Anne Labovitz

USA

I create work about how political, social, and cultural platforms can be turned into personal acts of care. Conversation and interaction are integral parts of my creative process, which allow me to explore a blurred boundary between gallery exhibit and social practice. Color, texture, installation, and community building all combine to create a shared space of connection and contemplation. For years I have examined the importance of human connection and its visual embodiment. My resulting praxis embodies connection, community building, and relational exchange.

The concept of radical care is especially important to how I approach my paintings and installations. It is my way of visually expressing Martin Buber’s I/Thou philosophy, which propagates the idea that life finds its meaningfulness through seeing one and other. Much of my work realizes radical care by utilizing a dialogue and engagement process, the results of which are directly incorporated into the painting or installation. This is a reciprocal practice; intimate conversations turn into my making process, which then is presented to contribute to a public, collective voice.

The I Love You Institute
The I Love You Institute is an artist-led site-specific project urgently working with communities to creatively address today’s world. We combine art making, social justice, radical kindness, and relational listening to normalize saying “I Love You” as an alternative to division and conflict.

Hasti Sardashti

Carolin Rechberg