The Contemporary Arts Center is pleased to present Flag for Prospect, the 2009 Collectors Club print by Skylar Fein. The 12.75" x 8.75" silkscreen limited-edition print of 300 was created on smooth vellum bristol exclusively for members of the CAC.

Skylar Fein grew up in New York City and lived a peripatetic life before settling in New Orleans. Over the years, he worked for a magazine in San Francisco, started a gay film festival in Seattle, and taught nonviolence with the Quakers in Philadelphia. In 1990, he received an undergraduate degree from Grinnell College in Iowa, and later moved to New Orleans to attend the University of New Orleans as a pre-med student six weeks before Hurricane Katrina struck the city.

Inspired by the wooden debris littering New Orleans' streets and neighborhoods after Katrina, he dropped out after completing one year of medical studies in order to create art in his backyard. (His first piece was a kitchen table made from hurricane debris). Fein's work raises important questions about what is new, what is old, and what is worth saving of New Orleans' cultural identity and historical materials.

Fein was chosen, along with over 80 visual artists from around the world, to participate in Prospect.1 New Orleans, the largest biennial of international contemporary art ever organized in the U.S., from November 1, 2008 through January 18, 2009. Fein's Prospect.1 work on view at the CAC was titled Remember the UpStairs Lounge, and was a site-specific fictional recreation of the UpStairs Lounge, a popular New Orleans gay bar. The installation told the story of the bar's tragic 1973 fire and subsequent controversial events, featuring historical material gathered from the Historic New Orleans Collection.

Fein has been represented by Jonathan Ferrara Gallery since 2007. He currently lives with his partner in Faubourg Marigny and maintains a prolific studio on the corner of Franklin and St. Claude Avenues.

Artist's Statement:

"This is an American flag, a black flag, with the menu of Elizabeth's, my favorite neighborhood restaurant, interspersed in the stripes. Spread around the perimeter is some New Orleans cultural debris, including fliers for voodoo priestesses, Army Corps of Engineers charts, and old Krauss ads. If you're thinking, "Why black?" then no answer will satisfy you. But to me, black and white is an unbeatable combination. It reminds me of New Orleans, of Katrina, and of a great punk band (for extra credit, guess which one)."

Skylar Fein joins previous Collectors Club print artists Chris Jahncke, Teresa Cole, Debra Howell, Raine Bedsole, Joyce Harris Mayer, Alan Gerson, Luis Cruz Azaceta, Wayne Amedee, Doyle Gertjejensen, Cheryl Hayes, Gerald Cannon, Jan Gilbert, Jacqueline Bishop, Herbert Singleton, Douglas Bougeois, George Dureau, Emery Clark, Robert Gordy, and Ida Kohlmeyer. For more information on becoming a member of the CAC, call (504) 528-3805

Feel free to inquire about availability of past editions.