Like Magic artist Johanna Hedva joins us in the Research & Development Store for a reading and discussion of their recently released Your Love is Not Good, in conversation with MASS MoCA Curator Alexandra Foradas.

Also join us the following night, Saturday evening, February 24, for a concert by Hedva in MASS MoCA’s Club B10.

Synopsis:
At an otherwise forgettable party in Los Angeles, a queer Korean American painter spots a woman who instantly controls the room: gorgeous and distant and utterly white, the center of everyone’s attention. Haunted into adulthood by her Korean father’s abandonment of his family, as well as the specter of her beguiling, abusive white mother, the painter finds herself caught in a perfect trap. She wants Hanne, or wants to be her, or to sully her, or destroy her, or consume her, or some confusion of all the above. Since she’s an artist, she will use art to get closer to Hanne, beginning a series of paintings with her new muse as model. As for Hanne, what does she want? Her whiteness seems sometimes as cruel as a new sheet of paper. Your Love Is Not Good explodes queerly into the cracks between identity and aspiration, between desire and art, and revels in the raining debris.

About the Author:
Hedva is a Korean American writer, artist, and musician who was raised in Los Angeles by a family of witches, and now lives in LA and Berlin. Hedva is the author of the essay, Sick Woman Theory (2016), which has been translated into ten languages; the novel, On Hell, which was one of Dennis Cooper’s favorite books of 2018; and the nonfiction collection Minerva the Miscarriage of the Brain. Their albums are The Sun and the Moon and Black Moon Lilith in Pisces in the 4th House.

Make a Plan

A $5 ticket is required to reserve your space at this event. Space is limited. The cost of your ticket will be deducted from any book purchase made in The R&D Store the night of the event. Please retain your ticket or confirmation email as proof of your reservation.

All events at MASS MoCA are accessible to all audiences. Please contact accessibility@massmoca.org if you would like to inquire about accessibility needs and services. These events will include ASL interpretation.

The Research & Development Store is located on the ground floor just off of the lobby. Our campus is large and our parking lot is about a 5–10 minute walk to the main entrance. There are accessible, gender-neutral restrooms available on the ground floor of nearby Building 11.