UNFRAMED: "JUST US" Sanford Biggers Mural Unveiling
Part of The Helis Foundation and Arts Council New Orleans' Unframed series, join us for a special mural unveiling ceremony for Just Us by world-renowned contemporary artist Sanford Biggers, on view on the wall of the CAC's Camp Street Warehouse. The unveiling will b followed by a conversation with the artist and collaborators at the CAC. Admission is free with RSVP but space is limited.
Photo by Crista Rock Photography
Executing Artists Wendo and Jo Lean. Photo by Crista Rock Photography
Photo by Crista Rock Photography
Sanford Biggers' Just Us displays a clouded sky punctured with the words “Just Us” in a cutout-style font that reveals alternative views of more clouds. Just Us both evokes “justice” and highlight an unnamed group “us” suggesting the multifaceted and nuanced nature of the idea of “justice.” Here the conflation of text and image questions notions of stability and consistency of meaning within language.
Following the mural's unveiling ceremony, join us for a conversation with Sanford Biggers inside the CAC's Black Box Theater, joined by Andrea Andersson, Rivers Institute Founding Director and Chief Curator and Dr. Kara Olidge, Amistad Research Center Executive Director. The talk will discuss Sanford's past and current collaborations and the use of material history in contemporary practice.
Seating is extremely limited and will be available via RSVP only on a first come, first serve basis. Proof of vaccination will be required for entry along with a confirmed RSVP. Masks will be required of all attendees.
Public Programming
WHERE: Contemporary Arts Center (CAC)
900 Camp St, New Orleans, LA 70130
SCHEDULE: Just Us Unframed Mural Unveiling
10:30am, CAC exterior west-facing wall on Camp Street
A Conversation with Sanford Biggers
11am – 12pm, CAC theater
Artist Sandford Biggers alongside Andrea Andersson, Founding Director & Chief Curator of the Rivers Institute and Dr. Kara Olidge, Executive Director of the Amistad Research Center.
NEW ORLEANS (January 13, 2022)— Arts New Orleans and The Helis Foundation announce the unveiling of Downtown’s newest mural, Just Us by internationally renowned artist Sanford Biggers.
The latest addition to the ongoing project in New Orleans’ Arts District, Unframed presented by The Helis Foundation, a project of Arts New Orleans, the mural is located on the west-facing wall of the Contemporary Arts Center (CAC) on Camp Street. To commemorate the new work, an unveiling and panel will take place on Thursday, January 20, 2022 at the CAC.
“We’re excited for residents of and visitors to the city to enjoy this beautiful work of art by such a distinguished artist,” says Jessie Schott Haynes, Managing Director of The Helis Foundation. “With the completion of Just Us, Unframed now features a collection of nine vibrant murals in Downtown New Orleans.”
Just Us displays a clouded sky punctured with the words “Just Us” in a cutout-style font that reveals alternative views of more clouds. Just Us both evokes “justice” and highlight an unnamed group “us” suggesting the multifaceted and nuanced nature of the idea of “justice.” Here the conflation of text and image questions notions of stability and consistency of meaning within language.
Local artists, Wendo Brunoir, a New Orleans native and Best in Show winner of Ogden Museum of Southern Art’s annual Louisiana Contemporary presented by The Helis Foundation 2020, and JoLean Laborde, New Orleans visual artist, worked with Biggers to execute the mural.
Biggers’ most recent work includes several public art exhibitions at Rockefeller Center in New York City, including a 25-foot-tall bronze sculpture at the Fifth Avenue entrance titled Oracle, and an exhibition, Codeswitch, currently on view at the California African American Museum in Los Angeles.
Unframed launched in June 2019 with five murals and is the first multi-mural exhibition of large-scale work in Downtown New Orleans. The project features nine works from local and international artists and seeks to bring public art throughout downtown for all locals and visitors to enjoy.
JUST US
