What's On

6-9pm Monday, February 14, 2011

Java Café & Gallery

56 Sihanouk Blvd, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Main gallery: paintings by Oeur Sokuntevy

Downstairs gallery: 3d works, drawings and light boxes by Nicolas C.
Grey

http://javaarts.org/2011/02/love-lust-and-loathing-%e2%80%93-a-valentine%e2%80%99s-day-happening/

Dispense with any heart-shaped expectations, this exhibition is not
your typical celebration of love. Featuring the work of Oeur Sokuntevy
(Tevy) and Nicolas C. Grey, LOVE LUST AND LOATHING explores the darker
and more complex aspects of love. Negotiating ideas of love and loss,
togetherness and loneliness, and the capacity of feeling to build or
destroy, this exhibition provides a pause for thought amongst the
traditions and romantic paraphernalia of Valentine's Day.

Tevy presents an autobiographical series of work, which tells the
story of a former relationship and her current one. Whilst she has
often referenced herself in her surrealist images, these works on
paper which have never previously been exhibited include literal
representations of herself for the first time. Through her unerringly
honest and direct style, this series evokes the raw emotion of being
in a relationship and of its demise.

Nicolas C Grey's work draws you in to his fantastically imaginative,
contemplative world. Both his portraiture and wall sculptures are far
from conventional comments on love, romance and attachment. His use of
portraiture, some including the use of passport photographs, are
products of his deep grappling with what constitutes personal
identity. They are immersed in the sinister, bleaker aspects of
humanity, where love may seem to be absent, ambiguous, and associated
with suffering.

LOVE, LUST and LOATHING provides a cautionary tale of romance and the
fear involved of giving and receiving too much or too little both in
love and in life.

For the opening, the children's room playroom will be transformed into
a fortune teller's saloon, where a clairvoyant will be on hand to
provide you with love predictions, if you dare...

(Text by Natalie Pace)

And if you are looking for something a bit sweeter, the Java bakery
has created a Valentine Cookie garden--something sweet for your
sweetheart!