October 29, 2008

Art in New Orleans

Just over three years since Hurricane Katrina made landfall in Louisiana, New Orleans still deserves and needs the world's attention. On November 1, in the largest biennial of international contemporary art to be organized in the United States, the inaugural Prospect.1 New Orleans brings scores of international artists and spectators to the Big Easy. This issue of Artkrush unpacks the sprawling event, touching on Kalup Linzy's short episodes of homespun drama and the tricky installations of cover artist Leandro Erlich — who sits down with Artkrush editor Paul Laster to discuss his P.1 contribution and dip a toe in his Swimming Pool, presently installed at New York's P.S.1. Our media pick frames the iconic, edgy portraits of Pierre et Gilles in their recent Taschen monograph, while, beyond New Orleans, we review Doug Aitken's multimedia exploration of the American landscape at New York's 303 Gallery and an intimate traveling exhibition of small abstract canvases by Tomma Abts at Los Angeles' Hammer Museum.