katrina andry: The sirens of gentrification

FIRST WEDNESDAY OPENING RECEPTION: 02/05, 6 - 9 P.M.
artICULATE aRTIST tALK: sUNDAY, 02/09 AT 4 P.M.
 

An artist based in New Orleans, Andry visually investigates how racial stereotypes function. She often points out their illogical absurdity and purpose promoting a society of inherited privilege based on skin tone; a trait which we are trained to link to the human characteristics which are caricatured in the works. For her debut exhibition at BRG, Andry is using these explorations of stereotypes to see how gentrification develops and is sustained. By looking at specific tropes like violence and drugs, she examines how such concepts are used as weapons to devalue communities, force out their long-time occupants, and allow these areas to become gentrified. Based on mythological sirens who are traditionally seen as precursors of death and suffering, the sirens in Andry’s work foretell of communities being erased due to gentrification.

An accomplished printmaker and installation artist, Andry’s work has been shown throughout the southeast United States including venues such as the Louisiana State University Museum of Art, the New Orleans Museum of Art, the Atlanta Contemporary Arts Center, and Jonathan Ferrara Gallery (New Orleans, LA). Her work also appears in the permanent collections of the Pensacola Museum of Art and The Saratoga Collection. Since 2010, Andry has been awarded residencies with, among others, the Joan Mitchell Center (New Orleans, LA), Anchor Graphics at Columbia College (Chicago, IL), and Berkeley, CA’s Kala Art Institute.

This exhibition is presented alongside the latest works from Christopher Scott Brumfield, Kelli Scott Kelley, and Katherine Scherer. All works from these four artists are on view, free of charge, during normal gallery hours (12 - 6 p.m., Tue - Sun) through February 27, 2020.