February 2, 2017
The Eastern Star Gallery is pleased to present Antigone is you is me, a participatory project with artist Alexandra Grant. Antigone is you is me is a text written by Grant and her sister Florence Grant that captures the ancient Greek myth Antigone in a contemporary scene. The part-poetry, part-dialogue, part-literary text imagines Antigone and her sister Ismene as two teenagers in Los Angeles. The exhibition is a community-based project that involves the entire Archer community to participate in illustrating this text. Students, teachers, and faculty will read the text as well as contemplate the Post-it notes containing keywords from the text in order to begin their drawing. A participant’s drawing experience, while limitless, is challenged to work with other artists around them and learn how to have each work flow into the other. Finally, every person who participates in the making of Antigone is you is me will be named alphabetically in the final presentation of the piece on Thursday, February 2. This is a place of hospitality, creativity, and experimentation.
The driving quote for this project is from the original story of Antigone: “I was born to love not to hate.” The final piece, with over 400 participants, captures a particular moment in time from the perspective of teenage girls, from the historic Women’s Marches across the globe to the inauguration of President Donald Trump.
The Eastern Star Gallery is a unique art exhibition space located on the campus of The Archer School for Girls, an independent middle and high school in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles. On Thursday, February 2, Archer will host a public gallery opening and reception for the artist.
Images by Brian Forrest
Press:
Archer Oracle
