Meet the Artist at the AcA

 

Reflection on the past? Prelude to a new beginning? A mid-career retrospective can be daunting for the artist, for the visitor too, often exposed to lengthy wall texts and a line up of works deemed relevant to the artist's career, displayed chronologically. None of this for Stephanie Patton: Comfort Zone 1993 - 2021, a lively, fun show, radiating the multi-talented artist's warm and caring personality. Born in New Orleans, she graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and moved North to receive a Master of Fine Arts in photography from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She then spent some time in New York City and studied vocal and comedic performance at the New School, Upright Citizens Brigade and Gotham Writers' Workshop. In 2001 Patton's Southern roots brought her back to Lafayette where she is teaching and pursuing her international career. The exhibition curated by Jaik Faulk at the Acadiana Center for the Arts reflects the artist's eclectic background and includes sculptures, paintings, iconic wall pieces, photographs, videos and installations. 

A pair of bronzed shoes set on a mirrored pedestal stands out in the middle of the vast main gallery partitioned for the show. The grandmother's empty shoes transformed into a keepsake like baby booties, allude to the process of reversion to infancy in old age. We can even look at ourselves while contemplating the piece! Like a memento mori, it also reminds us of the inevitability of death. Bronzed SAS Shoes, 2008, leads to two intimate spaces where, going back in time, we can get acquainted with the artist's alter ego, Renella Rose Champagne. A kitschy installation, a video of the artist performing as a (struggling country) singer, a photograph of Olympia-Patton (fully clothed) or disguised as a clown, are among a collection of items aligned along the walls. Advertisements for purses, shoes, compact discs, undergarments, magnets for refrigerators... Renella embraces pop. Like the girl next door she dreams of a traditional wedding and revels in the month-long preparations, documents lists of guests, collects newspaper clips and photographs. Boisterous, exuberant, bubbly, describe the creative energy of the artist, and the selected pieces exude her self-deprecatory humor which leaves us smiling. 

What better transition to Patton's next period than Toasty Warm Inside, 2008, a full-length luminous self-portrait? It seems that about ten years ago her career took a turn with new conceptual works. The spacious display allows to contemplate meditative pieces, monochrome white landscapes made of vinyl filled with batting like Revolve, 2019. Quilting evokes a domestic life, love being a required ingredient to perform the labor intensive task. Fluffy like clouds, soft like blankets, the soothing pieces are an invitation to rest and heal our minds. Another "series" involves mattress as a media for calligraphically perfect designs of interjections found throughout the show: Us, 2021, Join, 2020, You (Blue), 2020, can be interpreted according to context or mood. "You" can evoke a tender whisper in one's ear or an outburst of anger.

Mostly inspired by idioms found in her grandmother's mail catalog, Patton's videos complete the review of thirty years of her career. Making lemonade from lemons in Heal, 2011, walking on eggshells for Diffuse, 2008, or ripping off band-aids from her face in Conquer, 2013, Patton manages to interpret popular maxims through conceptual ideas, with a twist of humor. The flawless videos confirm the artist's attention to detail and her talent as a performer.

Dream, 2011, a video about "memory, death and the afterlife" in which the artist sings the famous song "Dream a Little Dream of Me" and a bird view of the show from the mezzanine complete the visit. 

Comfort zone filled with wit and loving care.

 Photograph by the author

Pain, Healing, Relics

The eight minutes video is a painful, shocking start to Stephanie Patton's show Private Practice at the Arthur Roger Gallery in New Orleans.  Band-aids covering the artist's face and neck delineate a rough shape, like the ébauche of a sculpture in mud. Blind, deaf, mute, she hesitates before tearing them slowly from her skin, one by one, with a sharp gesture. The only noise in the background is her breathing. At the end of the performance, she looks at the camera with a calm gaze. Meanwhile the viewers, fascinated, cringe, laugh nervously at times to relieve the tension. Marina Abramamović, David Wojnarowicz have expressed their personal pain in their well-known performances. Patton in her poignant video, Conquer, is overcoming  pain and in the process, reborn. It is a great introduction to the four large pieces hung on the walls. Valor, Meeting, Strength, Intersection made of padded vinyl, batting and muslin appear soft and cuddly. The act of sewing gives them a  motherly touch and the color white refers to hospitals, clouds or just a glimpse of paradise. Healing, soothing, they provide a restful landscape for a tired soul. The multimedia artist manages with her works to deeply disturb and then comfort, generating a whole gamut of emotions in one room.

The Shape of Relics from Troy Dugas occupies the other side of the gallery and assembles a large number of pieces organized by themes, resulting in a colorful display. A careful look reveals the work done with minutiae: unused labels, assembled, shredded, juxtaposed to produce large compositions including portraits, still lifes, abstract landscapes, mandala-like. The artist uses the material with virtuosity and transcends the difficult media, avoiding the pitfall of creating ornaments.
One can take a mental walk through well organized gardens, enjoy a colorful bunch of flowers or mosaic-like portraits of young men which could have adorned a Roman villa. The most daunting works are the large landscapes or mandalas with an oriental flavor. The sumptuous colors gold, red, green shine like precious stones. Two blue pieces evoke Delft porcelain. The adventure can start when looking close or from afar, the narrative comes from the labels or the composition. The works are a reminder that the contemplation of beauty can generate mystical experiences.

Two artists from Lafayette, Louisiana... to follow

photographs courtesy Arthur Roger Gallery

"Valor", 2013, Stephanie Patton, Vinyl, batting and muslin 81 x 81 x 15 inches
"Still Life #1", 2012, Troy Dugas, products labels on paper 50 x 38 inches
"Fine Vieille", 2011, Troy Dugas, vintage French liquor labels mounted to paper, 59.5 inches x 59.5 inches

A day at Prospect.2

The day started with a visit at the Longue Vue House and Gardens to look at Brandon Ballengee's installation titled Audubon's Absence. The eco-artist's statement did upset me "Responding to species loss, I cut the birds from historic John James Audubon prints". I had to verify, it is true! The artist did cut out the birds from original prints! The extinct species are now annihilated. The sound from Pasco is also supposed to bring silence instead of the calls from these extinct species. Due to some malfunction, it was not available the day of the visit.

To follow-up this disastrous start, I visited the Old US Mint. The display is sparse compared to Prospect.1, "The Night Club Portraits", 1973, black and white portraits from William Eggleston (1938), a photographer made famous by his color photographs occupy a whole room. A lengthy Gothic video about Mississippi's nightlife from the same artist can be viewed next also photographs from An-My Le shot in New Orleans and Vietnam.

Next (not included in Prospect.2), The Front featured Stephanie Patton's exhibition General Hospital. In her statement, the artist explains how she uses humor to overcome adversity, pain, disease and she succeeds in this endeavor with her soothing soft cushions, pillow-pills. Her one and a half hour video shows how to transform lemons into lemonade. It can be painful to watch and reminds us that life can be arduous. Due to its length, I was not able to watch the whole video, but I assume the lemonade was worth the effort.

At the CAC and the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, Prospect.2 and temporary exhibitions intermingle. NOLA Now Part I brings artists from New Orleans who are back (or never left) the city. I noticed the work from Dawn Dedeaux with her preserved but deformed portraits, time can deform memories. On the first floor, Alexis Rockman's large wall canvas depicts the species of the Southern swamps in a dark future. He is well -known for his vision of the world since his exhibition at the Smithsonian in Washington DC last year. Ogden was bathing in Surrealism with the works of two local artists Ersy and Josephine Sacabo, respectively sculptor and photographer.

The afternoon started with one of the highlights of Prospect.2, Sophie Calle 's installation at the Pontalba's house on Jackson Square, a story of her (fabricated) life told with self-deprecating humor. Her possessions are spread around the eighteen century house, left over from her presence, but she is absent. The narratives accompanying the installation could be drawn from cheap airport novels. The Duchess of Pontalba was a strong character who made head ways for females two centuries ago. The artist's vision fails to reach her dimension.

After dark, Dawn DeDeaux's installation brings mystery to the courtyard on Royal in the French Quarter. Goddess Fortuna and Her Dunces In An Effort To Make Sense Of It All brings to life the book from John Kennedy Toole, A Confederacy of Dunces. One can look at the shadows behind the windows on the second floor like a show with ghosts in the courtyard for this very New Orleanian story. It is like plunging in the decor for a movie.
I read the book previously and recognized the crumpled bed of Reilly, the hot dog cart, the novel's characters, but the show can be enjoyed just as a visual pleasure.

Fortuna, a goddess from New Orleans



photographs by the author:

"The Night Club Portraits" William Eggleston, 1973

"Test Tubes. Family Legacy", Dawn Dedeaux, 2011

"Battle Royale", Alexis Rockman, 2011