Piece of my Heart

“Didn't I make you feel like you were the only man, well yeah

Didn't I give you nearly everything that a woman possibly can

Honey, you know I did

And each time I tell myself that I, well I think I've had enough

But what I'm gonna show you, baby, that a woman can be tough

I want you to come on, come on, come on, come on and take it

Take another little piece of my heart now, baby.”

• Excerpt from “Piece of My Heart” by Janis Joplin

The song “Piece of My Heart” depicts a lovelorn woman so enraptured by her lover that she's willing to break off yet another piece of her heart if only he will take it. With this group exhibition of the same title, 20 artists examine love, heartbreak, and the macabre that coincide with the lyrics once written by Joplin. Featured are works by Alberto Pazzi, Barbara Kruger, Carlos Betancourt, Christopher Tanner, Donna Napoli-Steele, Erika Keck, George Condo, Ghada Amer, Huma Bhabha, Jessica Harrison, Jimi Dams, Kim McCarty, Marilyn Minter, Marta Martino, Maynard Monrow, Raqib Shaw, Richard Gabriele, Robert Flynt, Stacey Lee-Webber, & Sterling Ruby. 

Artists, for centuries, have created work that depicts love & loss. The curating teams self-diagnosed “romanticism” allows space for others to “fall in and out of love” - while the artists explore the wonders of personal and historic depictions of these experiences. The exhibition title’s double entendre shows that with matters of the heart, there is no more extraordinary “piece” than that of the connectivity that ties all the artists together. The curation explores the uniqueness within the sensations of yearning - that everyone has encountered throughout their lives. The works in Piece of My Heart oscillate between painting, drawing, sculpture, and installation. From inception to execution, the exhibition is a genuine question of individual concepts of the heart while further dissecting the the historical roots of a commercialized holiday known as a day to express admiration - that unbeknownst to most comes from the gruesome demise of Saint Valentine who defied Claudius the Cruel and married young lovers at a time of war.