Exhibition Dates: June 2 – July 14, 2012
Opening Reception: Saturday, June 2 from 6 – 8 pm
Gallery Location: 434 Julia Street, New Orleans, LA 70130
Hours: Tuesday – Saturday, 10am – 5pm
Contact Info: 504.522.1999; www.arthurrogergallery.com
St. Agatha, 1995. Steel, hair, moulage, Plexiglas, leather, bronze, wood, brass and glass, 24 x 18 x 4 inches.
The Arthur Roger Gallery is pleased to present “Ersy: Architect of Dreams – Selections from the Ogden Museum of Southern Art Exhibition.” The exhibition will be on view at Arthur Roger@434, located at 434 Julia Street, from June 2 – July 14, 2012. The gallery will host an opening reception with the artist in attendance, Saturday, June 2 from 6-8 pm.
Ersy is revered for her work rooted in precise craftsmanship of materials including bronze, silver and wood. Scale, perspective and presentation play critical roles. The desired effect is that the viewer’s own size and relation to the piece become questioned. She recently received high critical praise for her 40-year retrospective at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, “Ersy: Architect of Dreams.” Her exhibition at the Arthur Roger Gallery is based on work included in the retrospective.
Ersy’s passion is self-evident. Her unique aesthetic is part taxidermy, part reliquary and incorporates elements of surrealism in a visual poetry that often references the pageantry and traditions of New Orleans. Based on her belief that the South has a macabre sense of humor, she anticipates that her work evokes both happiness and sadness.
Ersy was born and raised in New Orleans. She currently lives, and works out of a studio, in her childhood home – a 180-year old house on Esplanade Avenue in the Vieux Carré. Ersy received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the California Institute of Arts and studied as well at Bard College, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art and Tulane University. She apprenticed with both Enrique Alférez and William Ludwig, two prominent New Orleans sculptors. As an educator she taught sculpture classes including bronze casting at Cooper Union for nearly two decades. In 2000, she returned home and joined the Visual Arts Faculty at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts. As part of the Louisiana Percent for Art Program, she received and executed a commission for the New Orleans Museum of Art entrance gate in collaboration with artist George Dureau. Ersy received a Surdna Arts Teachers Fellowship in 2005 to work with Modern Art Foundry in New York. In 2008, the Ogden Museum of Southern Art acquired her sculptural installation, “Homage to the Society of St. Anne Parade,” now part of its permanent collection.
For more information please contact the Arthur Roger Gallery at 504.522.1999 or visit our website at www.arthurrogergallery.com.