Dark Descendents - 21 Days In Rondebosch South Africa
New Orleans born painter Donald Boudreaux spent three weeks in South Africa in January 2004 as part of Augusta Savage Gallery's Arts International Residency Program (AIR). During his time there, he visited artists and youth, where he learned about and observed the challenges and victories of this post-Apartheid nation at such an important time in its history. This exhibit is a way of sharing what he learned.
About the work, Boudreaux says, "When I got to South Africa it humbled me. I saw wise people in both children and adults but I have chosen to approach this exhibition as an abstraction, an installation to give form to what I saw."
He reflected on this profound experience, which was also his first time traveling outside of the United States. When he arrived, he began to see a shift in the physical and emotional environments. "I began to hear and see their struggles. As I did that the weather shifted too-the winds were strong. When I got home, I wondered how I would put this exhibit together. I wanted to use uncomplicated forms that we all understand."
Boudreaux uses trees as a way of understanding the age and vitality of South Africa. He says, "How have trees survived? How have South Africa survived? The people remind me of trees, of their seasons and their shifts."
The exhivition combines his alluring drawings and the use of low chairs for the viewer to sit and observe these works. He hopes to convey this sense of humility and child-like wonder that he felt and wishes to remember.
Public Gallery Hours:
Mondays and Tuesdays, 1-7 p.m.
Wednesdays to Fridays, 1-5 p.m.
