Katharina Grosse

Katharina Grosse’s “Untitled” is a site-specific Color Field acrylic painting on the front of a house, a fence and front yard. This installation has drawn some outrage in letters to the editor of The Times-Picayune. It looks like part of the material painted on was blown off the house.

Wangechi Mutu

Wangechi Mutu’s “Mrs. Sarah’s House” is a tribute to the residents of the Lower Ninth Ward who returned to their homes after Katrina. The wooden frame of a typical New Orleans home was built on the footprint of a house. Strings of lights follow the lines created of the wooden frame.

Adam Cvijanovic

Adam Cvijanovic’s mural, "The Bayou," graces the walls of four rooms upstairs at Tekrema Center for Art and Culture which is located on Burgundy street in the Lower Ninth Ward. The images are rich and detail. I really liked the feel of having all the walls filled with the bayou imagery. The murals had a peaceful effect on me.

Miguel Palma

Miguel Palma’s “Rescue Games” was inspired by the Higgins boat, which the artist saw at the National World War II Museum in
New Orleans. The Higgins boat played an important role in Normandy on June 6, 1944. Palma rebuilt the boat to scale creating a tub that rocks back and forth on hydraulic legs creating waves of water. There’s a u-shaped platform, with staircases, for viewing the installation. I filmed a video of the work in action. This is one of three works that were housed at the Lower Ninth Ward Village.

Mark Bradford

Mark Bradford’s wooden sculpture of an ark, “Mithra,” sits on a corner lot. Obviously the artist has a good sense of humor given the flooding in this part of the city. It’s one my favorite pieces in the biennial. The surface of the hull consists of plywood boards sporting deteriorating posters.

Robin Rhodes

Robin Rhodes “9th Floor” is a site-specific installation located behind a cinder block wall at a playground. It’s part of a bathroom structure. Water trickles from a pipe that is surrounded by small rocks. I didn’t figure out right away that this was here. The guide map had the area marked, but I wasn’t quite sure what I was looking for when I drove by the playground. It wasn’t until a tour bus for the exhibition drove near me that I was able to follow and find this installation.

Nari Ward

Nari Ward’s “Diamond Gym: Action Network” is located inside the Battleground Baptist Church, that was flooded after Hurricane Katrina. The construction that includes exercise equipment sits in the center and is surrounded by mirrors. The exterior is covered in flyers. The voice of Tina Turner can be heard in the background reciting a Buddhist chant. Below is an exterior shot of the church.

Leandro Ehrlich

Leandro Ehrlich's "Window and Ladder" is a piece down the block from the last one. It consists of a ladder reaching for a window in the sky. The window is surrounded by brick. The brick part is made up of fiberglass. The piece is supported by an underground metal structure. This work too sits in an empty lot.

Ghada Amer

Ghada Amer's "Happily Ever After" is located on this empty lot near the flood wall. It is made up of wood, metal and foliage. Metal letters spelling out "Happily Ever After" surround a wooden talble. Ivy was planted to grow on the letters.

Lower Ninth Ward

So, you’ve been hearing so much about the Lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina. Well here are photos taken in the area near the floodwall along the Industrial Canal. I do not have any before shots of this area when it was a neighborhood. All that can see now are the slabs and driveways where houses once stood. It’s a bit eerie to visit. What brings me here is an art exhibition known as Prospect.1 New Orleans. It is a biennial that began on November 1st, 2008 and concludes on January 18, 2009. Dan Cameron, visual arts director of the Contemporary Arts Center in New Orleans, organized this exhibition. It includes over eighty artists whose works are placed at various locations across the city. In mid December I made a journey to see the pieces that were located in the Lower Ninth Ward.