I Don't Want to Fall In Love Again

Filter Photo is pleased to present, I Don't Want to Fall In Love Again, a solo exhibition of work by Eli Craven.

This exhibition presents 15 recent works that have been transformed through sculptural, digital, and darkroom manipulation. Through his work, Craven uses both found and original imagery to investigate the image's relationship to the body, sexuality, desire, and death. The artist is particularly drawn to what he describes as "the ubiquitous and mundane photography in self-help books, instructional guides, and family portraiture, which, upon close inspection, allude to a range of human fears and emotions."

Through methods of isolation and fragmentation, the figures are contorted and transformed, presenting them as both signifier and object. The renewed compositions re-frame the original, altering their physical and psychological potential. Entire scenes are rendered incomplete without the viewer’s imagination filling the gaps and visualizing what lies beneath the surface of the photograph, or behind the veil.

About the Artist

Eli Craven (b. 1979) is an artist based in Lafayette, Indiana. His research resides in the critical investigation of the image and its relationship to ideologies of sexuality, desire, and death. Craven’s work is exhibited nationally and internationally—most recently at Klompching Gallery in Brooklyn, NY and at Feinkunst Krüger Gallery in Hamburg, Germany. His work has also been widely published. Select publications and clients include Philosophie Magazine, The Journal of Curriculum and Pedagogy, Gestalten Publishing Berlin, Penguin Random House Barcelona, and The Paris National Opera.

On View: October 13th - November 18th, 2023

Location: Filter Space | 1821 W Hubbard St, Suite 207

This exhibition was partially sponsored by The Illinois Arts Council Agency.