Louisiana Artists

I discovered new artists in New Orleans at NOMA and in the galleries of the French Quarter where I stayed last week. I say I "discovered" but I mean that, after all, my life is a journey of exploration; my experiences are my discoveries.

First off, the contemporary Louisiana artists, beginning with four painters. The large painting above is a colorful and socio-political titled, "Pick A Ninny Rose," by Robert Colescott. A detail at right shows an example of three of the characters to be found in the paintings. Cartoon, cartoon-ish characters, and naughty looking misses are in the majority. It's jarring color, dashed-on, splotchy brushwork and suggestive imagery are pushy and daring.

I first saw Radcliffe Bailey's work in a solo gallery show on my last visit to New Orleans in 2012, after the city was tentatively trying to get on its feet after Hurricane Katrina. 

Every piece I've seen of his has an old photo enlargement in the center of a black person. surrounding him/her are painted symbols and a patchwork of shapes depicting their struggles in life, especially of slavery and racism. This is a large painting from 1992 and untitled.

And here's another large one, an acrylic painting titled Cosmographia. It is a crafty one; there is a mix of pleasant painterly effects, possibly techniques such as loading the edge of cardboard with different colors of paint and dragging it in twists and turns over the canvas. 

There is only one figurative portion that I picked out: this detail of a two story house with balconies. Very French Quarter.

Black Flag for George Baitaille

This one by Skylar Fein interested me because of the striking black and white letters and numbers that contrast with the blue and red price tags. It's simple, but effective in communicating what it's really about: America's love affair with consumerism.

On to sculpture. There were special honors reserved for this iconoclastic artist, Lynda Benglis. The wall sculpture at right, "Vulpecula," from a few decades ago, was a departure from what her contemporaries were doing i.e.  minimalist artists. It is hard and industrial, a form made of bronze, and at the same time it is soft and feminine, The twisted pleated folds appear to be a knotted fabric enlarged to dramatic effect.





Below is another of her wall sculptures. It's birth took place in an art gallery where it was created by pouring hot metal over a form. Now it has it's own alcove by a long stretch of windows.

This is a detail from a large mixed media assemblage by Thornton Dial from 2011 entitled, "Lower Ninth Ward." The jumbled and spattered objects evoke the tragic loss of lives and property after the floods caused by Hurricane Katrina. It is a very literal, yet artistically executed expression of the event.

This was my favorite. It was a, "Wow," moment when I saw this golden log cabin. I wanted to touch it, but no sooner did the thought enter my head than I spotted a sign in front of me that said, "Do Not Touch."

You could walk inside. There were no barriers,

no door, no windows. Inside I found the walls covered with everyday and historic detritus, collected in great quantities, painted gold or black, and attached in large patterns on the walls. There were chains, electronic adapters and cables, bullet cartridges, all sorts of salvage.

The Fireplace

It suggested the history of our nation, how we memorialize the past by gilding it, even the bad memories are immortalized in our society, in statues, in textbooks, in the movies. That's what the house meant to me.

A sculpture garden next to the museum had a great number of contemporary sculptures. Louisiana-born George Rodrigue is known as a painter, but his Blue Dog character is so famous now it is seen everywhere, including in sculpture. My mother was so charmed by Blue Dog, that I end here with her posing with some art she understands, or so she says.