Loquii| Freudenfreude - Love is an Act of Resistance

30 January - 14 March 2026

Special opening event 5.30pm Friday 30 January 2026

All welcome. Free

​

Freudenfreude is a German term meaning joy derived from another person’s happiness. It describes the pleasure felt when witnessing someone else succeed or experience joy.

​

 Freudenfreude - Love Is an Act of Resistance explores how through social interaction, social media, news cycles, and identity politics deeply entrenched in the world around us can pull individuals deeper into self-reinforcing narratives. These originate through online echo chambers which narrow empathy, and amplify fear and hatred to a fever pitch.

​

Love, by contrast, requires real effort to listen, to remain open, to resist simplification, to see that nothing is just black and white, and to see the complexity in one another. Love is an act of resistance because it runs counter to systems that profit from division, fear, and dehumanisation. Choosing love requires refusing simplifying issues, resisting outrage, and rejecting narratives that turn people into enemies. As polarisation and algorithm-driven extremity become signs of the times, love becomes a conscious, defiant practice of empathy, solidarity, and shared humanity. Love also challenges ego and certainty; it demands empathy in moments of fear or disagreement. In a culture that rewards speed, control, and outrage, love is slower, more demanding, and therefore harder to sustain.

See the god in everyone.

​

The paintings in Freudenfreude - Love Is an Act of Resistance have been created using symbolic detritus that has been accumulated through time. These all have emotional values such as collage, thread, figurines, text, tape, organic matter, matches, x-rays sections, hair, blood, maps, photos and . The paintings themselves have been created in a traditional way - acrylic and drawing on canvas, drawing on paper whilst using the non-painterly elements to further accentuate the intangible telemetry between viewer and works.

 

Image: Loquii, I’m going to do a new thing. Acrylic on canvas