Art Out: The Space Between
By Ashley Yu
Left. Left. Left, right, left. Your thumbs swipe automatically through the flood of mediocre matches on Tinder, or whatever dismal version of an online dating app. With a tub of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream in your lap, you wonder if love will ever come to your life the way rom-coms do.
Maybe you’ve been single and going through a dry spell after a traumatic one-night-stand that you barely remember. Maybe you caught your bae texting their ex and you’ve decided to light all their stuff on fire. Maybe you’re happily in love--and God bless you if you are. Regardless of your relationship status, The Space Between is an exhibition that may rekindle your hope for love and intimacy, or it might just break your heart even more.
Curated by Edna Cardinale, The Space Between brings together 27 artists and photographers on the universal themes of love, lust, and loss. The artists depict, in their own unique way, the constant coming together and drifting apart of humans. From Eric Pickersgill’s photograph of a couple who can no longer stand each other to Yolanda del Amo’s depiction of indifference after decades of marriage, these once-passionate lovers only share space with each other.
Just because you share space with them doesn’t mean you love them. The most heartbreaking photograph is Duane Michael’s image captioned “This Photograph is My Proof”--evidence that these newlyweds used to be happily in love, yet it has now become a bittersweet memory that they can barely remember.
Don’t despair: there are also plenty images of love and passion that will make you smile like a fool. From a snapshot of a young couple getting hot and heavy in the backseat of a car to a photograph of two people on the Subway who are too nervous to hold hands, there exists small moments of pure joy and intimacy throughout the exhibition. And while you watch Allison Kaufman’s video Dancing with Divorced Men, you also realize that after loss and heartbreak comes healing and forgiveness.
Yes, there will always be heartbreak. Lovers and relationships come and go. Maybe if you’re lucky, you’ll find your soulmate on the first try. But for the rest of us, fumbling in the dark and looking for love, we’re still on the hunt for these moments of happiness and intimacy that makes life worth living.
The Space Between is exhibited at the Julie Saul Gallery until April 20th.