“Uncommon Folk”, Gambit Weekly
In his acrylic and charcoal paintings such as The Barber Shop, Willie Birch explores the people and places that define old New Orleans neighborhoods.
Monthly Archives: October 2007
“Willie Birch: Gumbo, Ya/Ya, and Hey Pocky Way: Willie Birch’s New Orleans and African Americans Making It What It Is”
“As an artist, I do not live in a vacuum.I am constantly absorbing the life of my community, recording it in my public and personal works.”
“Gallery Walk,” The New Orleans Art Review
As one walks into Arthur Roger Gallery to view the latest show by Gene Koss, Levee Break and Silo, the mechanical churning and humming sound emanating from the front gallery immediately captures one’s interest.
“James Drake”, art ltd.
Those familiar with James Drake’s work from exhibitions in Santa Fe, N.M., where the 61-year-old Texan currently resides, might think of him principally as a draftsman. Those from El Paso, where Drake spent most of his life, might think of him as a sculptor of room-sized, welded-steel installations featuring handmade facsimiles of knives, guns and animal trophies.
“The Word as Flesh”, The New Orleans Art Review
Seven, nearly life-size female figures fashioned out of copper and wire lettering fill the gallery floor. Each form is adorned with a ball gown and ornate headdresses. These “Word Queens” seem to float and glide through the space as if it were a royal ball, as banners of words and phrases are suspended from the ceiling above.
Jacqueline Bishop, New Orleans Home and Lifestyles, MyNewOrleans.com
For decades, Jacqueline Bishop has traveled to flashpoints of environmental peril around the world, especially the rainforests of Brazil, which are now deeply involved in patterns of land loss and climate change.
“Azaceta: Unkillable Desperation”, The New Orleans Art Review
For many New Orleans artists, an aesthetic response to Hurricane Katrina was a spiritual necessity, even it then-customary styles were oddly fitted to the project. And, in most instances, the work born of this situation fully registered with us. Such is the force oftrue emotional engagement.