LSU Art & English Department looks at 'Invisible Populations'

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By Jason Andreasen

"There's not one definition. It's supposed to be open-ended, deliberately."

This was the response from LSU Art History Professor Darius Spieth when asked about the ambitious undertaking of both the University's School of Art and English Department: Invisible Populations. The subject matter may be ambiguous and awaiting your interpretation but there is no question that Invisible Populations offers you plenty of opportunities to tweak your own definition of an "invisible population."

Invisible Populations (IP) is a multidiscipline exploration of the often ignored, misunderstood, ostracized and forgotten within society which is being offered in a variety of artistic avenues during November and December. Over the course of these two months, numerous art exhibitions, lectures, teach-ins, digital media displays and service-learning activities will be held in order to shed light on the underrepresented.

IP is the brainchild of English Department Associate Professor Laura Mullen and the product of collaboration with Spieth, the School of Art's Director, Rod Parker, and the School's Visiting Artist Committee.

The belief that underlies each component of this two month endeavor, as laid out on invisiblepopulations.com is, "that art has the power to make individuals and groups living on the fringes of society visible, to encourage social change, and to inspire hope."

One of the most intriguing aspects of IP is an exhibit featuring the works of "underground" artists on display in the Foster Hall Gallery. The exhibit, Notes from the Artistic Underground (on display until December 4), was curated by Spieth and is a survey of "lowbrow" art in Louisiana. The exhibit features work from some of our area's most exciting artists including Charles Barbier, Patrick Brabham, Hunter Roth, ICON and Marc Fresh.

"The whole younger generation of artists working in this stylistic idiom - it's kind of ignored. That's how it fits into the Invisible Populations theme. It's not something that is very much known. The big museum world - if such a thing exists - kind of ignores it. It's something that is marginalized," said Spieth.

He continued, "The artists in the show engage graffiti artists, people dealing with comic book iconography - that's not considered traditional fine arts."Another component of IP's visual art offerings can be seen in the atrium at the Design Building. Here, panels give a historical context to the discussion by shedding light on the ways artists from the Renaissance to present-day Baton Rouge have sought to use their powers to bring those in the shadows to the spotlight. The panels are the product of work done by Spieth and his students during the fall 2009 semester. Additional panels are on display at the United Way Offices in downtown Baton Rouge (700 Laurel St.).

Yet another artistic offering under the IP banner is a collection of photographs by Deborah Luster - on display at The Glassell Gallery downtown - which show the realities of violence and incarceration by presenting images of Louisiana prisoners. These images are juxtaposed with the words of renowned poet, C.D. Wright, who gave a special reading at the Old State Capitol on November 15 as part of IP.

If this is the first you're hearing of IP, some of the festivities have passed you by. However, there are some engaging lectures still on tap and all of the art exhibits will be up until early December.

The lecturers who have presented as part of IP have included such notable names as Michael Ray Charles (an internationally acclaimed artist who often investigates racial stereotypes) and Jean-Mathieu Robine (a Paris-based political activist). On November 19, IP will host a lecture by Alec Soth, a prominent photographer, titled "The Space Between Us." The lecture will take place at 5 p.m. in Room 103 of the Design Building and is free and open to the public.

Darius Spieth will be speaking - as part of the Honors College's Hot Topic series - at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, November 18 to Honors College students about his curating of the Notes from the Artistic Underground exhibit.

While the IP exhibits and lectures present plenty to take in, it is just as much about what you put into it yourself. This series of displays and experiences forces you to question your own definitions and ideas about what constitutes an "invisible population." Is there a sector of society you ignore? How do you feel about those pushed aside by governments or socio-economic progress? Who are they?

"It's not so much about me or the people [behind IP], we kind of come up with the concept, but then we ask people to fill it. What you see in the exhibitions is some of the potential topics that can be engaged," said Spieth. "You see the panels by my students and the kind of answers they came up with, because there is an implied question: How do YOU view 'Invisible Populations'?"

For more information about Invisible Populations, visit invisiblepopulations.com.

Originally Published: Issue 824 - November 18, 2009

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