Nudes and Neon: Eight alternative artworks celebrating love

From Ellen Von Unwerth to Tracey Emin, we look to art's finest to illustrate everything they know about love.

This Valentine’s Day, we teamed up with London’s Opera Gallery to delve into their archives and find their most loved up artists. Looking to the original queen of neon, Tracey Emin’s her heartfelt textual declarations, and at the iconic giant ‘LOVE’ sculptures from Robert Indiana, there’s all the alt-love creations you could want. HUNGER fave Ellen Von Unwerth’s sensual photography takes us in another love direction, showing the darker side of romance. Both Von Unwerth and André Brasilier show us the power of the divine feminine through artistic expressions of the female nude, evoking love at it’s most raw.

Scroll down to see some of the most daring declarations of love, which you can see for yourself at the Opera Gallery, London, open Monday-Saturday 10am-7pm, Sunday 12pm-5pm. 

Tracey Emin What Colour is a Kiss X, Neon, 2018
Ellen von Unwerth, Tree of Love, Bavaria, 2015
André Brasilier, La Chambre rose, 2018
Robert Indiana, LOVE (Gold faces Blue sides), 1966-2002
Ellen von Unwerth, Anonymous, Anna Ewers and Keke Lindgard, Numero China, Paris, 2013
Ellen von Unwerth, Tree of Love, Bavaria, 2015
Stallman – Jason Hallman, Love is Everywhere, Canvas on Edge
André Brasilier, La Chambre rose, 2018
Tracey Emin What Colour is a Kiss X, Neon, 2018
Tracey Emin, Because of You I’m Here, Neon, 2015
Tracey Emin, What Colour is a Kiss, Neon, 2015
wordsKitty Robson
main imageEllen Von Unwerth, Anonymous, Anna Ewers and Keke Lindgard, Numero China, Paris, 2013