what is love

…baby don't hurt me – that is the echoing dance-pop afterthought that penetrates what's left of the visitors' eardrums when hearing the exhibition title what is love. The iconic song by Haddaway, made popular through a nightclub scene in the film “A Night at the Roxbury”, now serves as a reference in the first solo show of Jessica Kuhn, taking place at Night Gallery, an art space located inside exactly that – a nightclub. The exhibition draws from popular culture in various ways, including Jack and Rose from Titanic, a romance that didn’t get to live happily ever after. People across the globe still debate whether Jack's sacrifice could have been prevented. Wasn't there enough space on the raft? Jessica Kuhn explores her personal relationship to romantic rescue and the recurring desire to be saved herself. This desire has often been associated with the "Cinderella Complex," a theory that argues girls are repeatedly exposed to fairytales featuring a prince who will come and save them. As Snow White famously put it, "One day my prince will come." Between the constant struggle of wanting to be saved yet also wanting to be strong and independent, the artist takes on the role of the knight in shining armour, literally and metaphorically. In her search for independence, she often, so to speak, "steps on somebody's tail" and awakens violent forces in the other person. She describes this dynamic as "dancing with lions." Male lions have historically been used to symbolise strength and have been associated with imperial power. The lion tail has become a recurring element in her work, through which she explores different ways of relating and thereby rewriting the symbolism of lions. For Jessica Kuhn, art-making is a form of love, and love requires vulnerability. This brings her to the unspoken exhibition title: baby don't hurt me…