Le’Andra LeSeur, “In Reverence (An Honoring)”, 2019
Le’Andra LeSeur, “There are other hues of blue”, 2019-2022 (ongoing)
Le’Andra LeSeur, “There are other hues of blue”, 2019-2022 (ongoing)
Le’Andra LeSeur, “The CD Man”, 2017
Le’Andra LeSeur, “Superwoman”, 2018
Spirit, Rhythm, Blues, Le’Andra LeSeur’s exhibition at Gallery221@HCC Dale Mabry Campus is a multimedia exploration of life, death, and rebirth- all bathed in blue.
From the Gallery 221 website-
LeSeur’s body of work—a celebration of Blackness, queerness, and femininity—seeks to dismantle systems of power and achieve transcendence and liberation through perseverance. In “Spirit, Rhythm, Blues” at Gallery221@HCC, LeSeur’s installation encourages viewers to contemplate themes such as identity, family, grief and joy, the experience of invisibility, and the power of language.
From the Gallery 221 press release description of Superwoman–
This video is a documentation of a self-baptism that took place in the summer of 2018. The work speaks to the cyclical process of the emotional “waves”- highs and lows- experienced in life. As LeSeur conducts the baptism Donny Hathaway’s rendition of Superwoman plays over the visual, and the words “Where were you when I needed you last winter” repeat as the video proceeds then visually plays out in reverse. The words in the song symbolize the internal struggle present when asking how we show up for ourselves during moments of transition and change. Instead of putting pressure on ourselves to be better or do better, those words bring us back to a place of understanding the importance of self-love in how we overcome and get back to a place of grounding and balance in our lives.
It is a moving piece and works well as a balance to the other video works that reference the police killings of Akai Gurley and Alton Sterling (The CD Man, 2017, pictured above).
This exhibition is on view until 3/2/23.