The Contemporary Arts Center is pleased to present Clones, the 2009 Silver Circle sculpture by John Barnes, Jr. This limited edition is made from pressure-treated pine wood and each sculpture measures 73/4"x 31/2" x 4".

John Barnes, Jr., was born on December 2nd, 1971, in Bogalusa, Louisiana. At the age of 4, his parents moved the family to Baton Rouge, the place where John would grow up and develop his artistic vision. Barnes was trained in the public school system, and has said that he feels fortunate to have attended public schools with meaningful art programs. Barnes received a Bachelor of Science degree in Visual Arts from Southern University A & M College in Baton Rouge and a Master of Fine Arts degree, with concentrations in Sculpture and Digital Art, from Memphis College of Fine Arts.

Moving to New Orleans in 1999, Barnes joined Dillard University as an adjunct professor, and is now the Department Chair of Visual Arts at Dillard, where he works to continually enhance the curriculum. Barnes is one of over 80 contemporary visual artists from around the world who were selected to participate in Prospect.1 New Orleans, held November 1, 2008 through January 18, 2009. For this, his first major biennial effort, he created a new body of work consisting of 16 "canoe-home hybrid sculptures" of mixed media construction as a testament to New Orleans' post-Katrina survival and resilience. Barnes has been represented by LeMieux Galleries in New Orleans since 1999 and has exhibited extensively throughout the southern United States.

Artist's statement: "These clones are based on or derived from my most recent body of sculptural work on display at the Contemporary Arts Center for Prospect.1. Each sculpture is a hand-crafted hybrid of a canoe and a house. In this body of work, the "A frame" traditionally seen in a shotgun home functions as a canoe prow in an inverted (or sinking) position. I modified the surfaces of the sculptures to be closed and monolithic, in spite of their small scale. The hand-painted circle on each sculpture is a special link to the CAC Silver Circle members. The pieces reference survival, uncertainty, and a yearning for home (the old New Orleans). As an artist, I want the viewer to consider closely his or her own comfort zones and fragility. I normally don't produce work in editions, and after pushing myself to meet this new challenge, I decided to refer to these objects as clones after I saw them all together."

My Silver Circle edition is actually an introduction to my larger Propect.1 installation in November. For Prospect.1, my intention is to create a large pile of money ($100 bills) made out of photos adhered to wooden blocks resembling bundles of bills. The audience will be invited to participate by purchasing the "money" and carrying it away in silver briefcases from the U.S. Mint. I am happy to provide the Silver Circle members with a special connection to this installation as they will be the first to have their own stack of money especially tailored for them - a stack of $1000 bills."

Join the CAC at these membership levels to receive this limited edition sculpture:

John Barnes, Jr. joins previous Silver Circle sculpture artists Srdjan Loncar, Elizabeth Shannon, Stephan Paul Day, MaP Kinnord-Payton, Mary Jane Parker, Martin Payton, Jeffrey Cook, Allison Stewart, Bernard Mattox, Clifton Webb, Mitchell Gaudet, Mignon Faget, George Dunbar, Gene Koss, Winifred Ross, Christopher Maier, Mario Villa, Arthur Silverman, John T. Scott, and Lin Emery.