“Love #32,” 2025, part of the “Love” series. Presented by Pencil on Paper Gallery at SCOPE Art during Miami Art Week, December 2025.
For Emmanuel Gillespie, even the most mundane moments can convey some of life’s greatest truths. This philosophy is at the heart of the Dallas-based artist’s Love series, which was recently showcased by Pencil on Paper Gallery during SCOPE Art in Miami.
Imbued with radiant blues and deep purples, each painting in the series meditates upon how love, intimacy, and joy manifest within a wide variety of familiar contexts. Throughout, we encounter a couple tenderly embracing each other outside of a clothing shop; a woman seemingly deep in thought, resting upon her couch and drinking a cup of tea; a ballerina gliding across the floor of a dance studio; and a group of friends chatting on a city street, coffees in their hands and purses dangling from their shoulders. These scenes aren’t necessarily profound in and of themselves, but they nevertheless reveal how ordinary environments can foster community, memory, and connection.
“This body of work contemplates the many forms love takes,” Gillespie says of the series. “Between people, within ourselves, and in the quiet spaces of life where we feel seen, safe, and whole, love remains a constant.”
Though some compositions feature several people, the vast majority of Gillespie’s series focuses on individual figures and pursuits. In Love #28, for instance, a woman sits on a bench, slowly sipping from a green drink. She seems at ease, content to witness the world unfold around her, even if she does so from a solitary perch. Love #33 is similar, also depicting a woman on a park bench, this time with a magazine splayed across her lap. In these two paintings, love isn’t understood as a participatory, communal project, as it so often is. Rather, it’s a mode of self-reflection, achieved through such acts as observing, reading, daydreaming, or simply enjoying a drink.
But, even if they’re seen alone, Gillespie’s subjects don’t strike us as uncomfortable or disillusioned. As the artist suggests, they’re practicing self-love, which, by extension, radiates outward and ultimately informs a universal sense of humanity.
“Rooted in understanding and humanity, the series reflects on how love, whether shared or self-held, manifests in moments of connection,” Gillespie continued in his artist statement. “It’s about recognizing the beauty in the human experience and the moments that connect us to ourselves and to each other.”
These shared human experiences guide much of Gillespie’s work, especially with regards to Blackness. In his Migration series, for example, the artist explores the Great Migration, a period from roughly 1910 to 1970 in which Black Americans relocated from the southern to northern U.S. in search of equality. These paintings consider history not just as a unifying force, but as a source of pride in the present day.
“I’m hoping that, like anything, this is our history, and we should be proud of that,” Gillespie remarked in a 2022 interview with Dallas Weekly. “We should have ownership of the images that are about us, so that we can keep them ourselves and pass them on.”
To learn more about the artist and his recent Love series, visit Emmanuel Gillespie’s website.
In his recent Love series, artist Emmanuel Gillespie explores how love manifests in everyday moments and environments.
“Love #18,” 2025, part of the “Love” series. Presented by Pencil on Paper Gallery at SCOPE Art during Miami Art Week, December 2025.
“Love #28,” 2025, part of the “Love” series. Presented by Pencil on Paper Gallery at SCOPE Art during Miami Art Week, December 2025.
“Love #31,” 2025, part of the “Love” series. Presented by Pencil on Paper Gallery at SCOPE Art during Miami Art Week, December 2025.
“Love #33,” 2025, part of the “Love” series. Presented by Pencil on Paper Gallery at SCOPE Art during Miami Art Week, December 2025.
“Love #23,” 2025, part of the “Love” series. Presented by Pencil on Paper Gallery at SCOPE Art during Miami Art Week, December 2025.
Imbued with radiant blues and deep purples, each painting is a testament to how both self-love and communal love are pillars of our shared humanity.
“Love #25,” 2025, part of the “Love” series. Presented by Pencil on Paper Gallery at SCOPE Art during Miami Art Week, December 2025.
“Love #14,” 2025, part of the “Love” series. Presented by Pencil on Paper Gallery at SCOPE Art during Miami Art Week, December 2025.
“Love #1,” 2025, part of the “Love” series. Presented by Pencil on Paper Gallery at SCOPE Art during Miami Art Week, December 2025.
“Love #34,” 2025, part of the “Love” series. Presented by Pencil on Paper Gallery at SCOPE Art during Miami Art Week, December 2025.
“Love #5,” 2025, part of the “Love” series. Presented by Pencil on Paper Gallery at SCOPE Art during Miami Art Week, December 2025.
Emmanuel Gillespie: Website | Instagram
Pencil on Paper Gallery: Website | Instagram
My Modern Met granted permission to feature photos by Pencil on Paper Gallery.
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