The power of LOVE

Advertisements, billboards, letters, signs and symbols in the streets of New York in the 1960s screamed at Robert Indiana. They fueled his fascination for the power of signs and visual carriers of meaning. He literally transferred words into paintings and sculptures and elevated them to the status of art. The LOVE motif appeared for the first time in 1964, when the Museum of Modern Art in New York asked him to design a Christmas card. The four letters were an immediate success. With their unique design and direct message, they embodied the idealism and positivity of the love generation of the sixties.

Indiana's sculptures have become icons of Western modern art. The stacked letters speak for themselves and spread their message all over the world. From New York to Tokyo, they are integrated into public space as real landmarks. Varying in size and color scheme, they each carry Indiana's unmistakable style, always with one tilted letter.

In 1966 Indiana made the first sculpture from this motif. Like a literal wordsmith, he plays with the aesthetic power of typography. The materiality of the heavy metal contrasts with the function of words as a carrier of meaning, but Indiana manages to bring the letters together in a simple way. Graceful curves interact with sharp lines. Cavities and shadows appear. Plain color fields alternate. The visual impact of these sculptures stick to our memory.

LOVE is a bold sculpture. The pronounced letters and reflective surfaces are impossible to ignore. Stacked compactly, the sculpture has a dignified attitude. It proudly spreads its positive message. The solid block is undermined by the rebellious letter “O”, which is about to roll out of the composition. The “O” causes uncertainty and indicates LOVE's fragility.