from NextMonet.com
Rascals and Damsels
by Glen Helfand
   
Rock stars and tragic figures Courtney Love and Kurt Cobain star in Isabel Samaras' ode to one of the great scoundrel-maiden duos of recent pop culture. Courtney appears here as two distinct personae: her pale, grungy self before Kurt's suicide and the glamorous, much more maidenlike self that emerged after her husband's death. In the background, against a deserted plain that leads to the Hollywood Hills, "Kurt's head floats beatifically," says the artist. Perhaps these two cannot escape their amorous bond, even after death.

Like the other works in this exhibition, Loves shows us how wide-ranging the idea of a rascal-damsel coupling can be. Stories of love, lust, obsession, or even tragedy comprise these iconic images. But above all, these works demonstrate the magnetic nature of two beings romantically intertwined — for better or for worse.