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JUDY COOPER
 
ARTIST'S STATEMENT

Before Hurricane Katrina, I spent several years documenting two colorful traditions in the local African American community. Interestingly enough, they both took place on Sunday. In the morning, in the modest neighborhoods throughout the New Orleans area, the small churches were filled with worshipers. Many of them, the women in particular, were dressed to the nines.

Throughout the year, there were many Sundays singled out as special days of celebration. On those days, the committee members, usually women, who helped organize the event, dressed in colorful, matching outfits. Large and/or ornate hats were always part of the outfit. All of these dressed up women added as much to the festive atmosphere of the church as the flowers on the altar.

On Sunday afternoon, very different celebrations took place in the same neighborhoods. These were the parades of the Social Aid and Pleasure Clubs. These clubs began generations ago in the African American community as groups that provided both community assistance and fellowship for the members. They adopted the New Orleans tradition of the street parade with a jazz band and added colorful costumes. Each club paraded once a year through the neighborhood in which the members lived. The observers didn’t just stand and watch but fell in behind the dancers and joined the parade. The music, the colorful attire of the participants, the exuberance of their dancing, their pride and joy were absolutely infectious.

Hurricane Katrina has ripped apart the fabric of our city. Many of the neighborhoods that witnessed the Sunday morning services and the afternoon parades were under several feet of water. The residents were scattered far and wide.

Now, almost two years later, the city is coming back to life. The residents of the flooded neighborhoods are slowly returning to rebuild their houses. Both churches where I previously photographed have reopened their doors but with smaller congregations. The Social Aid and Pleasure Clubs are trying valiantly to keep the tradition alive. Their numbers are also reduced and their outfits are not always as elaborate but they still dance with the same enthusiasm.

cooperjudyj@yahoo.com
http://www.judycooperphotographs.com

 

RESUME

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2010 New Orleans Sunday, The Hammond Regional Art Center, Hammond, LA
2009 Living Color, LSU Museum of Art, Baton Rouge, LA
2008 Living Color, New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, LA.
2008 Living Color, Paul and Lulu Hilliard Museum, University of Louisiana at Lafayette
2007 New Orleans Sunday, A.I.R. Gallery, New York, NY.
2006 New Orleans Sunday, Kaunas Photo Days, Kaunas, Lithuania.
2002 Double Take, A.I.R. Gallery, New York, NY.
2002 Double Exposure, Baton Rouge Gallery, Baton Rouge, LA.
2002 Double Vision, Barrett Art Center, Poughkeepsie, NY.
2000 Seeing Double, Cole Pratt Gallery, New Orleans, LA.
2000 Discoveries of the Meeting Place, FotoFest, Houston, TX.
1998 Toppers, Still-Zinsel Contemporary Fine Art, New Orleans, LA.
1998 Not Celebrity Portraits, A.R.C. Gallery, Chicago, IL.
1996 Solo Show, Phoenix Gallery, New York, NY.
1996 Queens, Kings, & Clowns, Still-Zinsel Contemporary Fine Art, New Orleans, LA.
1993 These Colors Never Run, Still-Zinsel Contemporary Fine Art, New Orleans, LA.
1991 Local Color, Still-Zinsel Contemporary Fine Art, New Orleans, LA.
1989 More Women in Red, Still-Zinsel Contemporary Fine Art, New Orleans, LA.
1988 Women in Red, Still-Zinsel Contemporary Fine Art, New Orleans, LA.

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2012 Celebrating Kindred Spirits and Strange Bed Fellows, A.I.R. Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2011 A woman's work is never done
2010 …and sweeps me away, A.I.R. Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2010 84th Annual International Competition: Photography, The Print Center, Philadelphia, PA
2009 The Art of Photography Show, San Diego, CA
2009 The Art of Caring, New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, LA
2009 Contemporary Humanism, A.I.R. Gallery, 111 Front Street, Brooklyn, NY
2007 The Fifth Annual Showcase of Art, The Governor’s Mansion, Baton Rouge, LA.
2007 Made out of the Ordinary, A.I.R. Gallery, New York, NY
2007 Moments in Time, New Orleans at the Crossroads, New Orleans
2007 Academy of fine Arts, New Orleans, LA. And Tarragona, Spain.
2007 Twentieth Annual September Competition, Alexandria Museum of Art, Alexandria LA.
2006 surge, the Brooklyn Lyceum, Brooklyn, New York.
2006 Nineteenth Annual September Competition, Alexandria Museum of Art, Alexandria, LA.
2005 selfsame, A.I.R. Gallery, New York, NY.
2004 Southeastern Triennial, Mobile Museum of Art, Mobile, AL.
2003 5th Biennial Exhibition, A.I.R. Gallery, New York, NY.
2003 condition: human, A.I.R. Gallery, New York, NY.
2003 Louisiana Artists: An All Media Show, L.S.U.Union gallery, Baton Rouge, LA
2002 Louisiana Art for Louisiana Places, Louisiana Division of the Arts, Statewide.
2000 Works on Paper, 2000, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA.
2000 11th National Juried Exhibition, Viridian, New York, NY.
1999 Louisiana Open, Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans, LA.
1999 Southeastern Triennial, Mobile Museum of Art, Mobile, AL.
1998 Louisiana Open, Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans, LA.
1998 Society for Contemporary Photography, Kansas City, MO.
1997 National Juried Exhibition, A.R.C. Gallery, Chicago, IL.
1997 Artists of New Orleans, Okaloosa-Walton Community College, Niceville, FL
1996 Southeastern Juried Exhibition, Mobile Museum of Art, Mobile, AL.
1995 Timespan: DWCA National Juried Show, Irving Arts Center, Irving, TX.
1995 Hoyt National Art Show, Hoyt Institute of Fine Arts, New Castle, PA.
1994 Thirteenth Annual September Competition, Alexandria Museum of Art, Alexandria, LA.
1993 Photo National, Zoller Gallery, Penn State University, University Park, PA.
1992 Red Clay Survey: Biennial Exhibition, Huntsville Museum, Huntsville, AL.
1990 Inspired Visions 1840-1990, New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, LA.
1989 Bridging the Gaps: National Juried Exhibition of Photography, San Francisco, CA.

SELECTED AWARDS

2009 The Art of Photography Show, Honorable Mention
2009 Women in Photography International, Second Place
2006 Nineteenth Annual September Competition, Second Place, Alexandria, LA.
2005 20"x20"x20", A national compact competition: Honorable Mention, L.S.U., Baton Rouge, LA.
2000 Rembrandt and Roses, Second Place Award, New Orleans, LA.
1997 National Juried Photography Exhibition: First Place Award, A.R.C. Gallery, Chicago, IL.
1996 ‘96 National Juried Competition: First Place Award, Phoenix Gallery, New York, NY.
1996 Fifteenth Annual September Competition: Merit Award, Alexandria Museum of Art, Alexandria, LA.
1995 Louisiana Division of the Arts: Visual Artist Fellowship – Photography.
1992 Red Clay Survey: Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary Southern Art: 1992 Merit Award, Huntsville Museum of Art, Huntsville AL.
1990 Louisiana Artists Annual: Swanson Memorial Award for Photography, St. Tammany Art Association, Covington, LA.

SELECTED COLLECTIONS

City of New Orleans Percent for Art Collection
The LSU Museum of Art
The New Orleans Museum of Art
The Ogden Museum
The James and Cherye Pierce Collection of Photography
Numerous private collections