GHADA AMER AT FESTIVAL INTERNATIONAL SANTA LUCÍA, MONTERREY, NL, MEXICO

LOVE PARK, 29 SEP – 5 NOV 2023

As part of Festival Internacional Santa Lucía,  'Paradojas Urbanas' (En.: Urban Paradoxes) is the title of the 6th Edition of the Public Art Programme of Las Artes de Monterrey, where Ghada Amer, Carlos Vielma, Rolando Flores, Modwina Rocío, David Nahúm and Miguel Villareal have been invited to participate in transforming the Macroplaza of Monterrey, Nueva León, Mexico. 

In this new edition, curated by Eliud Nava, Ghada Amer unveils Love Park (1999/2023). This garden defies convention; it doesn't feature the typical flower and grass. Instead, it takes on the guise of a romantic promenade adorned with benches and signs that challenge our perceptions of love.

Each bench is divided into two halves, and people sit on opposite sides, facing away from each other. On each side of the bench, there is a sign displaying a love quote from renowned authors like Shakespeare, Rumi, Camus, Saint-Exupéry or Paglia, but the author's names remain concealed.

Ghada Amer, Love Park, 1999/2023

Ghada Amer, Love Park, 1999/2023

These paired quotations present contradictory messages, emphasising the inherent lack of communication and distance within relationships. Love Park (1999/2023) becomes a symbolic conversation in which lovers struggle to grasp the true essence of love.

Ghada Amer, Love Park, 1999/2023