NEW ORLEANS, LA – Recognizing the need to engage a contemporary audience that appreciates the vibrant visual culture of Louisiana and the role of New Orleans as a rising, international art market, the Ogden Museum of Southern Art is organizing Louisiana Contemporary presented by Regions Bank, a statewide, juried exhibition. The exhibition will open on White Linen Night, Sat. August 4, 2012. It will be on view through September 24, 2012.
“Regions Bank is proud to be part of The Ogden’s inaugural juried exhibition for Louisiana artists,” says Scott Howard, City President and Commercial Executive of Regions Bank. “The event will bring to the fore some of our best talent, emerging and established. It will become a signature event for the museum, attracting art lovers from all over the country. I can’t think of a more fitting program for The Ogden, the premier venue of Southern art.”
“The Ogden Museum of Southern Art takes this opportunity with Louisiana Contemporary to pay distinct attention to the art and artists who have dedicated their energy to living and working in the state of Louisiana. This exhibition allows us to show both established and emerging artists across the state, and to promote the presence of the artist in our midst,” says Ogden Museum Director William Andrews. “It seems fitting that we launch this exhibition during the celebration of the Louisiana Bicentennial. We believe that the impact of historic art can be heightened by a comparison of the art of today. The power of both contemporary and historic work is elevated when in close proximity to one another.”
In its inaugural year, this annual event promotes contemporary art practices in the state of Louisiana and provides exhibition space for the exposition of living artist’s work. The exhibition also coincides with the celebration of the Bicentennial of Louisiana Statehood.
All media is eligible, and any artist living in Louisiana is eligible to enter. A nonrefundable $35 fee is required, and artists may submit up to three entries; $10 for each additional entry in excess of three. Up to $1,500 in awards will be presented to participating artists, including a $500 Best of Show cash award.
For a complete list of requirements, please go to: www.LouisianaContemporary.org
Deadline for entries is Monday, July 2, 2012.
“Artists in Louisiana are a special breed. Whether they are born here or not, these artists have worked in a place that is both difficult and easy. Louisiana was first settled by Native Americans, then Europeans and their slaves from Africa, then Asians, then – after Katrina – everybody and anybody who wished to be part of this place. Throughout these migrations to this place there have always been artists and artisans,” says Louisiana artist Robert Tannen.
The juror for the competition is Rene Paul Barilleaux, Chief Curator/Curator of Art after 1945, McNay Art Museum In San Antonio, Texas. Previously, Barilleaux held curatorial positions at the Mississippi Museum of Art; College of Charleston, South Carolina; Madison Art Center, Wisconsin; and Museum of Holography, New York. He received a BFA degree from the University of Southwestern Louisiana and an MFA from Pratt Institute.
Since joining the staff of the McNay in 2005, Barilleaux organized solo exhibitions of the work of Lynda Benglis, Judith Godwin, Jane Hammond, Joseph Marioni, Ernesto Pujol, and Sandy Skoglund, as well as American Art Since1945: In a New Light and New Image Sculpture, among others. In spring 2012 he presented the major survey exhibition, Andy Warhol: Fame and Misfortune, which he organized from the collection of the Andy Warhol Museum, and accompanied by a book of the same title.
“An ongoing annual exhibit for living artists in Louisiana at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art is the appropriate means to celebrate this work. Further, the Ogden Museum environment – with its important collection of Louisiana art beginning with the period of early settlement – is the right venue and context for such a celebration,” says Robert Tannen.