Love Songs is a remix of photo classics and oral histories of the 1970s, capturing both the inspiration and irony of events that, in different ways, have affected two generations of women. Mary Kelly’s riff takes the form of a large-scale narrative installation, incorporating, for the first time, photographs made in collaboration with a group of younger artists and performers who have re-staged images from her archive.

Flashing Nipple Remix, a series of black and white transparencies in light boxes, records choreographic improvisations on a snapshot of street theater performers at the 1971 Miss World protest at the Albert Hall in London. WLM Demo Remix, a 90-second film loop, uses slow dissolves to bridge past and present representations of the 1970 Women’s Liberation demonstration, marking the 50th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, in New York City. Sisterhood is POW, a 72-foot narrative illuminated by rope light, replays the artist’s irreverent recollections of participation in the Miss World protest and a shorter work, Seemed Right, highlights phrases most often repeated in numerous interviews with women about the impact of these events on their lives.

In the four works that comprise Love Songs, Kelly attempts to describe what is left after the specific demands of the moment have faded and what, if anything, is passed on from one generation to the next. Rather than a nostalgic invocation of the ‘70s, Love Songs is a performative synthesis of the past in the present that explores the artist and the performers’ imaginary investment in the historical legacy as well as current relevance of sexual politics.

Mary Kelly’s previous large-scale installation Circa 1968 was most recently shown at the Whitney Museum 2004 Biennial Exhibition.