She Who Saw Beautiful Things: A Multi-Layered Encounter of Parallel Histories and Legacies

As you enter the historical building and you glide from floor to floor and room to room, the story of Abraham Willet and Louisa Holthuysen, who lived and decorated this 17th-century building in the 19th century, unfolds and intertwines with Julia and Erika’s strory. Anohni’s delicate contribution determines the entire spectatorial experience, as it draws the attention to parts of the story that would have otherwise remained unattended. What would the portrait of mother Elizabeth have to say had it not been accompanied by the well-sized picture of a New Yorker dancer? Or, how would a chamber devoted to men’s freedom and privacy be celebrated differently had it not been ‘approved’ by another New Yorker’s celebration of femininity? These are only two examples that unpack the dialogue all these different stories and contexts get engaged in. 

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The track through the largest part of the Willet-Holthuysen house ultimately guides visitors to the heart of the exhibition: three rooms exclusively devoted to Julia and Erika. How much love can emanate from the meeting of two? What kind of love exists around us? What kind of love is much needed today? Through this exhibition, Anohni prompts us to ponder upon these questions and appreciate what Julia and Erika’s relationship has to offer us in a unique way. A series of photographs Erika took of her wife is veiled with Anohni’s hand-drawn, gentle layers of interventions. Abraham and Louisa’s life in the specific location, the background of their story with the delicate ambiguity in their romance, in dialogue with Julia and Erika’s life, with all the challenges such an unconventional relationship can convey in the late 20th century, under Anohni’s admiring vision.