Education
FSU Museum of Fine Arts opens new performance exhibition exploring work of father, daughter
The Florida State University Museum of Fine Arts (MoFA) will present “Floating Metal: UNDERcurrents In My Father’s Garden” beginning Aug. 27, an immersive performance exhibition bringing together the work of two artists and FSU faculty members, father and daughter Ed Love and nia love.
Conceived by School of Dance Professor and Guggenheim-winning choreographer nia love and co-curator Benin Ford, “Floating Metal” brings love’s choreography and dance films into conversation with the work of her father, Ed Love, a sculptor, fellow Guggenheim recipient and celebrated member of the Black Arts Movement. Known for transforming discarded scrap metal into powerful sculptures, Ed Love served as an FSU professor of visual arts from 1990 until his death in 1999.
“One of the central ideas of ‘Floating Metal: UNDERcurrents In My Father’s Garden’ is that our understanding of an artist is never complete. Knowledge unfolds as new works, memories, archives, relationships, and perspectives are brought into conversation,” said Kaylee Spencer, director of the museum. “By looking at Ed Love’s work through the experience of nia love’s performances and video installations, we can revisit the past with new information and see the present differently. We are excited to share this experience with the Tallahassee community.”
The exhibition will combine dance, live jazz music and video projection with the first museum presentation of images from Ed Love’s 1988 “Beloved” series and a selection of his metal sculptures commemorating Black historical figures.
The exhibition is personal for nia love because it draws on her relationship with her father and her own experiences as an artist.
“My father sent me forth to do the dance,” said love. “What happened to tear us apart is not a small thing. It all crosses the seas, estuaries and rivers. Floating Metal recalls and continues this movement. It is a prayer of memory and healing, and a message of invention and rupture.”
nia love will perform at the museum Aug. 27-29 as part of the exhibition. Performances are free and open to the public, but reservations are requiredbecause of limited capacity. Free tickets are available through Eventbrite.
The exhibition also will feature a live performance camera obscura installation encompassing the museum’s central gallery. The darkened installation will project the movements of performers and audience members as images onto the museum walls.
An opening reception will be held at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 3. The event is free and open to the public.
love began developing work related to “Floating Metal” during a 2022 residency at FSU’s Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography, before joining the School of Dance faculty. During the residency, she conducted research and developed choreography that contributed to the exhibition.
The presentation of “Floating Metal: UNDERcurrents In My Father’s Garden” was made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Dance Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Foundation and the Mellon Foundation. Additional support comes from FSU’s Council on Research + Creativity.
MoFA is Tallahassee’s only art museum accredited by the American Association of Museums. Home to a permanent collection of over 7,000 objects and works of art, the museum fosters creativity, collaboration and connection in our community. Visit the MoFA website to learn more and plan your visit.
Performance schedule
Thursday, Aug. 27: 5:30 p.m.
Friday, Aug. 28: 5:30 p.m.
Saturday, Aug. 29: 11:30 a.m., 3:30 p.m.