The Contemporary Arts Center (CAC) is one of the official venues currently displaying the work of eight artists as part of Prospect 2, the city-wide art biennial that ends on January 29, 2012. The featured artists come from all over the country and the world including two artists from New Orleans. The following are brief synopses of each artist and his or her work(s).
Karl Haendel (Los Angeles): Haendel’s work for Prospect 2 consists of three oversized images of empty suits of armor. According to the wall description, the “over-determined embodiment of the trappings of power seems strongly negated by their lack of flesh-and-blood.”
Drawing by Karl Haendel
Alexis Rockman (New York): “Battle Royale” is Rockman’s painting with an astonishing level of detail and vividness of color scheme. The captivating scene depicts a war between all species of animals living in southern Louisiana.
Alexis Rockman's "Battle Royale"
Dan Tague (New Orleans): Local artist Dan Tague arranged a series of large-scale installations incorporating different materials representing various social and community endeavors.
Young Patriots Flag: The flag is made from t-shirts confiscated from youth entering the Young Patriots Initiative, a program that helps juveniles foster creative and productive pursuits in an effort to reduce juvenile delinquency.
Crisis Car: Cars for Crisis is a scrappage program started in 2006 to help create both jobs and housing for post-Katrina New Orleans. Tague’s piece inspired by Cars for Crisis is a repurposed 1969 Firebird.
Dominator Plaques: Tague implements these plaques designed by the “Department of Civil Obedience” to increase civic pride and show a timeline of various Dominions that have ruled New Orleans.
Dan Tague's "Crisis Car"
Gina Phillips (Kentucky): “Life Lasagna” is a piece created from a variety of materials, including fabric collected from friends, family members and thrift stores. I found this presentation very interactive: to effectively take it all it, you must wander through the room and look around and above at the surrounding visuals. According to the artist’s note, she “wanted to convey something of the sensation of a life flash, the moments before death or near death … the ultimate nostalgic experience.”
Gina Phillips' "Life Lasagna"
George Dunbar (New Orleans): Dunbar is an abstract painter and this collection includes more than two dozen combined paintings, works on paper and sculptures. The works span his entire career beginning in the mid 1950s continuing through today.
Grazia Toderi (Italy): Toderi uses video as her medium. Toderi’s work has an effervescent effect as described in the exhibit statement: “Toderi’s subject is light, in particular the visual effects created when the solidity of urban vistas seems to melt into thin air.”
Works by Grazia Toderi
Tsuyoshi Ozawa (Japan): This photographer created a series called “Vegetable Weapon,” which he has done before in other areas of the world. The process involves a woman who chooses a local recipe and the necessary ingredients are fashioned into a toy-like gun which she poses with. After the picture is taken, the ingredients are used to actually cook the dish.
Tsuyoshi Ozawa's "Vegetable Weapon"
Jonas Dahlberg (Sweden): “Macbeth” is a video installation whereby Dahlberg filmed miniature architectural sets in slow motion. The focus on architecture and interior design in his films in conjunction with contrasting shadow and light is meant to evoke certain emotions. In this case, “Macbeth” is intended to symbolize the Shakespeare tragedy by the same name.
If you can’t find time to check out any of the other Prospect 2 offerings this year, I would highly recommend you at least visit the CAC. The admission price grants you full access to all floors. There is an exhibit on the fourth floor called NOLA Now, Part I: Swagger for a Lost Magnificence that was incredibly thought-provoking. It runs until the end of Prospect 2 and will close on January 29, 2012.
You can visit the official site of the CAC for hours and admission info.
All photos by Mandy Thomas.
This is part of a series covering major Prospect 2 exhibits. Read about other Prospect 2 showings at New Orleans Museum of Art and Ogden Museum of Southern Art, as well as the now-closed Music Box exhibit.
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