Octavia Art Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of recent works by New Orleans artist Wayne Amedee. Inspired by artists such as Robert Rauschenberg and Paul Klee, Amedee’s work provides him with the means to express his rich interior life, and to share his thoughts and feelings with others. The titling of his work has long involved auto-biographical material and information from literature as varied as American poetry to the Psalms.

Wayne Amedee’s most recent works are a continuation and an extension of the ideas behind his large-scale sculpture in City Park titled Grateful Labors. Grateful Labors was donated by the artist to the City of New Orleans as a tribute to all who helped with the receovery of the city post-Katrina. The sculpture generated a large number of ideas for Amedee regarding both content and form for an ongoing segue of works. In the two dimensioanl works Future Steps I and II, the footprints from each of the elements in Grateful Labors are remade into colorful pieces with a certain positive rhythmic continuity. The titles of the works point to the future – leaving Katrina behind. Grateful Labors was also inspired by the cantilevered wall constructions made by the artist for many years, and the exhibit at Octavia will include several of these three dimensional works.

With a career spanning four decades, Wayne Amedee has seen his artwork succeed both locally and nationally. Over the years, in addition to New Orleans, he has shown in Atlanta, Houston, Los Angeles, Chicago and New York. He has also earned numerous awards, including a Rockefeller Grant, New Orleans Museum of Art Award, and Loyola University’s Jesuit Award for “People for Others”. He is represented in NOMA’s permanent collection and has helped establish Loyola University's permanent sculpture garden. Amedee is a founder of the Contemporary Arts Center, actively involved with NOMA and Loyola University of New Orleans and is a trustee of Longue Vue House and Gardens.