Exhibitions and Events through May 21
New Orleans New Orleans Museum of Art, “A Life of Seduction: Venice in the 1700s.” Through magnificent 18th century paintings and objets d’art see the grandeur and pageantry of life and celebration in Venice, Italy, during the 1700s, City Park, 1 Collins Deboll Circle, 504658-4100, noma.org through Nov. 11, 2018
Shreveport
R. W. Norton Art Gallery, “Enlist! Art Goes to War, 19141918.” See what life was like in Shreveport and Caddo Parish during World War I and how artistic posters were used to urge men to enlist, women to become nurses and join the Red Cross, 4747 Creswell Ave., 318865-4201, rwnaf.org through Aug. 12
Lafayette Paul and Lulu Hilliard University Art Museum, “Spiritual Journeys: Homemade Art from the Becky and Wyatt Collins Collection.” An impressive encyclopedic survey of Southern selftaught, outsider, fold and visionary art, 710 East St. Mary Blvd., 337-482-0811, hilliardmuseum.org June 2 through Aug. 26
Alexandria
Alexandria Museum of Art, “Painting a Nation: Hudson River School.” These singularly American Hudson River School landscapes explore the romantic and idyllic glory of rural 19th century America, 933 Second St., 318-443-3458, themuseum.org
The scenes are reminiscent of French Impressionist compositions that mirrored every day life of the Paris bourgeoisie in the late 19th century. But, the figures are not those of Parisian society; they show a glimpse into lives of Southern characters enjoying the riches of life in post-Depression Era North Delta, Louisiana.” Because the 1930s film was so fragile, Youngblood copied them to computer disks, which enabled her to stop and print individual frames. “I got to know the personalities of these people by seeing them in motion,” she says. Youngblood, who was born in Monroe but spent most of her life at Breston Plantation, studied art at LSU in Baton Rouge before going on to her graduate studies in art at Syracuse University in Upstate New York. She transferred to Louisiana Tech in Ruston where in 2011 she received a Master of Fine Arts degree in painting and drawing. In recent years and with the help of grants, Youngblood has developed a keen business sense in marketing her art. As a result, her paintings have appeared on Louisiana Public Television and in numerous solo and juried group shows, including the Ogden Museum of Southern Art’s 2015 “Louisiana Contemporary.”
“Cotton on Rainbow Quilt” by Caroline Youngblood. In recent years, Youngblood has created several new series that depict in large, colorful paintings, stems of cotton, oyster shells or pelicans – all iconic symbols of life in Louisiana and the South. Her paintings of cotton bolls over collaged, early 20thcentury plantation store receipts call to mind her early life surrounded by cotton fields on Breston Plantation near Riverton in North Louisiana.
LouisianaLife.com
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