Events

This exhibition features photographs by Jenny Ellerbe. It deals with the landscape of Northeast Louisiana as a cultural object whose layers heap one on top of another. Some are forgotten, others not. Specifically, Ellerbe’s subject matter is the ancient mounds scattered throughout Northeast Louisiana. Some of the mounds were constructed as early as 5000 BCE, but the largest and most complex mounds, located in the Poverty Point State Historic Site, were constructed from 1700 to 1100 BCE. Built by hunter-fisher-gatherers, the Poverty Point design has not been duplicated anywhere in the world. The site includes a variety of earthen constructions including five mounds ranging between two and twenty-two meters tall and six low lying concentric rings, the longest of which is over one kilometer long. One factor that likely contributed to the mounds’ successful construction was a highly developed trading network that accounted for great deposits of non-local building and tool materials found there. These materials include quartz crystals, steatite, copper, galena, and iron oxide: materials that are found as far afield as Iowa, the Ozark and Appalachian Mountains, and western Georgia. The mounds at Poverty Point are also unique in North America for their age, the proliferation of new styles of tools and cultural objects, their size, and the fact these infrastructure intense projects were completed by hunter-fisher-gatherers. The civilization that occupied Poverty Point from 1700 to 1100 BCE marked a high water point for cultural achievement that was not surpassed for several hundred years. This degree of achievement makes Poverty Point truly noteworthy in the history of humankind. The Poverty Point mounds were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List* earlier this year. The mound building tradition continued in Louisiana and throughout the Southeast at varying scales until contact with European cultures disrupted it.

The manner in which Ellerbe photographs the mounds positions them as monuments to humans’ fleeting existence and a testament to the power of a nearly forgotten culture’s achievements. She often uses long dramatic shadows to indicate the passage of time and portrays contemporary human objects as though they are detritus. From image to image the mounds may be depicted as monumental or as hidden, virtually forgotten things. This contrast parallels inconsistent general awareness of the mound tradition in Northeast Louisiana. Ellerbe uses dramatic Louisiana cloud formations as a critical foil to this issue. Their regular appearance points, as it does in many art historical traditions, to the importance, majesty, and timeless nature of a thing. The Shared Earth exhibition will pair photographs with a selection of archaeological artifacts from Poverty Point. This element of the exhibition is intended to contextualize the historic nature and importance of the developments at mound sites in Northeast Louisiana within the overall story of human civilization. The artifacts speak to what we know of a moment in time as well as the human condition itself by illustrating how all human endeavors, artistic and otherwise, drive and shape our environment, ensuring our survival and giving our lives’ meaning. This is the unavoidable nature of the human condition.

Shared Earth: The Ancient Mounds Project exhibition is a collaboration between the Poverty Point Station Archaeology Program and the Masur Museum of Art. It will feature fine art photography and archaeological artifacts. Free lectures and educational activities will take place at the Masur and Poverty Point State Historic Site during the exhibition. Call the Masur at 318.329.2237 or like us on Facebook for more information. This exhibition is supported by a grant from the Louisiana Division of the Arts, Office of Cultural Development, Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism in cooperation with the Louisiana State Arts Council as administered by the Northeast Louisiana Arts Council.

*To be included on the World Heritage List, sites must be of outstanding universal value and meet at least one out of ten selection criteria. Please visit http://whc.unesco.org/en/criteria/ for more information.

Greely Myatt was born in Mississippi in 1952. His earliest experiences with art were intuitive, improvised with everyday materials, and well outside the auspices of an educational institution. These formative experiences continue to drive his art-making approach. He is the Sculpture Program Coordinator for the Department of Art at the University of Memphis. Myatt holds an MFA from the University of Mississippi, Oxford, and a BFA from Delta State University, Cleveland, Mississippi.

In a way Not Again?! is a homecoming for Greely Myatt. His second solo exhibition took place at the Masur in 1979. Since then he and the Masur have grown a great deal. Not Again?! is also a fitting metaphor for thinking about Myatt’s studio practice. He is interested in the cyclical nature of life and symbols. Myatt often gives found objects and well worn cultural cues new life while making art. His subject matter varies drastically from a painstakingly realistic depiction of an ice cream cone dropped mid-lick to an esoteric examination of how the Underground Railroad used quilt patterns to communicate in code. As a result viewing this exhibition is like life itself and runs the gamut from humor to tragedy; sometimes simultaneously (if you like ice cream). Specific subject matter aside, Myatt is most interested in communication as the theme within his work. He constructs art much like an author writes a sentence. In a sense, his materials provide a vocabulary and the means of fabrication becomes the punctuation that holds his work together; giving it a particular emphasis or sensibility. His titles often convey specific ideas about a work of art’s intended meaning, but as with most things it is up for debate. When different elements of a particular work of art are examined, things can change.

Myatt has exhibited his art in many venues including the Alexandria Museum of Art, Alexandria, Louisiana; The Contemporary Art Center, Atlanta, Georgia; Frist Art Center, Nashville, Tennessee; Hunter College, New York, New York; Honolulu Academy of Art, Honolulu, Hawaii; Institute of Contemporary Art Boston, Boston, Massachusetts; Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis, Tennessee; Portland Contemporary Art Center, Portland, Oregon; The Running Horse Contemporary Art Space, Beirut, Lebanon; The University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, The Netherlands.

The Masur Museum of Art’s Annual Juried Competition showcases contemporary artists throughout the United States of America working in any medium. This year’s Annual Juried Competition features 79 works of art from 30 states. This year’s Juror is Kelly Shindler, Associate Curator at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis. Exhibiting artists include, Paul Sisson, Arvada CO, Phillip Scarpone, Athens GA, Kristin Reeves, Muncie IN, Frank Hamrick, Ruston LA, Ricky Sikes, Downsville LA, Zachary McCauley, Ruston LA, Anna Maranise, Cordova TN, J.C. Lenochan, Orange NJ, Linda Wilson, South Bend IN, Jackie Branson, Pawling, NY, Kate Shannon, Mansfield OH, Will Holub, Groton CT, Russ White, Chicago IL, Greg Sand, Clarksville, TN, Jonathan Sherrill, Candler NC, Regina Loch-Elvert, Baton Rouge LA, Jimmy Salmon, Longview TX, Mary Margaret Morgan, Birmingham AL, Grant Newman, Lyons IL, Peter Everett, Provo UT, Peter Jones, Ruston LA, Zahra Nazari, New Paltz NY, Harriet Bellows, Wake Forest NC, Drew Nikonowicz, Saint Louis MO, Jason Nelson, Monroe LA, Anna Garner, Tucson AZ, David Howe & Anita Cruz-Eberhard, New York NY, Dianne Douglas, Ruston LA, Jenny Ellerbe, Monroe LA, Véronique Gambier, Brooklyn NY, Hannah Hiaasen, Baltimore MD, Sky Shineman, AL, Gregory Martin, Starkville MS, Keith Dull, Ashland OH, Julie Plasketes, Opelika AL, Linda LaBella, New York NY, Lucinda Cobley, Houston TX, Erin Elizabeth, Bloomington IL, Viviane Silvera, New York NY, Stanley Stalewski, Woodbury MN, Jane Ogren, Pittsburgh PA, Joe Ford, Jonesboro AR, Kalina Winska, Valdosta GA, William Tarnowski, Boston MA , Kendric Tonn, Wooster OH, Carole Loeffler, Philadelphia PA, Erin Fitzpatrick, Baltimore MD, Julie Crews, Ruston LA, Kathleen Thum, Liberty SC, Jong-un Choi, West Lafayette IN, Anna Valdez, San Rafael CA, Avery Falkner, Malibu CA, Carol John, Athens GA, Morgan Everhart, Denton TX, Shan Bryan-Hanson, Sturgeon Bay WI, Nadege Morey, New York NY, Rhenda Saporito, Metairie LA, Christina Renfer Vogel, Chattanooga TN, Aliza Morell, Highland Park NJ, Isabel Gouveia, Lake Worth FL, Randy Akers, Savannah GA, Chloë Feldman Emison, Lee NH, Joyce Pommer, New York NY, Echo Lew, Diamond Bar CA, John Baran, Santa Barbara CA, Jave Yoshimoto, Alva OK, Michele Taber, Hershey PA, Joshua Chambers, Bossier City LA, Grace Troxell, Harrisburg PA, Marcus Michels, Hattiesburg MS, Corey Escoto, Pittsburgh PA, Benny Melton, Oxford MI, SethThibodaux, Oxford MS, Benjamin Adelmann, Chatsworth CA, Nils Hasche-Vasquez, Brooklyn NY, Sasha Waters Freyer, Richmond VA, Anja Foerschner, Sherman Oaks CA, Taehee Kim, Conroe TX, Christopher Atkins, Minneapolis MN.