Exhibition Dates: December 1 – December 29, 2007
Opening Reception: Saturday, December 1 from 6–8 pm
Gallery Location: 432 Julia Street, New Orleans, LA 70130
Hours: Monday–Saturday, 10 am–5 pm
Contact Info: 504.522.1999; arthurrogergallery.com

The Arthur Roger Gallery is pleased to present Local Anesthesia, an exhibition of recent mixed media works by Luis Cruz Azaceta. The exhibition will be on view at Arthur Roger Gallery, located at 432 Julia Street, from December 1 – December 29, 2007. The gallery will host an opening on Saturday, December 1 from 6–8 pm.

Luis Cruz Azaceta, At the Bottom of the Pot (detail), 2007. Archival prints on found pots. 96 x 108 x 10 inches.

The majority of Luis Cruz Azaceta’s work in “Local Anesthesia” is related to Hurricane Katrina, particularly his powerful and compelling photo collages. Additionally, through his innovative use of skillets and pots the artist links images from the storm and its aftermath to New Orleans’ long standing preoccupation with cuisine and cooking. Cascade, with its trail of Katrina detritus, is one of the many evocative works in the exhibition.

Apart from his Katrina-inspired works, over the last two years Azaceta has been creating a separate series of “Museum Plans” in which the artist treats museum buildings as containers for ideas. Several of these “Museum Plans” are included in the exhibition.

Born in Havana, Cuba, Luis Cruz Azaceta immigrated to the United States in 1960 soon after the revolution that brought Fidel Castro to power. He began painting and drawing on his own and later studied at the School of Visual Arts in New York.

Azaceta relocated to New Orleans from New York in 1992. He has taught at the University of California, Louisiana State University, and Cooper Union in New York. His work has been exhibited at major museums across the country, including the Alternative Museum in New York, the Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, the Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans, the Museum of Contemporary Hispanic Art, New York, and the Smithsonian in Washington.

Azaceta’s work is in the permanent collections of the Houston Museum of Fine Arts, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the Miami Art Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Museum of Modern Art, New York, and the Whitney Museum of Art, New York.