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What LOVE Means

Guest Post by Parker Chase, MOA Marketing and PR Intern

Guest Post by Parker Chase, MOA Marketing and PR Intern Love is in the air—and in the MOA. Those who visit the BYU Museum of Art are sure to recognize Robert Indiana's LOVE, one of many in his iconic series of sculptures. Most people have come across or heard of this series, as the installations all over the world are popular tourist destinations. The sculptures appear all over the world in different languages, mediums, colors, and sizes, and people all around the globe have resonated with the simple declaration of the word “love.”

What most people don't know, however, is how Robert Indiana himself felt about the series. The initial design that initiated the series was created when the MOMA commissioned Indiana to create a Christmas card. Indiana had strong Christian roots, and the phrase “God is Love” was his inspiration. However, many immediately associated his artwork with romantic love. His first sculpture of the design saw massive success and throughout his career Indiana created over 50 more, bringing him massive mainstream fame. Indiana, however, hated the mainstream fame the series brought him and eventually began to resent it, calling it 'a marvelous idea, but it was also a terrible mistake.' He felt that the wild popularity of the series made him a one-hit wonder and overshadowed the rest of his artistic contributions. Regardless of how you, I, Robert Indiana, or anyone else feels about it, there is no denying that his series has become an iconic and global symbol of love.

References: https://mymodernmet.com/love-sculpture-robert-indiana/