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Louisiana Contemporary 2023 Presented by The Helis Foundation

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Louisiana Contemporary 2023 Presented by The Helis Foundation


Mary Jane Parker, Glare, 2023, Gouache and graphite on vellum

August 5, 2023 – February 18, 2024


Presenting Sponsor: 

 

 

 

 

Host Committee:

Suzie & Ted Bloch III M.D.
Stacey & Michael Burke
Dathel & Tommy Coleman
Coughlin Saunders Foundation
Vivian & Richard Cahn
Mollye & Laurent Demosthenidy
Dale Fleishmann
Alison Hartman
Jan W. Katz
Jackson & Donna Little
Catherine Makk
Carla & Cleophus Thomas
Charles D. Urstadt & David Bernard
Erica J. Washington

Michael Wilkinson

Support Louisiana Contemporary 2023

Ogden Museum of Southern Art first launched Louisiana Contemporary, Presented by The Helis Foundation in 2012, to establish a vehicle that would bring to the fore the work of artists living in Louisiana and highlight the dynamism of art practice throughout the state. Since the inaugural exhibition twelve years ago, Ogden Museum has shown works by over 500 artists, making Louisiana Contemporary an important moment in the national arts calendar to recognize and experience the spectrum and vitality of artistic voices emanating from New Orleans and in art communities across Louisiana.

This statewide, juried exhibition promotes the contemporary art practices in the state of Louisiana, provides an exhibition space for the exposition of living artists’ work and engages a contemporary audience that recognizes the vibrant visual arts culture of Louisiana and the role of New Orleans as a rising, international art center.

This year’s guest juror, Aleesa Pitchamarn Alexander, the Robert M. and Ruth L. Halperin Associate Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Cantor Arts Center at Stanford, has selected 45 works by 31 artists from a total of 790 submissions.


2023 Award Winners

Best in Show and winner of the Helis Foundation Art Prize: Nic[o] Brierre Aziz

Strange Brute (Hanging from the Poplar Tree) II, ed. 5/12, 2022, Archival print of time-based performance; tree, [Black] artist/activist body, P.G.T. Beauregard piñata, Robert E. Lee piñata, vintage American baseball bat, Haitian flag, burned confederate flag, 40 x 60 inches, Collection of the artist

RAFTERS (Hyppolite + Gilbert), 2021, Mixed media: Tattered New Orleans Saints jerseys, sugar cane, sugar cane leaves, brown cotton, white cotton, indigo, transatlantic slave trade shackles, machete, plexiglass vitrine display case, “Colonial Maple” wooden base, 68 x 32 x 20 inches, Collection of the artist

“…Things Ain’t Always Set in Stone” (Street Lights), ed 1/12, 2022, Archival print of time-based performance; P.G.T. Beauregard piñata, Robert E. Lee piñata, P.G.T. Beauregard Avenue Street sign, Robert E. Lee Boulevard Street sign, red street lights, 52.5 x 35 inches, Collection of the artist

First Place: Macon Reed

The Death Spa Experience, 2023, HD Video, 7 min 37 sec run time Collection of the artist

Second Place: Trenity Thomas

Lemon Boy and Cowboy, 2023, Acrylic paint, 60 x 48 x 1.5 inches, Collection of the artist, Courtesy of Jonathan Ferrara Gallery

Whatchu Got?, 2022, Acrylic paint, 48 x 36 x 1 inches, Collection of the artist, Courtesy of Jonathan Ferrara Gallery

Blooming Man, 2022, Photographic print, 30 x 20 inches, Collection of the artist, Courtesy of Jonathan Ferrara Gallery

Third Place: Cora Nimtz

Friendship Star, 2023, Textile, 23 x 23 x 0.5 inches, Collection of the artist

Log Cabin, 2023, Textile, 22 x 22 x 0.5 inches, Collection of the artist


2023 Accepted Artists

Nic[o] Brierre Aziz
Jacksun Bein
Thom Bennett
Raina Benoit
Sean Clark
Anita Cooke
Thomas Deaton
Marianne Desmarais
Paige DeVries
Nurhan Gokturk
Andrew Liles
Kelsey Livingston
Srđan Lončar
Mitchell Long
Sara Madandar

Kaori Maeyama
Joshua Mintz
Jacob Mitchell
Cora Nimtz
Mary Jane Parker
Britt Ransom
Macon Reed
Jennifer Rinehart
Christopher Saucedo
Suzanna Scott
Christy Speakman
Elliott Stokes
Trenity Thomas
Richard Vallon, Jr.
Caitlin Waugh
Ariya Aladjem Wolf


About the Juror

The 2023 juror of Louisiana Contemporary, Presented by The Helis Foundation is Aleesa Pitchamarn Alexander, the Robert M. and Ruth L. Halperin Associate Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University. She states, “I am thrilled to be selected as the 2023 juror for Louisiana Contemporary, a vital program that showcases the thriving talent and cultural strength of the region’s visual arts. I look forward to supporting Southern art in a meaningful way through a platform that can aid emerging talent and beyond.”

As a curator, Aleesa is committed to providing meaningful platforms for historically excluded artists and opportunities to expand narratives in the history of art through collection building, exhibitions, and community outreach. At the Cantor, she is curator of The Faces of Ruth Asawa (July 2022 – ongoing), East of the Pacific: Making Histories of Asian American Art (Sept. 28, 2022 – Feb. 12, 2023), and The Medium Is the Message: Art since 1950 (Feb. 23, 2019 – ongoing).

Working with assistant professor of art history Marci Kwon, Aleesa is Co-director of the Asian American Art Initiative (AAAI), which is working to transform the Cantor into the preeminent institution for the collection, display, and study of Asian American/Asian diasporic art in the United States. Aleesa cultivates relationships with community members, donors, artist estates, and living artists to help build the Cantor’s growing collection of Asian American art, which is now one of the best nationally.


Juror Statement

“Art is a guide for every person who is looking for something.”
– Thornton Dial, 1996

Growing up between Bangkok and the Pacific Northwest, the American South was mysterious and unfamiliar territory to my younger self. My family never visited the region, and I gleaned all my knowledge of it from history textbooks and the “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” When it came time to pick a dissertation topic in graduate school, while my colleagues decided to pursue projects in Italy and the Netherlands, I took a different path. I wanted to spend those crucial years in a historically significant, culturally vibrant and fascinatingly complex place that might seem unexpected to most art historians. As an outsider and transplant to this country, I was looking for some understanding of what it means to be American. There was no better – or more necessary –place to embark on this journey than through the South, and art was my guide. Through my research, I encountered so many incredible artists, collectors and community members, and these experiences have fundamentally shaped my worldview as a curator and art historian. In my mind, for reasons both challenging and energizing, you don’t really know the United States until you’ve spent time below the Mason-Dixon.

I am grateful to be this year’s juror, as it has allowed me to take another Southern journey through Louisiana. It is humbling to be in this role, as there is no way one can select a fully representative and complete grouping of works. This is a testament to the vitality of artistic production taking place here. I will always be a steadfast admirer of artists: the sheer courage it takes to make unique, soulful, singular things and share them with the world – in this case, asking to be judged—is radical. This year’s selection offers a diverse range of form, content, material and maker. Some works suggest vulnerability and intimacy, while others function as incisive critiques of the past and present. In certain cases, some pieces felt prophetic, anticipating the world to come. To those artists whose works I did not select, please know this process primarily reflects the juror, and I encourage all to continue on the creative path.

Artists are essential workers. You are consequential and necessary, and it is our responsibility as a society to find ways to support you. The Louisiana Contemporary is one such meaningful platform, and I am honored to be part of its history.

Congratulations to all involved.

Aleesa Pitchamarn Alexander
Robert M. and Ruth L. Halperin Associate Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art
Co-director, Asian American Art Initiative
Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University


Gallery

Nic[o] Brierre Aziz, Strange Brute (Hanging from the Poplar Trees) II, ed. 5/12, 2022, Archival print of time-based performance; tree, [Black] artist/activist body, P.G.T. Beauregard piñata, Robert E. Lee piñata, vintage American baseball bat, Haitian flag, burned confederate flag, bench, 40 x 60 inches, Collection of the artist
Nic[o] Brierre Aziz, RAFTERS (Hyppolite + Gilbert), 2021, Mixed media; Tattered New Orleans Saints jerseys, sugar cane, sugar cane leaves, brown cotton, white cotton, indigo, transatlantic slave trade shackles, machete, plexiglass vitrine display case, “Colonial Maple” wooden base, 68 x 32 x 20 inches, Collection of the artist
Nic[o] Brierre Aziz, “…Things Ain’t Always Set in Stone” (Street Lights), ed. 1/12, 2022, Archival print of time-based performance; P.G.T. Beauregard piñata, Robert E. Lee piñata, P.G.T. Beauregard Avenue Street Sign, Robert E. Lee Boulevard Street Sign, Red Street Lights, 52.5 x 35 inches, Collection of the artist
Jacksun Bein, Catching Orbital Debris (Angola Museum at the Louisiana State Penitentiary, LA.), 2023, 17 archival pigment prints on top of one another, plexiglass, concrete screws, Score: Periodically yet without reason, the stack of images will be remounted; revealing a once concealed image and concealing a once revealed image. Possibly switched 3 times in an hour or once in a month, 20 x 30 x 1 inches, Collection of the artist
Thom Bennett, Charlie’s Pawn, 2022, Silver gelatin photograph, 7 x 17 x 1.5 inches, Collection of the artist
Thom Bennett, Trailer and Boat, 2023, Silver gelatin photograph, 7 x 17 x 1.5 inches, Collection of the artist
Raina Benoit, Sea Bones, 2022, Papier mâché, beeswax, looping digital projection, 72 x 40 x 2 inches, Collection of the artist
Sean Clark, The Makings of You, 2023, Oil and acrylic on canvas, 40 x 30 inches, Collection of the artist
Sean Clark, No Fixed Abode, 2022, Acrylic and oil pastel on canvas, 36 x 36 inches, Collection of the artist
Anita Cooke, Breaking Patterns: Shift, 2022, Acrylic-painted canvas and thread mounted on wood panel, 36 x 36 x 3 inches, Collection of the artist
Anita Cooke, Reveal #2, 2023, Acrylic-painted canvas and thread mounted on wood panel, 30 x 40 x 2 inches, Collection of the artist
Thomas Deaton, Frog Pit, 2022, Acrylic on canvas, 40 x 40 x 1.5 inches, Collection of the artist
Thomas Deaton, All Kinds of Critters, 2022, Acrylic on canvas, 40 x 40 x 1.5 inches, Collection of the artist
Marianne Desmarais, Yellow No. 1 (A Thousand Touches), 2023, Found objects, linen, synthetic rubber, and acrylic pigment on plexiglass, 16 x 15.5 x 1.25 inches, Collection of the artist
Marianne Desmarais, Yellow No. 2 (My Mother’s Favorite Color was Yellow), 2023, Found objects, linen, synthetic rubber, and acrylic pigment on plexiglass, 10.5 x 15.5.x 1.5 inches, Collection of the artist
Marianne Desmarais, Yellow No. 3 (Soft | Hard, 2023, Found objects, linen, and synthetic rubber on plexiglass, 15.5 x 15.5 x 3 inches, Collection of the artist
Paige DeVries, Spider Web, 2023, Oil on canvas, 30 x 24 inches, Collection of the artist
Nurhan Gokturk, Forged by Iron, 2023, Latex, enamel, oil paint, cord and paper, 33.75 x 26.25 x 3 inches each, Collection of Camp Street Studios
Andrew Liles, Twelve Butter Beans, 2022, Gouache on discarded Regional Transit Authority tickets, 3.375 x 27 x 0.25 inches, Collection of the artist
Kelsey Livingston, New Life, 2022, Hand sewn and relief printed tapestry, 42 x 42 x 0.5 inches, Collection of the artist
Srđan Lončar, TRAUMA MODEL #2 (Hurricane Katrina), 2023, Inkjet print on brass, 32 x 48 x 10 inches, Collection of the artist, Courtesy of Arthur Roger Gallery
Mitchell Long, 2/25/2023 3:01 PM, 2023, Oil on canvas, 40 x 50 x 2 inches, Collection of the artist
Sara Madandar, Window #5, 2021, Acrylic on canvas, LED lights and microcontroller circuit, steel frame, 43 x 43 x 2 inches, Collection of the artist
Kaori Maeyama, Mayday, Mayday, Mayday (triptych), 2023, Oil on unstretched linen, 22 x 55 inches, Collection of the artist
Joshua Mintz, Untitled (Ahh Life), 2023, Cast tin, cotton, wood, rice paper, scritta, nylon, tape, copper, resin, 4.25 x 6 x 3.125 inches, Collection of the artist
Joshua Mintz, Custodian of the Ephemeral, 2023, Cast tin, plaster, porcelain, polymer clay, pube, foam, wood, resin, cotton, nylon, wax, brass, 39 x 48 x 18.25 inches, Collection of the artist
Jacob Mitchell, Shades of Primary, 2022, Archival pigment print, 24 x 36 x 1.5 inches, Collection of the artist
Cora Nimtz, Friendship Star, 2023, Textile, 23 x 23 x 0.5 inches, Collection of the artist
Cora Nimtz, Log Cabin, 2023, Textile, 22 x 22 x 0.5 inches, Collection of the artist
Mary Jane Parker, Glare, 2023, Gouache and graphite on vellum, 36 x 50 x 1.5 inches, Collection of the artist, Courtesy of Arthur Roger Gallery
Britt Ransom, Suspended, 2022, 3D scanned oak tree remnants, SLA 3D prints, brass, oak, custom attachments, archival prints, 66 x 60 x 70 inches, Collection of the artist
Britt Ransom, Brood, 2021, Laser 3D scan, SLA resin print, ultraviolet light, 2 x 12 x 2 inches, Collection of the artist
Macon Reed, The Death Spa Experience (Still), 2023, HD Video, 7 min 37 sec run time, Collection of the artist
Jennifer Rinehart, And There I Was, 2021, Cyanotype on linen, 60 x 48 x 3 inches, Collection of the artist
Christopher Saucedo, Money to Burn (variant VI), 2022, Branded wood and U.S currency collage, steel and aluminum, 42 x 42 x 2 inches, Collection of the artist, Courtesy of Arthur Roger Gallery
Suzanna Scott, Ascendant, 2021, Aluminum foil, fabric, thread, fabric hardener 72 x 72 x 3 inches, Collection of the artist
Christy Speakman, Where We Grew Up Together, 2023, Instant film prints, 27.375 x 24.125 inches, Collection of the artist
Elliott Stokes, Laura, 2023, Charcoal on paper, 19 x 25 inches, Collection of the artist
Trenity Thomas, Lemon Boy and Cowboy, 2023, Acrylic paint, 60 x 48 x 1.5 inches, Collection of the artist, Courtesy of Jonathan Ferrara Gallery
Trenity Thomas, Whatchu Got?, 2022, Acrylic paint, 48 x 36 x 1 inches, Collection of the artist, Courtesy of Jonathan Ferrara Gallery
Trenity Thomas, Blooming Man, 2022, Photographic print, 30 x 20 inches, Collection of the artist, Courtesy of Jonathan Ferrara Gallery
Richard Vallon, Jr., The Headwaters at Flatwoods Abita Creek, 2023, Photography, 44 x 36 inches, Collection of the artist
Caitlin Ezell Waugh, Listen to the Old Growth, 2023 Recycled bottle glass hot cast over cypress, 9 x 8 x 72 inches, Collection of the artist
Caitlin Ezell Waugh, Restore the Archive; Rue (Ruta graveolens), 2023, Pate de Verre (powdered glass) kiln cast of Rue plant, copper pipe, 27 x 18 x 10 inches, Collection of the artist
Ariya Aladjem Wolf, Mimosa (for our hearts), 2023, Archival pigment print from 8 x 10 negative, shelf, Mimosa tincture, 32 x 25 inches, Collection of the Artist

2023 Catalog


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Monday: 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
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Sunday: 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

The last admission to the Museum is 4:45 p.m.

*Thursday admission from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. is free to Louisiana residents, courtesy of The Helis Foundation

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