Ogden Museum of Southern Art first launched Louisiana Contemporary, presented by The Helis Foundation in 2012, to establish a vehicle that would bring to the fore the work of artists living in Louisiana and highlight the dynamism of art practice throughout the state. Since the inaugural exhibition over ten years ago, Ogden Museum has shown works by 489 artists, making Louisiana Contemporary an important moment in the national arts calendar to recognize and experience the spectrum and vitality of artistic voices emanating from New Orleans and in art communities across Louisiana.
This statewide, juried exhibition promotes the contemporary art practices in the state of Louisiana, provides an exhibition space for the exposition of living artists’ work and engages a contemporary audience that recognizes the vibrant visual arts culture of Louisiana and the role of New Orleans as a rising, international art center.
This year’s guest juror is Valerie Cassel Oliver, Sydney and Frances Lewis Family Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, has selected 51 works by 49 Louisiana artists.
The Helis Foundation Art Prize for Best in Show: Joshua Mintz
I Can Hear Your Dirt, 2021, Wood, foam, plaster, fabric, resin, polymer clay, LEDs, Arudino, scritta, dna, porcelain, insulation, cotton
First Place: Madison Spinner
Checker Print Kitchen, Super 8 film videography
Second Place: Laura Welter
Patterns of Our Skin: Stars and Flowers, Wood panel, fabrics, quilt blocks, crewel embroidery, collage, glue, acrylic paint, oil paint
Third place: Trenity Thomas
Loyalty, 2020, Acrylic paint, cloth, cardboard
Differences, 2020, Acrylic paint, 24 x 48 inches
Honorable Mention: Ben Depp
A Life Ring Floats Near a Wrecked Boat After Hurricane Ida. Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana, 2021, 2021, Pigment print made from aerial photograph