Art and Love

Love is undoubtedly a favorite theme of many artists; it is a concept that defies all reason and prompts profound feelings of passion. Art serves as the language for the loss of words we experience when stood in front of our one true love. It allows us to express those unexplainable feelings at the depths of our soul. Whether through joy or sadness, humour or pain, contemporary artists use the nuanced fluctuations in love to experiment within their creations. Often using their bodies in performance, they seek to encapsulate the intensity of a loving relationship.

Love is a very common theme in the history of contemporary art, and this is partly due to the fact that there are infinite possibilities for artists to represent desire and the body. Contemporary artist, Louise Bourgeois, translates the intimacy of the body in her work Couple, where she depicts two people intertwined and suspended by an invisible cord. The subjects' faces are concealed, allowing the viewer to freely interpret the inner emotions of the pair. However, the position of the couple also alludes to the complexity of relationships, as they appear to be pulling away from one another. The sculpture has been made out of toweling, patched together in an attempt to mend the areas ripped, torn and broken by love.

Artist couple, Marina Abramovic and Ulay have heavily explored the power of love when faced with conflict. In their performance Relation in Time, the two artists evoke their attachment to one another by literally attaching themselves together by their hair. They remain back-to-back for 17 hours, testing their love against time. However, when their hair begins to undo could this be interpreted as a sign that their relationship is also unravelling? Does their loosening hair symbolise the end of their desire and passion? In a Relation in Time, the couple invade the scene with their naked bodies, racing against one another until they have no strength left to give. With their bodies shocked and love exhausted, the forced tenderness of their embrace could not save their relationship from the potency of conflict.

Love is a never-ending source of inspiration for artists, and even now we still seek alternative ways to capture what it means. Falling in love remains difficult to understand or express, yet art allows an easier and more poetic means of getting at least halfway there. Whether it's damning or sacred, fraternal or marital, love unifies eras, souls and nationalities. Our artist couples Gabrielle Rul and Étienne Quesnay or Maud Chalard and Théo Gosselin wouldn't disagree.

Dive into the heart of our selection and find the work that says “I love you" to your one true love.