signs and symbols presents LOVER HATER CUNTY INTELLECTUAL, a solo exhibition by Michelle Handelman. The exhibition marks the first in a series of in-depth character studies of video Icons from Handelman’s latest multiplatform project, Hustlers & Empires (2018). Originally commissioned by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Hustlers & Empires explores transgression as a mode of survival, examining the complicated relationship between pleasure and risk and how identity is formed in resistance to oppression. Part opera, part manifesto, the project draws on Handelman’s own experience of growing up among drug dealers and pimps during the 1970s, as well as the stories of three real and imagined hustlers: Iceberg Slim’s Pimp (1967), Marguerite Duras’s The Lover (1984) and Federico Fellini’s Toby Dammit (1968). LOVER HATER CUNTY INTELLECTUAL reworks and deconstructs the character of The Lover, presenting a single character study through a multifaceted installation that includes video, text, image, music, monologue and performance.

Performances: Saturday, May 4th & Sunday, May 5th at 4pm.
Artist Talk: Saturday, May 25th, 4pm, Handelman in conversation with Emily Colucci (Filthy Dreams)