylic, copper pigment, and enamel on canvas; 72 × 96 inches (182.88 × 243.84 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University. Museum purchase with funds provided by Christine and Jeffery Weller, 2022.12.1. © Liên Trương. Courtesy of the artist and Turner Carroll Gallery, Santa Fe.

Anarchy is often represented through similarly personified motifs. War, for example, repeats in works ranging from a 6th century, BCE Greek amphora to Dapper Bruce’s colorful recent drawings. In resistance to war, power, and oppression, depictions of a chaotic psychological or social state are suggested in Lou Stoumen’s dancers at a rock concert from the late 1960s, Kambui Olujimi’s decimated monument in Late Stage Love Affairs, and many other works. Some artists poignantly interweave the concepts of love and anarchy, as in Sherrill Roland’s With Heart, Letter #021414, illustrating their interconnectedness and interdependence. As a result, Love & Anarchy exhibits the nuanced ways these two seemingly disparate themes intertwine over time throughout our visual culture.

  • Sherrill Roland, With Heart, Letter #021414

    Sherrill Roland, With Heart, Letter #021414, 2021. Acrylic glass, lightbox (wood, LED lights, aluminum); 33 × 47 1/2 inches each (83.82 × 120.65 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University. Museum purchase, 2022.3.1. © Sherrill Roland. Image courtesy of the artist and Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York / Los Angeles.

  • G. Peter Jemison, Halley's Cardinal Comet, 1986. Mixed media on paper bag, 12 × 6 3/4 × 17 inches (30.48 × 17.15 × 43.18 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University. Museum purchase, 2022.23.1. © G. Peter Jemison.

  • Nina Chanel Abney, Hobson's Choice, 2017

    Nina Chanel Abney, Hobson's Choice, 2017. Acrylic and spray paint on canvas, 84 1/4 × 120 1/16 inches (214 × 305 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University. Museum purchase, 2017.24.1. © Nina Chanel Abney. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.

  • Kimberley Pierce Cartwright, Shirley for President, 2019

    Kimberley Pierce Cartwright, Shirley for President, 2019. Assorted fabrics, embellishments, and beads; 22 x 16 inches (55.8 x 40.6 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University. Museum purchase, 2022.14.1. © Kimberley Pierce Cartwright. Photo by Peter Paul Geoffrion.

  • Alex Bradley Cohen, For a More Just Future

    Alex Bradley Cohen, For a More Just Future, 2015. Acrylic on canvas, 40 × 44 inches (101.6 × 111.76 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University. Gift of Thomas and Briana Lee, 2020.8.1. © Alex Bradley Cohen.

  • Titus Brooks Heagins, Kevin and Desniq from the series Durham Stories: Not Hell But You Can See It From Here!, 2017

    Titus Brooks Heagins, Kevin and Desniq from the series Durham Stories: Not Hell But You Can See It From Here!, 2017 (printed 2018). Gicleé print, edition 2/5, 20 × 30 inches (50.8 × 76.2 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University. Gift of the artist and Maureen Cullins, 2019.12.1. © Titus Brooks Heagins. Image courtesy of the artist.

  • Alfredo Jaar, Lagos 2002, 1991

    Alfredo Jaar, Lagos 2002, 1991. Lightbox with two color transparencies, edition 2/2, 66 × 132 inches (167.64 × 335.28 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University. Museum purchase with funds from The Duke Endowment, 2021.22.1. © Alfredo Jaar. Image courtesy of the artist and Galerie Lelong & Co., New York.

  • Robert Kushner, After the Dance, 1980

    Robert Kushner, After the Dance, 1980. Acrylic on unprimed canvas, 48 3/4 × 106 9/16 inches (123.8 × 270.7 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University. Gift of Carolyn McKean Grosslight, 2014.18.1. © Robert Kushner. Courtesy of DC Moore Gallery, New York.

  • Dapper Bruce Lafitte, The Gun Line, 2016

    Dapper Bruce Lafitte, The Gun Line, 2016. Ink on paper, 11 × 14 inches (27.94 × 35.56 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University. Gift of Katherine Hudson in honor of Diego Cortez, 2022.6.4. © Dapper Bruce Lafitte.

  • Beverly McIver, Love Mom, 2011

    Beverly McIver, Love Mom, 2011. Oil on canvas, 36 x 36 inches (91.4 x 91.4 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University. Museum purchase with funds provided by Marilyn M. Arthur (A.B.’56, P’79, P’88); 2011.1.1. © Beverly McIver.

  • Zanele Muholi, Katlego Mashiloane and Nosipho Lavuta, Ext. 2, Lakeside, Johannesburg, 2007

    Zanele Muholi, Katlego Mashiloane and Nosipho Lavuta, Ext. 2, Lakeside, Johannesburg, 2007. Lambda print, edition 7/8, 30 3/16 x 30 1/8 inches (76.7 x 76.5 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University. Gift of Blake Byrne, A.B.’57; 2012.14.1. © Zanele Muholi. Image courtesy of the artist, Yancey Richardson, New York, and Stevenson Cape Town / Johannesburg.

  • Kambui Olujimi, Late Stage Love Affairs, 2021

    Kambui Olujimi, Late Stage Love Affairs, 2021. Watercolor on paper, 40 3/4 × 44 1/2 inches (103.51 × 113.03 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University. Gift of Rahul M. Sabhnani, 2022.17.1. © Kambui Olujimi.

  • Honor Titus, Portable Prince, 2022

    Honor Titus, Portable Prince, 2022. Oil on canvas, 72 × 60 inches (182.88 × 152.4 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, 2023.1.1. Gift of Claudia and Edward Rose, T'02. © Honor Titus. Courtesy of Timothy Taylor.

  • Greek Black-figure neck amphora

    Greek (Athenian), Black-figure neck amphora, 2nd quarter of 6th century BCE. Ceramic, 13 5/16 x 9 7/16 x 9 7/16 inches (33.8 x 24 x 24 cm). The Duke Classical Collection; DCC1965.8.

  • Joel Gaitan Pobre Diabla

    Joel Gaitan, Pobre Diabla, 2022. Terracotta, jade, and gold lustre glaze, 19¼ x 13¼ x 14 inches (48.90 x 33.66 x 35.56 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University. Museum purchase with funds provided by the Mary Duke Biddle Foundation. © Joel Gaitan. Photo by Rodrigo Gaya /Gayaman Visual Studio LLC.

  • Jim McDowell Face Jug

    Jim McDowell, Red Tails, 2022. High fire stoneware with Wertz Shino glaze, 16 × 6 1/2 inches (40.64 × 16.51 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University. Museum purchase with funds provided by Susan Brill Hershfield and Michael Hershfield, 2023.5.1.

Support

This exhibition is organized by Marshall N. Price, Chief Curator and Nancy A. Nasher and David J. Haemisegger Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art.

Love & Anarchy is made possible by the Nancy A. Nasher and David J. Haemisegger Family Fund for Exhibitions; the Derek and Christen Wilson Fund for the Nasher Museum of Art; and the John and Anita Schwarz Family Endowment.

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