Louisiana Contemporary, presented by The Helis Foundation, is an annual juried exhibition celebrating the vibrant work of living Louisiana artists. Featuring 53 works by 50 artists, the 2025 edition was selected by juror Daniel S. Palmer, PhD, and explores the idea of a “New Orleanian Love Song” through a diverse range of styles and mediums. The exhibition highlights the creative spirit of the state’s visual arts community. See it at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art through January 4, 2026.
Vince Fraser's "Ancestral Odyssey" re-envisions the enduring legacy of the Black Masking Indians and the wider African diaspora through the vibrant lens of Afro-surrealism. This permanent, immersive installation at the New Orleans African American Museum, which opened on June 19, leverages cutting-edge digital artistry to explore profound themes of identity and history. Fraser, a London-based visionary, collaborates with New Orleans' own cultural guardians to create digital "portals of transformation"—powerful lenses to venerate the mysticism of the Black Masking Indians. The installation invites viewers into a multi-sensory environment where ceremonial practices become conduits for profound metamorphosis, and ancient African mythological realms are fused with technology to foster contemplation on identity, resistance, and reverence.
Curated by Kaillee Coleman and Fei Xie, "Poetic Gaps: Opacity in the Photographic Imprint" draws on poet-philosopher Édouard Glissant’s idea of “opacity,” exploring how photography, sculpture, and installation can highlight what resists being fully seen or captured. Through vignettes of images, objects, and landscapes, the exhibition asks what lingers before, beyond, or outside the frame, emphasizing presence, absence, and the unseen. See it at Newcomb Art Museum of Tulane through January 16, 2026.
