No. No. No., from the series Because the Darkness feeds my Soul, 2009

Gerald Slota and Neil LaBute met by e-mail, hoping to collaborate on a project. Through their correspondence, the pair hit upon the notion of a series of strange greeting cards, so beginning a journey where LaBute would attempt to strike the deepest and darkest chords of Slota's psyche with his words. LaBute would feed the photographer twisted or sad lines, and Slota would take inspiration, scratching out eyes, photocopying faces, and so on. Nothing was taboo or off-limits.

Fulfilling the duo's original intentions for the project, the Because the Darkness Feeds My Soul greeting cards were created in conjunction with an article of the same name published in Aperture magazine Issue #196 (Fall 2009), where the work was originally published.

Pigment Ink Print
Paper Size: 11 x 14 inches
Image Size: 11 x 14 inches
Edition of 20 and 4 Artist’s Proofs
Signed and numbered by the artist

Gerald Slota (b. 1965) is a fine artist and photographer who has been widely exhibited across the US and abroad. He has had solo shows at the George Eastman House in Rochester, NY, and Langhans Galerie in Prague, Czech Republic, and been shown at Recontres D’ Arles in Arles, France. The Robert Berman Gallery in LA represents Slota, and his images have appeared in numerous publications, including The New York Times Magazine, Vice, The New Yorker, New York Magazine, Discover, and Scientific America, as well as in BOMB, Blindspot, ARTNEWS, Art in America, and Aperture. He currently teaches at the School of Visual Arts in NYC and has lectured at many institutions, such as the International Center for Photography (ICP). Gerald Slota has garnered many awards, including a Polaroid 20″x24″ Grant, a MacDowell Artist Residency, and a Mid-Atlantic Fellowship Grant in 2001 and 2009. Most recently, he was commissioned for an 18’x18′ mural on the Seminole Indian wars by the Norton Museum in West Palm Beach, Florida.