“The exhibition Love Is Forever, Isn't It? presents one of the most comprehensive surveys of Dorothy Iannone's prolific body of work, to be showcased at M HKA.
Dorothy Iannone (1933–2022) was an American visual artist who lived and worked in Berlin. Her artistic practice spanned paintings, artists’ books, video installations, sculptures, drawings, and sound works. In her visual and writing oeuvre, she created a unique relationship between text, image, audio, and sculptural objects, emphasising their narrative and fictional dimensions.
The primary focus of this project is the recontextualisation of Iannone's work, specifically examining its intrinsic performative nature, which has been scarcely investigated until now. The exhibition explores novelistic conventions, narrative threads, relationships between words and images, as well as autofictional and biographical elements within her creations.
Iannone examined topics related to female sexuality, which has led to her work being censored on multiple occasions. In her vibrant oeuvre, she explored feelings and emotions, creating an erotic iconography largely inspired by non-Western and Buddhist imagery. She passionately described her intimate friendships and relationships with her muses, artists, and lovers.
Though she shared personal and artistic associations with Fluxus, Dorothy Iannone never considered herself part of the movement. Undoubtedly, her transdisciplinary and multifaceted practice establishes a unique dialogue with the neo-avant-garde movements of the 1960s, 70s, and 80s.
Iannone's exhibition at M HKA takes viewers on an emancipatory journey towards unconditional love, the celebration of matriarchy, and Eros. As she eloquently stated in one of her texts: ‘If in any way, I have helped people to come closer to themselves, that would mean a lot to me.’
Catalogue published on the occasion of Iannone’s exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Antwerp, with an interview with Iannone conducted by Zielińska, illustrated with b/w reproductions.
Stapled, 21 x 14 cm, 50 pages, Antwerpen 2023
