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Big Easy Enlists Artists

Big Easy will host America's largest exhibition of contemporary art

By Jason Farago, Newser Staff

Posted Oct 29, 2008 10:56 AM CDT

(Newser) – A new biennial meant to restore New Orleans' cultural life—and expand it—opens this weekend in the city, the New York Times reports. With 81 artists participating in Prospect.1 and 50,000 out-of-town visitors expected, the exhibition could be a pick-me-up for a city still trying to come back from Hurricane Katrina. But New Orleans is as much a collaborator as a beneficiary.

Nine of the 81 artists represented in the huge show are from Louisiana, and some of the art—such as a "ghost house" in the Lower Ninth Ward—refers to Katrina. But one local photographer said he'd wait to see the effect on the city. “We have so many talented local artists, I’m hoping there will be some kickback for them, too,” he said.

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A work by Tony Fitzpatrick that will be exhibited at Prospect.1, a new exhibition of contemporary art in New Orleans. (Courtesy Prospect.1)

Paul Villinski, whose work is constructed out of a FEMA trailer, will exhibit in a major exhibition taking place across New Orleans. (Courtesy Emergency Response Studio)

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There are people, at the end of the day, they just walk by and say, ‘Thank you.’ That’s something I’ve never seen anywhere else in the art world. - Anne Deleporte, a French artist exhibiting in New Orleans' Lower Ninth Ward

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Big Easy Enlists Artists