PALO Gallery Presents A Vehement Flame, a Photography Exhibition of Love and Passion by Lauren Massie and Lily Burgess
July 10th – August 28th, 2024
“Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame.” – (Song of Solomon 8:6, King James Version)
Cross, 2023, Polaroid film, 16 x 20 inches
PALO Gallery is delighted to present a series of self-portraits by photographers Lauren Massie and Lily Burgess. Opening July 10, 2024, A Vehement Flame explores Massie and Burgess’s relationship, spanning from their first encounter to the heady days of their relationship.
The exhibition documents the emotional and physical vulnerability that rarified the couple’s bond. At the core of the series are questions of codependency, what defines a healthy relationship, and the navigation of interpersonal trauma.
Massie and Burgess approach photography as an expression of love. The practice of photographing each other in tender, sensitive moments demonstrates the strength of their shared practice as it grew synonymous with the changing tides of their relationship, a voyeuristic example of love, passion, and sadness. By utilizing the spontaneity inherent to the medium, instant film proved a significant development to the authenticity of the duo’s practice.
Inspired by artists such as Nan Goldin, Francesca Woodman, and Larry Clark, Massie and Burgess develop an attitude of young yet weathered romantics. Featuring photographs from various locations, the photographers explore how differing environments inform emotions and boundaries; the absence of sentimentality in their environment increases creativity, spontaneity, and raw emotions. Restrained by the one-and-done nature of polaroids, A Vehement Flame captures fleeting moments of the past in a permanent medium.
Each of the fourteen enlarged polaroids previews Massie and Burgess’ larger, ongoing series, which showcases passion and openness without judgment of the taboo. Snapshots of sex, love, loneliness, and trepidation are the vessel to communicate the darker sides of human nature. Burgess is a born and raised New Yorker, who started taking photos and keeping extensive diaries to chronicle her life from the early age of twelve onward. Massie moved to New York looking to develop his photographic practice of revealing the dark reality of life in seemingly glamorous industries such as music, fashion, and art.
A Vehement Flame will be on view from July 10 through August 28, 2024 at PALO Gallery, 21 E 3rd Street.