Exhibit Be
Exhibit Be was a sight to behold. Artist Brandan “BMike” Odums brought together dozens of artists – street artists, sculptors, illustrators, root workers – to build an exhibit unlike any other to commemorate the lives of those who were victims of neglect at Degaulle Manor. It would go on to be described as the largest single-site street art exhibit in the American South. I was fortunate to lend to the collaboration with three projects.
Breath
This piece was born from much frustration after taking a theology class at my alma mater Xavier University of LA. We had been talking about the body politic – the relation of the body to the soul. I had been feeling like my body was a cage for my soul. The next semester I entered an advanced sculpture class and was influenced to weld. I discovered a scribble in my sketchbook, and from that came the smaller scales of this piece where I attempted to illustrate the cage-like nature of the body. But a new understanding came from that. I began to see the body more as a conduit through which the soul could experience this beautiful, bittersweet thing called life. I made this by bending a continuous piece of steel rod into geometric angles. I began to see this piece as an illustration of the fact that we are all a part of one thing. One soul. We all experience the same reality. Just in different ways.
Chain Breaker
This painting is about resurrection. It’s about reincarnation. It’s about strength. I gathered and collaged belongings left behind by the residents who were suddenly forced from Degaulle Manor in a Thanksgiving Day eviction. This site has a tumultuous past, but former Black Panther member Malik Rahim and a group of volunteers were turning the complex around. After Malik Rahim raised over $500,000 to buy the complex and continue his social programs to lift the members of the Degaulle Manor community, the owner backed out of the sale and evicted the families. This piece is demonstrative of all the families who refuse to be broken. They live on in all the art, connections, and community made in their honor and through their continued fight to live and thrive. Bmike put it best, “We hope that, with this, we get people to see blight differently. To see that it’s connected to something larger than just that physical space. Each piece of blight is connected to someone’s story, and that story deserves respect and deserves honor and deserves some consideration.”
Pyramids
This piece was a collaboration between Brandan “BMike” Odums and myself. We wanted to take “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure” further. We wanted to raise up the people that had to rush out in a surprise eviction by asserting that their belongings, their lives, and their community were not disposable as the previous owners had treated them. As Black people, we are always given scraps to work with, and against all odds, we’ve built a culture the entire world looks to. “Build your own pyramids. Write your own hieroglyphs.” – Kendrick Lamar
“After #projectbe was forced to end the spirit of it lived on. I found myself painting in forgotten places often, that lead me to Degaulle Manor a 360 unit apartment complex, abandoned since Katrina. This time my paint sessions was met with a unique opportunity. One day while painting, the owner of the property stumbled upon me, in that exchange I talked my way into permission to temporarily transform the property and invite the public, Exhibit BE was born. I called on 35 street artist to help me turn the abandoned walls to one of the largest street art exhibits in the south. Over the course of 3 months, over 30,000 people came and experienced the space.”
– Excerpt from Brandan BMike Odums’ website –