Join us for a welcome back reception and another chance to explore our tricentennial exhibition EMPIRE after hours! Now incorporating a recently acquired piece from Brandan “Bmike” Odums, this immersive installation by Fallen Fruit merits an additional visit!
5:30 pm – VIP Members Reception (not a member? Join in August during museum month for a 25% discount!)
6:30 pm – Artist talk with Bmike whose work “Alchemist” is on view in EMPIRE
7:30 pm – Public reception featuring food, drinks, music from T-Ray the violinist, and more!
About the exhibition:
Celebrating the New Orleans tricentennial, EMPIRE is an art installation by Los Angeles based artists Fallen Fruit (David Allen Burns and Austin Young) commissioned and presented by Newcomb Art Museum, A Studio in the Woods, and Pelican Bomb. Through the assembly of over 400 objects, the artists transformed the entire museum into one immersive artwork that explores the history of people and place in terms of cultural legacy, historical narrative, and social constructs.
EMPIRE at Newcomb Art Museum of Tulane University is part of “Fallen Fruit of New Orleans” a suite of site-specific projects taking place throughout New Orleans from June 2017 through June 2018, commissioned and presented by Newcomb Art Museum, A Studio in the Woods, and Pelican Bomb. “Fallen Fruit of New Orleans” was initiated by Pelican Bomb in 2015.
About Bmike:
Brandan “Bmike” Odums is a highly sought after visual artist and filmmaker who uses these chosen mediums to tell stories and make statements that transform the minds of viewers as well as the spaces in which his work appears.
In 2016 Brandan debuted his first solo show in New Orleans in a 35,000 sq ft warehouse named #Studio Be. Welcoming hundreds of visitors a week as well as school tours from around the region.
In 2013, Brandan completed a series of graffiti murals depicting iconic African American civil rights leaders at the Hurricane Katrina damaged Florida Avenue public housing complex in New Orleans’ 9th Ward. Given the name #ProjectBe, the space unexpectedly received national attention bringing spectators from all over to see the art before the deserted complex’s set demolition date.
Following the success of #ProjectBe, Brandan came across another abandoned five-story apartment building on the West Bank in New Orleans in 2014 and began working on #ExhibitBe. The completed space was the largest street art gathering in the South gaining national attention and welcoming over 30,000 visitors during its three month opening.
Brandan’s other passions lie in the New Orleans community. He is the founder and director of 2-Cent Entertainment LLC – a New Orleans based youth education social enterprise that produces mixed media content and workshops in the overlap between pop culture and social awareness. Partnering with organizations like Scholastic and Better World Books to give away tens of thousands of books to local youth, 2-Cent services countless youth in New Orleans. 2-Cent Summer Session – media arts camp, in New Orleans I currently entering it’s 4th year.
As a Filmmaker his directed music videos has appeared on MTV, VH1 and BET, Brandan has been honored as one of “20 Artist You Should Know” by Complex.com, Presidential volunteer award from the white house, and a Joan Mitchell Foundation Fellowship recipient.
