For the duration of the «The Roberta Breitmore Series» (1974 — 78), Hershman Leeson produced documentary material around the character's life, including Roberta's Body Language Chart (1978), on display
here, which comprised
black and white photographs of Roberta sitting in various positions during a therapy session, accompanied by short texts offering clichéd interpretations of her body language.
Standouts include Carrie Mae Weems» holographic narrative about race, sex,
and politics portrayed by ghostly characters on a burlesque stage; The Propeller Group's video that draws parallels between funeral practices in Vietnam
and New Orleans, along with the collective's sculptures of tricked - out musical instruments, which were also
photographed with members of Louisiana marching bands; Glenn Kaino's installation of water tanks that turn military machines into coral reefs; Jean - Michel Basquiat's paintings
and works on paper that reference the cultural legacy of the Mississippi Delta
and the South; Camille Henrot's video exploration of the universe by way of the storage rooms of the Smithsonian Institution; Tavares Strachan's 100 - foot long neon sign declaring «You belong
here» from a barge on the Mississippi River;
and Andrea Fraser's monologue, in which she recreated a heated debate by New Orleans city council members during a 1991 vote to racially integrate the Mardi Gras krewes — changing her voice
and expression as she dynamically alternated between speakers, both
black and white.
Hopper's watercolor views of clapboard houses, electric lines
and windswept landscapes are displayed alongside
black -
and -
white photographs by Robert Adams, Diane Arbus
and Lee Friedlander, as well Stephen Shore, a pioneer of color photography, whose works
here eerily echo Hopper's depictions of domestic architecture.