For Immediate Release

Grand Rapids Art Museum Presents Large-Scale Photographic Installation by Jess T. Dugan

Look at me like you love me’ on view June 20 — Sept. 28, 2024

GRAND RAPIDS, MI, June 18, 2024 — The Grand Rapids Art Museum (GRAM) announced today the opening of Jess T. Dugan: Look at me like you love me, a large-scale outdoor installation on the Museum’s exterior. The installation will open June 20 and remain on view through Sept. 28, 2024, for ArtPrize.

Located on the Monroe Center side of the Museum, the installation is comprised of photographic portraits of individuals and couples displayed as large window murals. Captured by Dugan over the course of seven years, the portraits in the installation explore desire, intimacy, companionship, and the ways our identities are shaped by these experiences.

Much of Dugan’s practice is informed by their life experiences and identity as a queer, non-binary person. Dugan is drawn to subjects who embody an inner strength alongside the ability to be open, present, and vulnerable — particularly when they embody an identity that is not supported by mainstream society. On this topic, Dugan says, there are elements of gender and sexuality in Look at me like you love me, but it’s more about being a person, what it means to be alive, and what it means to connect with other people.”

The Grand Rapids Art Museum is excited to present Look at me like you love me on our Monroe Center exterior, activating a highly visible and central spot in downtown,” commented GRAM Curator of Collections and Exhibitions Jennifer Wcisel. Jess’ work provides us with something that we as humans so desperately need — to be fully and truly seen. We hope visitors to GRAM feel seen and celebrated through this work.”

In addition to the works on the Museum’s exterior, Look at me like you love me includes two video works by the artist, Letter to My Father (2017) and Letter to My Daughter (2023), which will be on view indoors in GRAM’s Monroe Center Creativity Space. The films are deeply personal reflections on life, love, familial relationships, and parenthood.

Guests to GRAM can also view Dugan’s photograph Shira and Sarah (2020), currently on view in the exhibition The Outwin: American Portraiture Today through September 8, 2024.

This project is made possible in part by support from Downtown Grand Rapids Inc.‘s Activate Grant program.

Related Program:

Visionnaire Series: Identity and Self Expression Poetry Night
Thursday, June 27, 5:30 – 7 pm
Join GRAM’s Visionnaires for a free self-identity themed poetry night inspired by The Outwin: American Portraiture Today and Jess T. Dugan: Look at me like you love me. Enjoy a free cup of coffee or purchase a themed beverage from Morning Ritual, connect with the Grand Rapids Pride Center, and snap along as fellow poets explore self-identity through spoken word.

About the Grand Rapids Art Museum 
Connecting people through art, creativity, and design. Established in the heart of downtown Grand Rapids, the Museum is internationally known for its distinguished design and status as the world’s first LEED® Gold certified art museum. Founded in 1910 as the Grand Rapids Art Association, GRAM has grown to include more than 6,500 works of art, including American and European 19th and 20th-century painting and sculpture and more than 3,000 works on paper. Embracing the city’s legacy as a leading center of design and manufacturing, GRAM has a growing collection in the area of design and modern craft. For museum hours and admission fees, call 616.831.1000 or visit artmuseumgr.org.
 

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