Tthe thing that distinguishes Polidori’s photos is the thing that is missing from them: people. Instead, the French-Canadian photographer, who once lived in New Orleans’s Gentilly neighborhood, illustrates the lives affected by Hurricane Katrina through the city’s abandoned buildings.
In a powerful new body of photographs, sculpture and installation, John Waters continues his investigations of film history and contemporary politics. Primarily known as the filmmaker behind such cult classics as Pink Flamingos, Polyester and Pecker, Waters has been making “fine” art since the early 1990s. In it, he tackles both cinematic themes and political events by building narratives, frame by frame, from early commercial films. In this publication, Waters shares the method by which he constructs each work as if he were making a personal guidebook, so that his snapshots, color photographs and handwritten notes indicating composition are re-created as if in their original plastic organizational sleeves. Neither the art world, celebrity miscreants, politicians or Waters himself are spared in these incisive new works. An essay by Brenda Richardson examines Waters’s history, as well as each work, in brief and brilliant detail.
Exhibition Dates: August 5 – September 23, 2006 Opening Reception: Saturday, August 5 from 6–8 pm, in conjunction with White Linen Night Location: 432 Julia Street, New Orleans, LA 70130 Hours:…
For the past ten years, Birch has been documenting the African American culture of his native New Orleans in large-scale sculpture and drawings that emphasize body language, dress codes, and everyday rituals. His guileless polychrome sculptures evoke both social history and emotion. His use of talismans give the viewer a window to another time, be it through old construction nails symbolizing power and strength to a small West African paper mach, stool that stands apart as a symbol of nobility. Dedicated to the children of New Orleans, this is the first publication to examine Birch’s career whose re-imagining of African and Southern folk art inspires thought provoking discussions as well as contemporary sculpture and design. It includes two essays and an interview with the artist, as well as color reproductions of key works dating from 1968-2004.
