Shu Lea Cheang’s 'LOVER LOVE' at Leslie-Lohman Reimagines Trans Stories Through Movable Screens
At the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art in Soho, Shu Lea Cheang's 'LOVER LOVE' will be exhibited until January 3, 2027. This installation showcases a 28-minute film displayed on four movable screens, encouraging audience participation. Featuring eight performers, it pays tribute to Aérea Negrot, a Venezuelan musician based in Berlin who passed away in 2023. The film's soundtrack is Negrot's 2011 song 'LOVER LOVE.' Curator Stamatina Gregory, who has been with the museum since 2019, has always aspired to collaborate with Cheang, a pioneer in new media. The exhibition addresses the over 830 anti-trans bills currently proposed in the U.S. Performers were selected during a 2024 tour in Tucson, Arizona, and the film concludes with a UFO over the Sonoran Desert.
Key facts
- 'LOVER LOVE' by Shu Lea Cheang is on view at the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art through January 3, 2027.
- The 28-minute film features eight performers on four movable screens that viewers can push along tracks.
- The work is a tribute to Aérea Negrot, a Berlin-based Venezuelan musician and DJ who died in 2023.
- Negrot's 2011 track 'LOVER LOVE' lends the exhibition its title and score.
- Cheang cast performers via an open call in Tucson, Arizona, during a 2024 tour.
- The exhibition responds to over 830 anti-trans bills currently under consideration in the United States.
- Curator Stamatina Gregory compares the installation's gaps to Lucio Fontana's 'slit' canvas cuts.
- The film ends with a UFO over the Sonoran Desert, described as 'biblical and cosmic.'
Entities
Artists
- Shu Lea Cheang
- Aérea Negrot
- Stamatina Gregory
- Azrael Fayme
- Monica Jones
- Roland Lauth
- Brandon Teena
- Lucio Fontana
- June Hucko
- Livia Caligor
Institutions
- Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art
- Whitney Museum of American Art
- Hyperallergic
Locations
- Soho
- United States
- Berlin
- Germany
- Venezuela
- Tucson
- Arizona
- Sonoran Desert