Jim Love was a beloved figure in the Houston arts community and a close friend of the de Menils. His larger-than-life sculptures have become iconic landmarks of Houston-area institutions, including Hobby Airport and Hermann Park.
Writing was an essential practice of Love’s daily life, and as a soft-spoken man, it was his preferred means of expression. He compulsively wrote, whether it was crafting poems, messages on postcards, or letters to those dearest to him. Love briefly merged his passion for writing with his artistic practice in this untitled series from 2000. These ink-on-paper drawings resemble written text whose contents are methodically concealed. Rather than hastily scratching out mistakes with violent marks, Love instead exiled the words with a deliberate and gentle precision.
Each work is executed with traditional writing implements such as pens or markers, which can be distinguished by the thickness of the line. Furthermore, the unique arrangement of the concealed text evokes diverse forms of communication like poetry, letter writing, or to-do lists. However, their possible resemblance to actual documents remains known only to the artist. The intent behind these texts can be interpreted as information the artist no longer wished to reveal, thus redacting it from the viewer.
Prior to creating these drawings, Love explored themes of writing and concealment with two steel-plate sculptures (Postcard from the Enemy and A Day to Remember, both from 1977), laying the groundwork for themes and techniques that would resurface in this drawing series. Through these works, Love explored the intermingling of text and seclusion that infiltrated various facets of his diverse art practice.
