Octavia Art Gallery is pleased to present CONTEXT, exhibiting the works by the members of the Level Artist Collective; Ana Hernandez, Horton Humble, Rontherin Ratliff, John Isiah Walton and Carl Joe Williams.
The Level Artist Collective, founded in 2015, decided on “Level” because they found common ground in their desire to take part in the dialogue that concerns larger contextual frameworks such as personal and cultural identity, community, nationality as well as the inequalities and obstacles they faced in the contemporary art scene of New Orleans.
The exhibition CONTEXT features the creative and systematic work undertaken by the members of the collective, that continues to increase their overarching awareness individually and as a whole. With work that questions circumstances that shaped the setting for events and the terms in which they have come to understand them, this exhibition addresses subjects of life in the context of colorism, knowledge in the context of disinformation, honoring pathways in the context of ancestral wisdom, and one’s existence in the context of their relationship to all that preceded.
“As five artists of color with deep ties to the city of New Orleans, Level Artist Collective developed with the intent of creating a platform to promote, support and sustain their cooperative voice and vision. Together, their concerted impact on the visual landscape of the American South and beyond is stronger because of their unique yet complementary force.” –Level Artist Collective