Love Is a Losing Game

Friedrich Andreoni, Nicolás Astorga, Katja Aufleger, Nadia Belerique, Marc-Aurèle Debut, Ziva Drvaric, Flaka Haliti, Tala Madani, Karilynn Ming Ho, Monilola Olayemi Ilupeju, Dean Sameshima The exhibition Love Is a Losing Game, curated by Philipp Lange, addresses existential questions of togetherness by examining the fragile yet enduring phenomenon of love. What particular challenges does love face in light of normative relationship models, socio-economic conditions, and the growing influence of technology on our daily lives? The titular song by Amy Winehouse, which celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2026, alludes to transience, loneliness, disappointment, and pain, while also allowing possibilities of empowerment to emerge: in consciously accepting failure, a moment of agency and strength can arise. As an ambivalent assertion, the title—like love itself—resists definitive classification. This openness forms the resonating space of the group exhibition. With works by eleven artists spanning two decades, including new site-specific productions, Love Is a Losing Game reflects on the self as it exists situated within the tension between partnership, isolation, and the outside world. The capitalisation of love in popular culture plays a central role in this. At the same time, the spatial setting of the gallery—a former apartment—serves as a point of reference for locating the individual: within one’s own four walls, physical experiences, emotions and the perception of love intensify.