Willie Birch’s “Earlier Works” exhibition is comprised of sculpture and paintings completed between 1986 and 1995. Although these works were created in the past, they have not been shown in New Orleans. The paintings include acrylics on paper and mixed media on paper. Several of the artist’s marvelously poignant but incisive street scenes are included in the exhibit.

Willie Birch likes to explore stereotypes of class, gender and race as experienced in African American culture. Both humor and politics are evident in his work, which is tellingly anchored in the daily life and celebratory rituals of Willie Birch’s North Villere Street New Orleans neighborhood.