NEW ORLEANS, LA –On the morning of April 24, 2018, a new sculpture will join the growing Poydras Corridor Sculpture Exhibition presented by The Helis Foundation (PCSE), the South’s leading rotating public art exhibition that already features 24 artworks by iconic sculptors including Mark diSuvero, Chakaia Booker, and John T. Scott. To celebrate International Sculpture Day (4/28/18), PCSE welcomes emerging artist Ashley
Pridmore’s larger-than-life skeletal seahorse sculpture, St. Kampos. The installation will take place at 10:30am on Tuesday, April 24th at Poydras Street between St. Charles Avenue and Camp Street, and will begin with a processional led by the Krewe of KOLOSSOS, New Orleans’ mystical underwater-themed art-bike powered Mardi Gras krewe, ushering in the likewise-nautical themed sculpture, St. Kampos.
A unique example of public-private partnership between Sculpture for New Orleans, The Ogden Museum of Southern Art, The City of New Orleans Department of Parks and Parkways, and The Helis Foundation, the PCSE serves as a medium to actualize the exhibition’s curator, sculptor Michael Manjarris,’ goal of juxtaposing interesting, emerging artistic voices with the works of veteran sculptors. Sculpture for New Orleans’ work began after Hurricane Katrina as a way to lift the spirits of the people of New Orleans through public art and providing local and regional artists the opportunity to show in a public venue.
Ashley Pridmore is a Brooklyn-based mixed-media sculptor with deep ties to the Gulf Coast, extensively working and traveling throughout Texas, Louisiana, and the Mississippi Delta. She’s currently finishing St. Kampos at a studio in New Orleans’ Bywater neighborhood.
Pridmore notes “My work is an exploration of decomposition and recomposition using bones, leaves, branches, shells, quills, teeth, and thorns. When sifting through fragments of natural decay it becomes possible to examine internal structure. This fascination with skeleton and frame evokes imagery of discarded human objects undergoing entropy and speaks of the delicacy of an ecosystem trying to swallow the litter of humankind.”
To further celebrate International Sculpture Day, original artist prints of the charcoal-drawn sketch of St. Kampos will be given away on Sculpture for New Orleans’ Facebook page:/SculptureForNewOrleans and the Poydras Corridor Instagram: @PoydrasCorridor.
About The Poydras Corridor Sculpture Exhibition presented by The Helis Foundation
The Poydras Corridor Sculpture Exhibition presented by The Helis Foundation was founded in 2013 as an initiative of non-profit organization, Sculpture for New Orleans, and has quickly become the South’s leading rotating public sculpture exhibition. Sculptor Michael Manjarris founded Sculpture for New Orleans shortly after Hurricane Katrina with the mission of lifting the spirits of the people of New Orleans through public art and providing local and regional artists the opportunity to show in a public venue.
A unique example of a public-private partnership, Sculpture for New Orleans, The Helis Foundation, the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, and The City of New Orleans Department of Parks and Parkways work together to bring interesting and inspiring sculpture to the citizens of and visitors to New Orleans.
The Poydras Corridor Sculpture Exhibition presented by The Helis Foundation has installed 35 sculptures by artists of local and international acclaim on Poydras Street between Convention Center Boulevard and South Galvez. Prior to being installed on Poydras Street, the Design Advisory Committee of the City of New Orleans City Planning Commission reviews and approves the sculptures for content, location, and safety, exercising its authority to request adjustments when necessary. The Helis Foundation funds every aspect of the exhibition, including the recent installation of lighting along the sculpture pads.
For more information, visit http://thehelisfoundation.org/what-we-fund/poydrascorridor/ or, text “Poydras” to 56512.
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Media Contacts:
John Beisner
516.521.5155 (cell)
jbeisner@bondmoroch.com