Multi-media Show Provides Original Perspective on Southern Settings and Events

First commissioned by Tulane University to lend a unique perspective to the events marking the bicentennial anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase, a multi-media installation by acclaimed artist Carrie Mae Weems will be shown at the DePaul Art Museum (DAM), 2350 N. Kenmore Ave., July 15 – Sept. 2.

Incorporating photography on canvas, video and narrative, “The Louisiana Project” examines the complex history of New Orleans by drawing inspiration from the city’s ritual of masquerade, while demonstrating pervasive questions of social justice, racial and sexual identity, and the legacy of slavery. In one set of images, Weems places herself in various locations – plantations, railroad yards and chemical plants – as a witness to the experience of African Americans in Louisiana. A video installation analyzes the relationships between race, gender and class as the action unfolds in a shadow play. Fourteen of Weems’ canvases capture frozen moments from the video.

Weems’ contribution to the Louisiana Purchase Bicentennial project was commissioned by Erik Neil, director of the Newcomb Art Gallery at Tulane, because he said he was looking to add a critical perspective to the celebratory occasion.

“The [Louisiana] Purchase amplified the debate on race and slavery as the country looked forward to westward expansion,” he explained. “The situation in New Orleans, with a large population of free people of color, was unlike that of any North American city. I thought it was important to have these issues explored.”

The 1803 deal between U.S. President Thomas Jefferson and France’s Emperor Napoleon I resulted in the sale of the 825,000 square miles of Louisiana territories. The transaction doubled the size of the United States and allowed France to finance a campaign to quell a revolution brewing in Haiti. In contrast to focusing on iconic historical figures, Weems’ “Louisiana Project” quietly meditates on the lives of ordinary people. According to one critic, her “use of the Louisiana Purchase as a springboard to explore how the city’s unique public culture preserves social hierarchies handed down from antebellum times” makes for images that are “as beautiful as they are jarring.”

Noted for works that investigate race, gender and class, Weems has been featured in dozens of international exhibitions. Her work is included in collections at the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; and the Getty Center in Los Angeles. Weems’ most recognized projects are “The Hampton Project (2000-2002),” which addressed the assimilation of African- and Native-Americans at Virginia’s Hampton Institute at the end of the 19th century; and “The Jefferson Suite (1999),” which explored the ramifications of DNA research on the legacy of Thomas Jefferson.

The DAM is free and open to the public. Summer hours are: Mon. – Fri., 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sat. and Sun., noon to 5 p.m. For more information about “The Louisiana Project” and future exhibitions of the museum, call 773/325-7506 or visit the Web site at museums.depaul.edu.

Editors’ Note: J-PEG images from “The Louisiana Project” are available upon request.