Still from Ariel René Jackson, Bentonville Forecast: In the Square, 2019. 4:14 min. Video; weather balloon, confederate statue, testimonials provided by Sharon Killian, Rachel Lynett, Sheree Miller, and Tonya Jackson. Filmed in Bentonville, AR at Momentary Residency. Courtesy of the artist.
Marking Monuments
January 22 – March 6, 2021
USF Contemporary Art Museum Lee and Victor Leavengood Gallery + Online
Marking Monuments is curated by Sarah Howard, USF Curator of Public Art and Social Practice; and organized by the USF Contemporary Art Museum.
ONLINE EXHIBITION
Exhibition Home // Essay by Sarah Howard // Foreword + Acknowledgements
Ariel René Jackson // Joiri Minaya // Karyn Olivier in collaboration with Trapeta B. Mayson // John Sims // Monument Lab
Ariel René Jackson, Bentonville Forecast: In the Square, 2019. 4:14 min. Video; weather balloon, confederate statue, testimonials provided by Sharon Killian, Rachel Lynett, Sheree Miller, and Tonya Jackson. Filmed in Bentonville, AR at Momentary Residency. Courtesy of the artist.
Ariel René Jackson, Bentonville Forecast: In the Square, 2019. 4:14 min. Video; weather balloon, confederate statue, testimonials provided by Sharon Killian, Rachel Lynett, Sheree Miller, and Tonya Jackson. Filmed in Bentonville, AR at Momentary Residency. Courtesy of the artist. Installation view of Marking Monuments exhibition at USF Contemporary Art Museum. Photo: Will Lytch.
Installation view of Marking Monuments exhibition at USF Contemporary Art Museum. Left: Ariel René Jackson. Right: Joiri Minaya. Photo: Will Lytch.
Installation view of Marking Monuments exhibition at USF Contemporary Art Museum. Left: Ariel René Jackson. Right: Joiri Minaya. Photo: Will Lytch.
Installation view of Marking Monuments exhibition at USF Contemporary Art Museum. Photo: Will Lytch.
Ariel René Jackson, Bentonville Forecast: In the Square, 2019
Inspired by their research on the discriminatory history of all-white “sundown” towns, Bentonville Forecast: In the Square depicts the artist using a weather balloon, typically used to capture meteorological data, as a metaphor and tool to both measure the temperature of the public square, as well as obscure and conceal the presence of the Confederate soldier atop the now removed Bentonville Confederate Monument. Using narrative and meaning to inform and cultivate relationships between site and community, the film features intergenerational voices of local artists and activists reflecting on their experiences and perceptions of the monument as a symbol and marker of exclusion and intimidation in their city’s landscape.
Interview with Ariel René Jackson on her research for Bentonville Forecast: In the Square
About Ariel René Jackson
Ariel René Jackson (b. 1991) works across film, sculpture and performance, exploring land and landscape as sites of internal representation. Jackson’s work is centered in investigations of ancestral memory and knowledge and informed by their research on economic and social systems of segregation, cultivating intergenerational dialogues around themes of loss, transformation and growth. An alum of the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture (Madison, ME), Jackson’s work has been exhibited at various galleries and institutions including the SculptureCenter (Queens, NY); CUE Art Foundation (NYC); Contemporary Art Center, New Orleans; DePaul Art Museum (Chicago, IL); Studio Museum in Harlem; and RISD Museum (Providence, RI). Jackson currently lives and works in Austin, Texas where they received an MFA from The University of Texas at Austin in 2019.
Marking Monuments is made possible by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the Stanton Storer Embrace the Arts Foundation, IRA Initiatives for Social Justice Fund, USFCAM Art for Community Engagement (ACE) Fund, the Lee and Victor Leavengood Endowment, and the Florida Department of State.
