“I follow my hands, and they often reveal the answers to the questions that I am asking myself while I explore the material I am working with.” – Sonya Yong James Drawing inspiration from the traditions of various cultures – Haitian Voudou, Appalachian broom-making, Calabrian silk production, Peruvian rope coiling, Congo Nkisi – the contemporary Southern artists in Entwined engage wrapping and binding as a symbolic aesthetic device, and often as a ritual practice within their work.
The technique and the symbolism of wrapping and binding in the work of these artists is as varied as the artists themselves. From the visionary allegorical paintings of the female form by Susan Jamison to the abstract textile sculptures of Sarah Zapata, there exists a common thread of ritual. For some, it is the ritual of repetitive laborious handwork. For others, it is a ritual and spiritual act of creation. Through wrapping, painting, weaving, coiling, drawing, or knotting, each artist binds their own unique and thoroughly contemporary vision to an ancient, universal and very human practice.
Entwined will feature works by Friendswood Brooms, Jeffrey Cook, Sonya Yong James, Susan Jamison, Sharon Kopriva, Kristin Meyers, Susan Plum, Ashley Pridmore, Elizabeth Shannon, Ed Williford and Sarah Zapata.
OGDEN MUSEUM OF SOUTHERN ART
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Located in the vibrant Warehouse Arts District of downtown New Orleans, Louisiana since 1999, the Ogden Museum of Southern Art welcomes 85,000 visitors annually to experience and learn about the artists and art movements of the American South. It is home to a collection of more than four thousand works, making it the largest and most comprehensive repository dedicated to Southern art in the nation, with particular strength in the genres of Self-Taught art, Regionalism, photography and contemporary art. The Museum is further recognized for its original exhibitions, public events and educational programs, which examine the development of visual art alongside Southern traditions of music, literature and local craft. Among its recent exhibitions are Memory is a Strange Bell: The Art of William Christenberry (2019-2020) Piercing the Inner Wall: The Art of Dusti Bongé (2019), New Southern Photography (2018-2019), The Whole Drum Will Sound: Women in Southern Abstraction (2018), and Solidary & Solitary: The Joyner/Giuffrida Collection, presented by The Helis Foundation (2017-2018).
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