reparations

IThese works are part of my trilogy in progress, Pieta/Annunciation/Exodus. My body of work includes visual art, theater, dance and video and sound. My explorations within these media, and a collaborative relationship with nature, inform and inspire my work.
I begin with the bare bones of a story: an experience that haunts me. Words follow: I write poems and dialogue. I work with an unorthodox cast of characters including actors, dancers, rappers and non-professionals, including models from Greater Harlem Nursing Home, to develop and photograph theatrical tableaux. I use these photographs as a reference for visual and multi-media works. On site interviews during the staging are used for live and videotaped monologues.
Pieta/Annunciation/Exodus is a multimedia exhibition including large-scale drawings, sculptural installation, and video. I use biblical themes as cultural reference points juxtaposed with controversial contemporary issues. In this manner I address the political ideology of the present, while receiving universal context from the past. Each drawing in the trilogy depicts a woman taking on an impossible task. Congolese culture is a profound influence in my work. In Congolese traditions, human rhythms are tied to the rhythms of nature: seasons of life, death and rebirth.
The Pieta: How Long Will They Mourn Me depicts the scene after a gang killing in Brooklyn. Mary is a played by Yoruba priestess; Jesus is played by a minor rap star who is currently incarcerated.
In The Annunciation at the Fulton Housing Projects, the Angel Gabriel informs Mary that she will bear the Son of God. In Christian ideology, Mary is willing to bear the Son of God and watch him murdered, in order to give birth to a new world, Mary’s sacrifice is a warrior’s sacrifice. Shot in the Fulton Projects in Manhattan, Annunciation addresses a woman’s right to choose.
Exodus is the story of Moses leading his people from Egypt. Exodus: New Orleans revisits the story to portray the escape from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, as seen through the eyes of a doctor who spent three days walking out of new Orleans in chest high water.
I’m interested in the chaos of the narrative, how we tell our stories. We live our lives in a non-linear fashion, building a house and tearing it down at the same time. Memories float to the surface, mixed with dreams hopes and fears. We are constantly rewriting the past to create our own mythology. The large-scale paintings deal with the mythology surrounding an event. The multi-media facets explore the chaos surrounding the story.
The finished work will be a multi media production featuring large- scale paintings, video images from the creative process projected on sculptures, and monologues created from interviews.

Points of reference for my process are the postmodern work of Beckett -in play form – and Cunningham, -in dance. Both artists established postmodern form by initiating thoughts and actions and interrupting every thought or action before completion.
The work progresses in spite of itself; the story rises to the surface in non- linear form.
I create work using the choreographic modalities behind the organizing principles of African American musical tradition. As described by Robert Farris Thompson, these principles include dominance of percussive performance style, polyrhythmic meter, overlapping call and response, inner pulse control, suspended accentuation patterning, and social allusion contained in the work.Materials include tar, acrylic, Caran d’ache crayons, found objects, blood, ashes, stones, gold and silver leaf, bones, wood, wisteria vines, shells, dirt, feathers, screen door wire, video in mini-DV format, and photographs.


February 1 - 28, 2007

		Brookie Maxwell

				Study for Exodus II (Eddie's House on Fire) 2006 Caran d'ache on Toile wallpaper 33" x 28.5"
	IThese works are part of my trilogy in progress, Pieta/Annunciation/Exodus. My body of work includes visual art, theater, dance and video and sound. My explorations within these media, and a collaborative relationship with nature, inform and inspire my work. I begin with the bare bones of a story: an experience that haunts me. Words follow: I write poems and dialogue. I work with an unorthodox cast of characters including actors, dancers, rappers and non-professionals, including models from Greater Harlem Nursing Home, to develop and photograph theatrical tableaux. I use these photographs as a reference for visual and multi-media works. On site interviews during the staging are used for live and videotaped monologues. Pieta/Annunciation/Exodus is a multimedia exhibition including large-scale drawings, sculptural installation, and video. I use biblical themes as cultural reference points juxtaposed with controversial contemporary issues. In this manner I address the political ideology of the present, while receiving universal context from the past. Each drawing in the trilogy depicts a woman taking on an impossible task. Congolese culture is a profound influence in my work. In Congolese traditions, human rhythms are tied to the rhythms of nature: seasons of life, death and rebirth. The Pieta: How Long Will They Mourn Me depicts the scene after a gang killing in Brooklyn. Mary is a played by Yoruba priestess; Jesus is played by a minor rap star who is currently incarcerated. In The Annunciation at the Fulton Housing Projects, the Angel Gabriel informs Mary that she will bear the Son of God. In Christian ideology, Mary is willing to bear the Son of God and watch him murdered, in order to give birth to a new world, Mary’s sacrifice is a warrior’s sacrifice. Shot in the Fulton Projects in Manhattan, Annunciation addresses a woman’s right to choose. Exodus is the story of Moses leading his people from Egypt. Exodus: New Orleans revisits the story to portray the escape from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, as seen through the eyes of a doctor who spent three days walking out of new Orleans in chest high water. I’m interested in the chaos of the narrative, how we tell our stories. We live our lives in a non-linear fashion, building a house and tearing it down at the same time. Memories float to the surface, mixed with dreams hopes and fears. We are constantly rewriting the past to create our own mythology. The large-scale paintings deal with the mythology surrounding an event. The multi-media facets explore the chaos surrounding the story. The finished work will be a multi media production featuring large- scale paintings, video images from the creative process projected on sculptures, and monologues created from interviews. Points of reference for my process are the postmodern work of Beckett -in play form – and Cunningham, -in dance. Both artists established postmodern form by initiating thoughts and actions and interrupting every thought or action before completion. The work progresses in spite of itself; the story rises to the surface in non- linear form. I create work using the choreographic modalities behind the organizing principles of African American musical tradition. As described by Robert Farris Thompson, these principles include dominance of percussive performance style, polyrhythmic meter, overlapping call and response, inner pulse control, suspended accentuation patterning, and social allusion contained in the work.Materials include tar, acrylic, Caran d’ache crayons, found objects, blood, ashes, stones, gold and silver leaf, bones, wood, wisteria vines, shells, dirt, feathers, screen door wire, video in mini-DV format, and photographs.
			Brookie's Website