Ward Long - Summer Sublet

As part of its new series of exhibition, Deadbeat Club is pleased to present SUMMER
SUBLET, an exhibition of photography works by WARD LONG.

In a raw an unadorned space, Ward Long’s Summer Sublet series distils a luminous
and tender depiction of a special community where care, kindness and grace shine
through an irresistible chaos.

Ward Long used to live alone. When he lost his lease at the start of one summer,
his friend Ara said there might be an open room on Montgomery Street for a few
months. His new housemates had an everyday physical, emotional, and spiritual
closeness; it was infectious. He was infatuated with their friendships, in love with
their strength, enchanted with everything. The house was full of the mismatched
belongings of so many long gone roommates, but eventually he fit in just fine. When
nothing matches, everything belongs. Though intimate and private, Summer Sublet
welcomes us to a space filled with kindness, humanity, ease, and self-possession.
The clutter makes room for us too.

That December, Ara died with thirty-five others in the Ghost Ship warehouse fire.
Ward writes that “She had given me such a tremendous gift. In the wake of her
death, the home that we had created for each other seemed so much more precious
and vulnerable. The house on Montgomery Street was a world of care, strength, and
tenderness, and the pictures in Summer Sublet work to see that place clearly.”