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December 9, 2024
The Dittmar Gallery presents “I Love You. I Love You? I Love You!” a walkable installation by Chicago-based artist and curator Matthew Cortez until Oct. 15 at Northwestern University’s Norris Center, 1999 Campus Drive on the Evanston campus.
The work examines the diminishing significance of the phrase "I Love You" due to its overuse in society. As viewers walk through a spiral of words on the ground, they experience a grayscale gradient from white to black, representing the transition from sincere to insincere.
As an artist, Cortez explores love as a broad concept. Love’s enduring presence across civilizations and its significance in modern society is a central theme in his works. His art has been displayed at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) Galleries, Northwestern University, Indiana University Northwest and South Suburban College.
A phrase that has been diminished through overuse.
Cortez is currently studying art history, theory and criticism at SAIC and serves as a curator and installation director of SAIC’s SITE Galleries, where he seeks to highlight the diversity of art across time, culture and identities.
In his most recent curatorial project, “A Space Remains,” the exhibiting artists reflected on the ambivalent relation each of them has with home through inquiry with their bodies, families, traditions and geographies.
An opening reception with Cortez will be held Thursday, Sept. 21, from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Dittmar Gallery.
Dittmar Gallery admission is free and open to the public. Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., Mondays through Sundays, except when a new exhibition is being mounted. For more information, visit the Dittmar website, call the Dittmar Gallery at 847-491-2348 or email dittmargallery@u.northwestern.edu.
