Art + Love: On Collaboration, Practice, Space, and Relationships

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May 26, 2023 · Columns + Series, Interviews

A series of interviews that ask artists to share how they make art, love, and partnership work.

Image: A graphic that says "ART + LOVE" in black letters on a teal background. Surrounding the words are various illustrations of objects, such as a book, a couch, a hoop earring, a coffee mug, and more. Illustration by River Ian Kerstetter.
Image: A graphic that says "ART + LOVE" in black letters on a teal background. Surrounding the words are various illustrations of objects, such as a book, a couch, a hoop earring, a coffee mug, and more. Illustration by River Ian Kerstetter.

It feels a little predictable to reference bell hooks’ Love Trilogy when introducing the fifth installment of Sixty’s Art + Love Series. It would also feel a little neglectful not to. Few have offered such thorough, profound, and transcendent meditations on the topic. 

I’ve always been struck by how she begins the first book of the trilogy, All About Love: New Visions, with a story about an artwork—graffiti emblazoned across the walls of a construction site in New Haven, Connecticut. She speaks on how that piece provided, in her words, an anchor “to keep me afloat, to pull me back safely to shore” during a grief period. 

Before it was whitewashed, the piece read, “the search for love continues even in the face of great odds.” 

Arguably, love and art can be used here interchangeably. Like love, art endures. Like love, our appetite, need, and curiosity about art is unending.

Like love, art is expansive in its definitions. Throughout the Love Trilogy, hooks points out the overemphasis that is placed on romantic love, which leads to the undervaluing of the many environments and circumstances where defining moments of love exist. While in the past we’ve focused on romantic love (the beauty of which is seen in abundance below), moving forward this series will seek to more deeply explore art and love beyond romantic limits. It will be an homage to hooks and those like her who implore us to question, seek, and elevate all kinds of love connections.

This installment comes after we poured through over four dozen stunning nominations from people calling out loves and relationships that are, in their eyes, made stronger through artistry. This round we’re hearing from artists Shir Ende and Max Guy, multi-hyphenates Ciera McKissick and zakkiyyah najeebah dumas-o’neal, artists and community organizers Janell and Joe Nelson, curator Francine Almeda and artist Antonio Robles Levine, MotherTwin (a.k.a. artists kate rowan fernandez and Gurtie Hansell), and artist Alexandra Beaumont with writer Scott Melamed.

Image: Shir and Max stand facing one another, leaning and touching foreheads against a clear blue sky and Lake Michigan. The image has their names across the bottom. Still courtesy of the artists.
Image: zakkiyyah and Cierra stand together outdoors in front of a large plant and a brownstone. Their names can be seen on the right hand side of the photo. Photo courtesy of the artists.
Image: Janell and Joe stand outside in front of a large sign that says "Strong, Black, United." Their names can be seen in the bottom left corner. Photo courtesy of the artists.
Image: Francine and Antonio sit at the end of a low dinner table surrounded by friends. Francine’s arm is wrapped around Antonio as they both are laughing. Their names can be seen going across the top of the photo. Photo by Steven Piper.
Image: kate and gurtie stand along a fence in Chicago's Grant Park, both wearing black t-shirts. The Bean (a.k.a. Cloud Gate) can be seen in the background. Their names can be seen going across their torsos. Photo by Sarah Elizabeth Larson, courtesy of the artists.
Image: Scott and Alexandra are seen hugged together outside, against a sun-kissed background. Their names can be seen across the bottom part of the photograph. Photo courtesy of the artists.

About the Author: Tempestt Hazel is a curator, writer, and co-founder of Sixty Inches From Center. She spends her time working alongside artists, organizers, grantmakers, and cultural workers to explore solidarity economies, cooperative models, archival practice, and systems change in and through the arts. You can see more of her editorial, curatorial, and other projects at tempestthazel.com.

About the Illustrator: River Ian Kerstetter (she/they) is an artist, designer and writer of Onʌyota’a:ka (Oneida) and European-American heritage based in Anishinaabe lands known as Chicago. Her work reflects identity, memory, land and history + celebrates community, collaboration, and liberatory movements. River is a citizen of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin. You can see more of River’s work at riverkerstetter.art