November 11, 2017–February 25, 2018
The fourth iteration of Prospect New Orleans’ international art exhibition, Prospect.4 (P.4), will open to the public on Saturday, November 11, 2017 and run through February 25, 2018, aligning with the City of New Orleans’s Tricentennial celebration. Prospect.4 will host preview days of the city-wide triennial on Thursday, November 9 and Friday, November 10, with the opening gala scheduled for Friday evening, November 10. At the helm of Prospect.4 is Artistic Director Trevor Schoonmaker, Chief Curator and Patsy R. and Raymond D. Nasher Curator of Contemporary Art at the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, and Executive Director Brooke Davis Anderson.
“Our Board of Directors and staff are already working tirelessly on Prospect.4,” said Brooke Davis Anderson, Executive Director of Prospect New Orleans. “Artists are making site visits and our many partnerships are being confirmed. The New Orleans community has been energized by their frequent visits with Trevor. We look forward to welcoming our colleagues, supporters, and friends in 2017 to experience contemporary art all around this inspiring city.”
Prospect.4 will continue the organization’s tradition of showcasing the work of artists from around the globe. Taking into consideration the 300th anniversary of New Orleans’s founding and the city’s strategic location on the Gulf of Mexico, P.4 will direct its focus southward, placing greater emphasis on art and artists that engage the Global South, specifically from North America, Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, and the European powers that colonized this region.
“The rich diversity of New Orleans has developed over a long history of colonization, the trans-Atlantic slave trade, waves of migration and displacement, and Gulf Coast trade routes buoyed by the city’s position as the American South’s largest port,” said Artistic Director Trevor Schoonmaker. “Artists in Prospect.4 will explore many of these histories and themes and how they relate to contemporary geographical and cultural settings around the world.”
Prospect New Orleans has called on seven international artists and curators to serve on a newly-formed Artistic Director’s council that will aid Schoonmaker as he enacts this ambitious vision. The Artistic Director’s council will recommend artists for inclusion in P.4, contribute to the project’s publication, and participate in public programming surrounding the exhibition opening. The council is comprised of:
William Cordova, artist based in Miami (b. Peru)
Miranda Lash, Curator of Contemporary Art, Speed Art Museum, Louisville, Kentucky (b. USA)
Omar Lopez-Chahoud, independent curator; Artistic Director, Untitled, Miami (b. Cuba)
Wangechi Mutu, artist based in Nairobi & New York (b. Kenya)
Filipa Oliveira, independent curator; Director, Fórum Eugénio de Almeida, Lisbon (b. Portugal)
Ebony G. Patterson, artist based in Kingston, Jamaica & Lexington, Kentucky (b. Jamaica)
Zoe Whitley, Research Curator, Supported by Guaranty Trust Bank, Tate Modern, London (b. USA)
The last edition of Prospect New Orleans’s triennial, Prospect.3: Notes for Now, took place from October 25, 2014 to January 25, 2015. The exhibition featured more than 50 artists selected by Artistic Director Franklin Sirmans and engaged over 100,000 visitors during its 13-week run, and concluded in the black. Upon the closing of the exhibition, the Board of Directors announced that Executive Director Brooke Davis Anderson would continue to helm the organization. This year, the Board of Directors added seven additional members: Shawn M. Barney (New Orleans), Sean Johnson (New York City), Allison Kendrick (New Orleans), Deborah Luster (New Orleans), Gregory Morey (New Orleans), Staci Rosenberg (New Orleans) and Francesca Schwartz (New York City).
“The Board of Directors has flourished after the success of Prospect.3 and we are thrilled to welcome our talented and diverse new board members from New Orleans and beyond. We are eager to realize Trevor’s vision and share it with our community, and the many visitors to New Orleans,” said Susan Brennan, Board Chair of Prospect New Orleans.
