Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art announces its upcoming exhibition, Dapper Bruce Lafitte: Kingpin of the Antpin.
In the aftermath of hurricanes Irma, Maria and Harvey recently ravaging the coasts of the United States and its territories, Intuit is exhibiting artist Dapper Bruce Lafitte's most recent body of work, which portrays the damage Hurricane Katrina inflicted on New Orleans overlaid with blunt political commentary.
From 2006-2015, Bruce Davenport, Jr., as he was formerly known, depicted "the culture" ofNew Orleans: the marching bands of public and parochial schools, Mardi Gras Indians, and street scenes. In the second decade of his career, Dapper Bruce Lafitte is now taking on "the history": Civil War battle scenes, the civil rights movement and Hurricane Katrina. Thestorm that wracked New Orleans and exposed the federal government's ineptitude inspired Dapper Bruce to become an artist, and he confronts the event in some of his most personal work to date.
The title of the exhibition comes from Lafitte's own terms: "Kingpin of the antpin means i run the art game im the ray charles of the art game i control what i show i control who i saw with im the boss of my mafia."
In drawings titled Exodus, No Love for the Poor, My First Time Seeing A M-16 and others, Dapper Bruce presents a visceral document of his experience in the immediate aftermath ofthe storm. Street scenes show floods of brown water, expressively drawn with marker; theSuperdome is depicted as a yellow and gray monolith surrounded by stranded civilians. People are seen fleeing rather than celebrating, confronting armed guards, and walking along the highway away from the city. Dapper Bruce's drawings are laden with text: remembrances to his friends and relatives who died in the storm, shout outs to dead celebrities, commentary on his art career, and political criticism.
Dapper Bruce Lafitte was born and currently resides in New Orleans. A self-trained artist, he began making and showing work in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina to commemorate thethen-decimated street culture of parades and marching bands of the city. He has exhibited locally, nationally and internationally, notably in the Prospect Biennial, New Orleans, and in solo shows at the Ohr-O'Keefe Museum, Biloxi, Miss; Vacant Gallery, Tokyo; Louis B. James Gallery, New York; and Atlanta Contemporary, curated by Daniel Fuller. His work has appeared in The New York Times, Harper's Magazine and Victory Journal, among others. In 2009, he was a recipient of a Joan Mitchell Foundation artist award.
When
Now until December 10, 2017
Where
Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art
756 North Milwaukee Avenue
Chicago, IL 60642
Tickets
$5 - Voluntary admission
Free - for members and children under $12
Photos
Slider #1 -
Dapper Bruce Lafitte (American, b. 1971). T.D.B.C. Presents Exodus, 2017. Archival ink on acid free paper, 18 x 24 in.
Dapper Bruce Lafitte (American, b. 1971). T.D.B.C. Presents No Love for the Poor, 2017. Archival markers on acid free paper, framed, 18 x 24 in.
Dapper Bruce Lafitte (American, b. 1971).T.D.B.C. Presents My First Time Seeing A M-16, 2017. Archival ink on acid free paper, framed, 18 x 24 in.
Slider #2 -
Dapper Bruce Lafitte (American, b. 1971).T.D.B.C. Presents Need a Lift Folks, 2017.Archival ink on acid free paper, framed, 18 x 24 in.
Dapper Bruce Lafitte (American, b. 1971). T.D.B.C. Presents Got Love from Ray Nagin,2017. Archival ink on acid free paper, framed, 18 x 24 in.
Dapper Bruce Lafitte (American, b. 1971).T.D.B.C. Presents X Marks A Spot, 2017.Archival ink on acid free paper, framed, 18 x 24 in.
All photos courtesy of the artist and Fierman, NY
