Edgar Arceneaux

Edgar Arceneaux’s work in installation, sculpture, drawing, photography, and video, draws inspiration from a wide-ranging set of sources: American history, astronomy, science-fiction, architecture, music, and movies. His solo exhibition at the List Center presents three major, interlocking projects that reflect on history and remembrance, and consider how specific national, cultural narratives change over time. 

The body of work titled A Book and a Medal (2014) takes inspiration in part from the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and connects 1960s history with the landscape of contemporary, postindustrial American cities. Arceneaux’s recent work The Library of Black Lies (2016) constructs a labyrinthine, Borgesian book repository including various “variations” of books, including volumes by prominent African-American thinkers. The new installation Until, Until, Until (2016), premiering at the List, examines Broadway legend Ben Vereen’s controversial performance at the inaugural celebration for Ronald Reagan in 1981, which was televised nationally in a truncated version and derailed his career for decades. Throughout the exhibition, Arceneaux combines sculptural object, historical record, and fictional text in an effort to complicate the construction and transmission of knowledge.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website