Prisoner of Love
Featured images
Bruce Nauman, Life, Death, Love, Hate, Pleasure, Pain, 1983. Neon; diameter: 70 7/8 in. (180 cm). Collection Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Gerald S. Elliott Collection, 1995.74. © 2018 Bruce Nauman/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Photo: Nathan Keay © MCA Chicago
Arthur Jafa, Love Is The Message, The Message Is Death, 2016. Video (color, sound); 7 minutes, 25 seconds. Collection Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, anonymous gift to the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago and the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, 2017.34
Image courtesy of Arthur Jafa and Gavin Brown's enterprise, New York/Rome
Arthur Jafa, Love Is The Message, The Message Is Death, 2016. Video (color, sound); 7 minutes, 25 seconds. Collection Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, anonymous gift to the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago and the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, 2017.34
Image courtesy of Arthur Jafa and Gavin Brown's enterprise, New York/Rome
Kerry James Marshall, Souvenir I, 1997. Acrylic and glitter on canvas banner; 108 x 157 in. (274.3 x 398.8 cm). Collection Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Bernice and Kenneth Newberger Fund, 1997.73. © 1997 Kerry James Marshall
Photo: Joe Ziolkowski © MCA Chicago
Carrie Mae Weems, Untitled (Black Love) 1992
Deana Lawson, Sons of Cush, 2016. Ink-jet print mounted on Sintra; framed: 44 x 55 1/4 in. Courtesy of the artist and Rhona Hoffman Gallery
Glenn Ligon, Untitled (Study #1 for Prisoner of Love), 1992. Oil and gesso on canvas; 30 1/2 x 20 in. (77.5 x 50.8 cm). Collection Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, gift of Sandra P. and Jack Guthman, 2000.11. © Glenn Ligon 1992/Regen Projects, Los Angeles
Photo © MCA Chicago
Michael Armitage, The Flaying of Marsyas, 2017. Oil on Lubugo bark cloth; 92 1/2 x 96 7/8 x 1 9/16 in. (235 x 246 x 4 cm). © Michael Armitage
Photo © White Cube (Ben Westoby)About the exhibition
Love Is The Message, The Message Is Death, by acclaimed artist and filmmaker Arthur Jafa, is a multilayered seven-minute montage about the experience of living in the United States. The video tells a story of trauma and transcendence in a flurry of footage—from historic speeches by Martin Luther King Jr. and Barack Obama, to clips of cultural icons Beyoncé and Notorious B.I.G., to flashes of concerts, home movies, news footage, music videos, and sports matches—all set to a soaring gospel-inspired anthem.
Centered around this filmic journey, the exhibition features a rotating body of work from the MCA's collection inspired by the titular themes in Bruce Nauman's iconic neon Life, Death, Love, Hate, Pleasure, Pain. The work's title establishes the themes of three rotating groups of artwork in the exhibition's final gallery: life and death, love and hate, and pleasure and pain. Powerful, moving works by artists such as Deana Lawson, Glenn Ligon, Kerry James Marshall, Robert Mapplethorpe, and Carrie Mae Weems alternate throughout the run of the show.
The exhibition is curated by Naomi Beckwith, Manilow Senior Curator. It is presented in the Sylvia Neil and Daniel Fischel Galleries on the museum's second floor.
Featured Artists
The artists featured in the non-rotating galleries of Prisoner of Love include:
- Lynda Benglis (American, b. 1941)
- David Hammons (American, b. 1943)
- Arthur Jafa (American, b. 1960)
- Glenn Ligon (American, b. 1960)
- Bruce Nauman (American, b. 1941)
The artists featured throughout the run of the exhibition include:
Life and Death, on view from January 26-April 28
- Edgar Arceneaux (American, b. 1972)
- Melvin Edwards (American, b. 1937)
- Christian Marclay (American, b. 1955)
- Kerry James Marshall (American, b. 1955)
- Catherine Opie (American, b. 1961)
- Naudline Pierre (American, b. 1989)
- Doris Salcedo (Colombian, b. 1958)
- Gary Simmons (American, b. 1964)
Love and Hate, on view from May 4-July 28**
- Mark Bradford (American, b. 1969)
- Jasper Johns (American, b. 1930)
- Deana Lawson (American, b. 1979)
- Pope.L (American, b. 1955)
- Carrie Mae Weems (American, b. 1953)
Pleasure and Pain, on view from August 3-October 20**
- Michael Armitage (Kenyan, b. 1984)
- Noah Davis (American, 1983-2015)
- Leslie Hewitt (American, b. 1977)
- Arthur Jafa (American, b. 1960)
- Robert Mapplethorpe (American, 1946-1989)
- Bruce Nauman (American, b. 1941)
- Paul Mpagi Sepuya (American, b. 1982)
Transcripts
Arthur Jafa
Love Is The Message, The Message Is Death, 2016 Collection Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Anonymous gift to the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago and the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, 2017.34 Images courtesy Arthur Jafa and Gavin Brown's enterprise, New York/Rome
Installation Images
Installation view, Prisoner of Love, MCA Chicago. January 26 – October 27, 2019
Photo: Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago
Installation view, Prisoner of Love, MCA Chicago. January 26 – October 27, 2019. Work shown: Bruce Nauman, Life, Death, Love, Hate, Pleasure, Pain, 1983. Neon; diameter: 70 7/8 in. (180 cm). Collection Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Gerald S. Elliott Collection, 1995.74. © 2018 Bruce Nauman/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.
Photo: Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago
Installation view, Prisoner of Love, MCA Chicago. January 26 – October 27, 2019. Work shown: Arthur Jafa, Love Is The Message, The Message Is Death, 2016. Video (color, sound); 7 minutes, 25 seconds. Collection Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, anonymous gift to the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago and the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, 2017.34. © 2016 Arthur Jafa.
Photo: Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago
Installation view, Prisoner of Love, MCA Chicago. January 26 – October 27, 2019
Photo: Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago
Installation view, Prisoner of Love, MCA Chicago. January 26 – October 27, 2019
Photo: Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago
Installation view, Prisoner of Love, MCA Chicago. January 26 – October 27, 2019
Photo: Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago
Installation view, Prisoner of Love, MCA Chicago. January 26 – October 27, 2019
Photo: Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago
Installation view, Prisoner of Love, MCA Chicago. January 26 – October 27, 2019
Photo: Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago
Installation view, Prisoner of Love, MCA Chicago. January 26 – October 27, 2019
Photo: Nathan Keay, © MCA ChicagoFunding
Lead support for Prisoner of Love is provided by The Pritzker Traubert Collection Exhibition Fund.
Major support is provided by Cari and Michael J. Sacks.
Generous support is provided by Anne L. Kaplan, Lloyd A. Fry Foundation, Cheryl Mayberry McKissack and Eric McKissack, and Douglas and Yumi Ross.