NEW ORLEANS, LA- Los Angeles-based contemporary artist Tim Youd will visit NOMA and sites around south Louisiana to perform the latest installment of his 100 Novels Project beginning October 2 through January 30, 2016.
The 100 Novels Project is an extended and idiosyncratic literary pilgrimage. Youd journeys across the world to retype 100 works of literature—some canonical, others obscure—in locations germane to each novel. In these charged locations, he uses the original make and model of the typewriter employed by the book’s author to retype each novel in its entirety. During his multi-week performances, Youd retypes each novel onto a single sheet of paper, backed by a second sheet. He runs the doubled paper through the typewriter repeatedly, until every word of the novel has been retyped. Upon completion, the two pages—a positive and a negative image—are mounted as a diptych, representing two pages of a book.
While in Louisiana, Youd will be performing live at NOMA as part of a special exhibition in NOMA’s Focus Gallery and in locations throughout the state, retyping a series of novels set in Louisiana that will include everything from Walker Percy’s The Moviegoer to John Kennedy Toole’s A Confederacy of Dunces. He will perform in locations that range from the State Capitol Building in Baton Rouge, where he will retype Robert Penn Warren’s novel All the Kings Men on the site where Huey P. Long was assassinated, and underneath the famed “Miss Jane Oak” tree in Pointe Coupee Parish, which served as inspiration for Ernest J. Gaines’ novel The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman. As he finishes each novel and its diptych, NOMA will put them on display in its Focus Gallery, which will feature a special exhibition of Youd’s work that will also include the world premiere of a new body of paintings created from typewriter ribbons.
“NOMA is delighted to bring Tim Youd to Louisiana where authors such as John Kennedy Toole, Ernest Gaines, Walker Percy, James Wilcox and Robert Penn Warren grew up and were inspired to write their classic novels,” said Susan M. Taylor, NOMA’s Montine McDaniel Freeman Director. “Youd’s work speaks to the museum’s commitment to contemporary art programming that extends beyond the museum’s walls to engage diverse communities across the state.”
“Youd’s 100 Novels Project at NOMA celebrates Louisiana’s literary heritage and offers a unique perspective on the deep connections between the fine arts and literature,” said Katie Pfohl, NOMA’s Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art. “Youd’s work reflects on our contemporary relationship to history, memory and creativity, and asks what the practice of novel writing—and reading—might teach us today.”
TIM YOUD PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE
All NOMA performances will take place during the following times:
Friday: 11AM-3PM and 6PM-8PM
Saturday: 11AM-4PM
Sunday: 11AM-4PM
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
October 2-4: NOMA
October 6-11: Faulkner House Books, New Orleans
October 13-15: Faulkner House Books, New Orleans
October 16-18: NOMA
The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman by Ernest J. Gaines
November 13-15: NOMA
November 16-20: The “Miss Jane Oak” in Pointe Coupee Parish
November 21-22: NOMA
The Moviegoer by Walker Percy
December 2-3 Prytania Theater, New Orleans
December 4-6 NOMA
December 7-10 Prytania Theater, New Orleans
Modern Baptists by James Wilcox
December 11-13 NOMA
December 15-20 Independence, LA (Location TBA)
All the Kings Men by Robert Penn Warren
January 8-10 NOMA
January 12-28 State Capitol Building, Baton Rouge
January 29-30 NOMA
About NOMA and the Besthoff Sculpture Garden
The New Orleans Museum of Art, founded in 1910 by Isaac Delgado, houses nearly 40,000 art objects encompassing 4,000 years of world art. Works from the permanent collection, along with continuously changing special exhibitions, are on view in the museum’s 46 galleries Fridays from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The adjoining Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden features work by over 60 artists, including several of the 20th century’s master sculptors. The Sculpture Garden is open seven days a week: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. The New Orleans Museum of Art and the Besthoff Sculpture Garden are fully accessible to handicapped visitors and wheelchairs are available from the front desk. For more information about NOMA, call (504) 658-4100 or visit www.noma.org. Wednesdays are free admission days for Louisiana residents, courtesy of The Helis Foundation. (May not include special exhibitions.) Teenagers (ages 13-19) receive free admission every day through the end of 2015, courtesy of The Helis Foundation.
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