"Make America What America Must Become," an
exhibition of Gulf South artists, is opening this weekend at the Contemporary Arts Center. In this show, 34 artists from Texas, Louisiana,
Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, and Bulbancha examine how power works
within politics, economics, culture, and ecology.
The CAC began planning the show in February,
knowing that it would be on view during election season. Exhibit curator George
Scheer says that they wanted to create something "that would be an opportunity
for artists throughout the Gulf South to have a voice and respond to this
moment." With the pandemic and the protest movements that have developed since
the conception of the exhibition, making this a space for artists' responses
has felt that much more vital.
The title of the exhibition is a quote from
James Baldwin, which guided the curators and jurors as they selected works for
the show. The full quote reads, "Great men have done great things here, and
will again, and we can make America what America must become." Scheer
intended the quote as a prompt for artists, asking, "How do you want to shape
the future?" The statement was made in the 1960s and feels just as relevant
now; Scheer views it as an "aspirational, urgent—and maybe a little anxious—message."
Over 400 artists submitted work to be
considered. The artworks address a range of subjects, including civil rights,
immigration, identity, media, memory and memorial, family, and home.Scheer curated the show alongside co-curators
Katrina Neumann and Toccarra A. H. Thomas.
While deciding which works to showcase, they considered "how all the works
would speak together and were seeking balance and a full representation of all
sorts of different artistic perspectives." They also wanted to represent a
range of mediums; the show will include paintings, sculptures, textiles, and
video art.
When asked which pieces stood out to him,
Scheer mentioned the work shown on the exhibition poster by Derrick Woods-Morrow. There
are two photographs: "Twilight at Lincoln Beach" and "Frederick on Lake
Pontchartrain."
"It's a reflection of identity and place in
New Orleans—Lincoln Beach, of course,
was a segregated beach that was around during Jim Crow and then closed very
shortly after integration as people shifted to Pontchartrain Beach, so I think
that work that you see on the poster is very powerful," Sheer said.
The curators are also excited that the exhibit
will include a new series by Luis
Cruz Azaceta. Azaceta
began as a political pop artist in the 1960s and 70s, and his work has
become more abstract as his career has progressed.
"When you see his abstract work today, you
could almost mirror it on top of this very figurative, representative political
pop aesthetic [of his earlier work]. It's the same composition, it's the same
colors, it's the same energy—it's
just that it's abstract shapes, not faces and political figures. This is his
coronavirus series that he's been painting during the pandemic; one of them is
called "CRISIS 2" and one is "Light at the End of the Abyss." I think those two
works frame the kind of perspectives that you see in this exhibition," Sheer
said.
The show will focus on Southern art because
the American political, cultural, economic, and ecological concerns that the
show aims to address are specific to and shaped by the region, and because
Southern art is often under-represented. The CAC views itself as an institution
for artists in Louisiana and the Gulf South and wanted this exhibition to be an
opportunity for those artists.
The gallery will be implementing distancing
measures and other precautions to create a safe environment for viewers. There
will also be an online component of the exhibition so that you can view the
artworks from home. This Friday, September 18 will be the CAC members-only
preview, and Saturday, September 19 is the general grand opening, which will be
free and open to the public.
There will also be a virtual opening night
celebration on Saturday night from 7:00 - 8:30 p.m., hosted on Facebook Live
and with free admission. The evening's events will include an exhibition
walk-through with the show's curators; a conversation with New Orleans artist Brandan "B-mike" Odums;
and a panel discussion featuring artists Derrick Woods-Morrow, AnnieLaurie
Erickson, Lauren Cardenas, and Jeffery Darensbourg.
You can reserve tickets online in advance at
the CAC website. The exhibition will be on view from Friday, September 18, 2020,
to Sunday, January 24, 2021.
The Contemporary Arts Center New Orleans: 900 Camp St., (504) 528-3805, cacno.org.
Cover photo: "Light at the End of the Abyss," by Luis Cruz Azaceta
