Highlights of the Biennial

A number of biennial highlights respond to the destruction wrought on the city of New Orleans and the Gulf Region in 2005 by Hurricane Katrina. Mark Bradford will create a wooden Ark utilizing the shell of a destroyed house and other discarded scraps of wood in the Lower Ninth Ward. Paul Villinski, a New York-based artist known for creating work from debris who has said he found “new, urgent purpose in the disaster of Hurricane Katrina,” will create his Emergency Response Studio, a “green”-powered mobile artist’s studio, out of a discarded, now-iconic FEMA trailer. South African photographer Zwelethu Mthethwa, who first visited New Orleans in the more immediate wake of the hurricane, returned to the Lower Ninth Ward in late 2007 to create his first photographs outside of Africa, which will debut at Prospect.1.

Highlights of the biennial also include works by artists who have selected unique locations in which to install work. Adam Cuijanovic will paint one of his murals inside an abandoned house in the Lower Ninth Ward, and Nari Ward will convert an abandoned church in the Lower Ninth Ward into an installation. Navin Rawanchaikul will present his New Orleans I Love Taxi Project, similar to one created in New York in 2001 with the Public Art Fund. In New Orleans, he will interview taxi drivers and weave their tales into a comic book story that he will produce and print, then distribute in city taxis during the biennial.

Other artists creating new works specifically for Prospect.1 New Orleans are Jacqueline Humphries, who will create a new work using metallic autopaint; Julie Mehretu, who is creating a suite of large-scale paintings; Pierre & Gilles, who are creating a new series of enhanced photographic images; Kay Rosen, who will transform city billboards and benches into enigmatic word-puzzles; and Kaz Oshiro, who is working on a new series of his characteristic sculptural trompe l'oeil pieces.

A number of New Orleans-born and based artists have also been selected to participate in the biennial, among them Shawne Major, who is creating three large-scale wall hangings; Willie Birch, who will present a new series of drawings; and Croatian-born, New Orleans-based sculptor Srdjan Loncar, who will erect a sculptural pile of money in front of the Old U.S. Mint and encourage the public to carry some of it away in briefcases provided at the site.

Recent and iconic works by other major artists will also be on view. Lee Bul will present delicate glass and aluminum works that were shown at Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain in 2007-08; Fred Tomaselli will present two works that were painted in response to Hurricane Katrina along with a third, new piece; and Trenton Doyle Hancock will present elements including costumes, backdrops, and sculptures that he has created for Ballet Austin's new production Cult of Color.

Participating Venues
Artists’ works will be installed in some 100,000 square feet of exhibition space throughout the city of New Orleans. In November 2007, Prospect.1 announced that the following institutions would partner with the biennial by providing space for artist projects and installations: Contemporary Arts Center New Orleans, The Historic New Orleans Collection, L9 Center for the Arts, Louisiana Artworks, The Old U.S. Mint Louisiana State Museum, The National World War II Museum, New Orleans African American Museum, New Orleans Center for Creative Arts|Riverfront, New Orleans Museum of Art, Newcomb Art Gallery at Tulane University, and the Ogden Museum of Southern Art.

Joining these venues are Ashé Cultural Arts Center, The George & Leah McKenna Museum of African American Art, and Longue Vue House & Gardens.

Funding
This exhibition has been made possible with the support of Prospect.1 New Orleans Founding Benefactor Toby Devan Lewis; U.S. Biennial, Inc. Board of Directors; The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.; and the Prospect.1 Kingfishers Leadership Committee.

U.S. Biennial, Inc., the nonprofit organizer of Prospect.1, continues active outreach for funds to underwrite the exhibition. To make a donation, please visit www.prospectneworleans.org.

About Prospect.1 New Orleans:
Dan Cameron conceived Prospect.1 New Orleans to reinvigorate the city, a historic regional artistic center, following the human, civic, and economic devastation of Hurricane Katrina. The primary goal of the biennial exhibition is to redevelop the city as a cultural destination where the visual arts are celebrated and can once again thrive. New Orleans was the first U.S. city to host a recurring international art exhibition, beginning in 1887 with the Exhibition of the Art Association of New Orleans. In this tradition, Prospect.1 will provide the public with work by 81 artists conceived and developed for the city. The largest international art biennial ever held in the United States, Prospect.1 will reach an estimated audience of 100,000 visitors, half of whom will likely be Louisiana state residents.

Prospect.1 is founded on the principle that art engenders social progress, so the exhibition and all related events will be free to the public. The biennial will be open every day except Monday, from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., and visitors can see the exhibition in any order they choose and as many times as they like.

For more information on Prospect.1 New Orleans, please visit www.prospectneworleans.org or contact U.S. Biennial, Inc. at (212) 686-5305 or info@prospectneworleans.org.

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