Meadows Museum of Art exhibition showcasing museum’s founding collection opens October 16
SHREVEPORT, LA — The Meadows Museum of Art at Centenary College of Louisiana announces an upcoming exhibition, Chasing the Tiger: A Commentary on Colonial Fantasy, that will be open from Monday, October 16, through Saturday, December 2, 2023. Student curators Emerson Horne and Ben Vazquez will give a public curator talk on November 15, 2023, at 6:30 p.m. The exhibition and curator talk are free and open to the public.
This exhibition is comprised of works by Jean Despujols, whose artworks during the exploration and colonization of French Indochina from 1936-1938 were central to the founding of the Meadows Museum. The exhibition draws connections between artistry and influence, exploring the dynamic artistic choices of Jean Despujols.
“Chasing the Tiger spotlights a scene of an imagined tiger hunt, with contrived poses and cautious inclusion of plants indicative of the environment,” say co-curators Horne and Vazquez. “The central work, 'Hunting the Tiger in the Dar-Lak,' was made in 1937. In this artwork, Despujols emphasizes the imagined scene through the stances, facial expressions, and inclusion of native peoples taking part in tiger hunting, though they traditionally did not hunt these animals.”
A French Academic artist, Despujols moved to Shreveport, Louisiana, after the outbreak of World War II. In 1969, The Despujols Collection was given to Centenary by Algur H. Meadows, establishing the museum. This exhibition dives into the historical meanings and implications of his work, providing visitors to the Meadows intimate insight into its founding collection.
About the Meadows Museum of Art
The Meadows Museum of Art is located on the campus of Centenary College of Louisiana at 2911 Centenary Boulevard in Shreveport, Louisiana. The Museum is open Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The Museum is closed on Sundays and College holidays. For more information or to schedule field trips, call the Museum at 318.869.5169 or visit themeadowsmuseum.com.