WHAT WE CAN DO

 

WHAT WE CAN DOA group art exhibition organized by Ron Bechet.

When I was asked to organize artists for the July exhibition at Antenna Gallery, I thought about the work of artists I knew and respected through meeting them or seeing their process over time. Many things came to mind about what did they have in common – other then my respecting what they were doing. It then occurred to me; although they live in New Orleans by various circumstances they did not know each other or each other’s work. These are intelligent active people with involvement in their communities. This seemed unusual to me, however after experiencing a conversation regarding art and place, it occurred to me that people were making judgments based on perceptions and not dialogue and first hand information. I thought, well, the scholar and cultural critic need dialog, until I remembered a quote by Bell Hooks; “If I do not speak in a language that can be understood there is little chance for a dialogue.”  So I thought a more full dialog could not happen until that language was decided upon. The language that these artists speak best is their art so the obvious thing to do was to have these artists converse through the language and experience of living their work.

The artist will organize and maintain a conversation through a blog which will be a part of the exhibition. These six artists are the curators of the exhibition and will develop what is on the walls through the process of this dialog. At the conclusion of the exhibition the artist will have built a community among themselves and will have shared this process with the larger New Orleans community.  – Ron Bechet

Featuring work by Vanessa Adams, Katrina Andry, Christine Bagneris, Toni Graham, & Pippin Frisbie-Calder.