Posted on Jun 28, 2023
Huge Counterpublic exhibition puts socially conscious art in the streets of St. Louis
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Beneath threatening storm clouds, 13 people carried long, silver wind chimes up the tallest hill in Benton Park one April morning. They took turns climbing an aluminum ladder and hanging the chimes onto a cord tied between two trees.
As they completed the piece, an installation by musician Raven Chacon, onlookers applauded.
“This is from a series of works that are meant to bring the public out into the streets,” Chacon said.
His work is part of Counterpublic, a massive exhibition of public art meant to do just that. The works are placed at locations throughout the city of St. Louis, mainly along Jefferson Avenue. It runs through July 16.
Artists explored social issues relevant to each location.
The siting of Chacon’s piece — a park named for Thomas Hart Benton, 19th century champion of westward expansion — is key to its meaning. It’s a temporary anti-monument, hanging in opposition to the spirit of the Gateway Arch, which celebrates that expansion.
As they completed the piece, an installation by musician Raven Chacon, onlookers applauded.
“This is from a series of works that are meant to bring the public out into the streets,” Chacon said.
His work is part of Counterpublic, a massive exhibition of public art meant to do just that. The works are placed at locations throughout the city of St. Louis, mainly along Jefferson Avenue. It runs through July 16.
Artists explored social issues relevant to each location.
The siting of Chacon’s piece — a park named for Thomas Hart Benton, 19th century champion of westward expansion — is key to its meaning. It’s a temporary anti-monument, hanging in opposition to the spirit of the Gateway Arch, which celebrates that expansion.
Huge Counterpublic exhibition puts socially conscious art in the streets of St. Louis
Posted from news.stlpublicradio.org
Art
Society
St. Louis
Music
Posted 12 mo ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."Closing with a flourish
Counterpublic winds up in mid-July with a closing weekend of events.
They include a program by Sugarloaf Mound with a water ceremony led by Anita Fields, a performance by the Wah.zha.zhe Puppet Theatre and a conversation between Fields and Dr. Andrea Hunter, also of Osage Nation.
Adjaye’s earthen sculpture will be unveiled July 15 at the Griot, with a block party to follow. White Mountain Apache musician Laura Ortman will perform a solo set that afternoon at the Pulitzer Arts Foundation, inspired by the work of Blackfoot artist Faye Heavyshield, which is now on view there.
Counterpublic co-curators New Red Order also will team with Cahokia Intertribal Noise Symposium to present a two-night event at the Greenfinch Theater and Dive featuring the work of more than 30 artists and performers.
Curators aim to suggest ways forward for St. Louis that include reckoning with its past.
“An undercurrent that runs throughout a lot of our projects is really telling history in public, in a way that we can remember and not repeat what happened, McAnally said. “Any kind of envisioning of a future for this region is rooted in really accounting for and marking what has happened here over its history.”
..."Closing with a flourish
Counterpublic winds up in mid-July with a closing weekend of events.
They include a program by Sugarloaf Mound with a water ceremony led by Anita Fields, a performance by the Wah.zha.zhe Puppet Theatre and a conversation between Fields and Dr. Andrea Hunter, also of Osage Nation.
Adjaye’s earthen sculpture will be unveiled July 15 at the Griot, with a block party to follow. White Mountain Apache musician Laura Ortman will perform a solo set that afternoon at the Pulitzer Arts Foundation, inspired by the work of Blackfoot artist Faye Heavyshield, which is now on view there.
Counterpublic co-curators New Red Order also will team with Cahokia Intertribal Noise Symposium to present a two-night event at the Greenfinch Theater and Dive featuring the work of more than 30 artists and performers.
Curators aim to suggest ways forward for St. Louis that include reckoning with its past.
“An undercurrent that runs throughout a lot of our projects is really telling history in public, in a way that we can remember and not repeat what happened, McAnally said. “Any kind of envisioning of a future for this region is rooted in really accounting for and marking what has happened here over its history.”
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