sofagallery:

March 8-April 5, 2009
Otis Lucas

The collaborative artist duo, Otis Lucas (Patrick Xavier Bresnan and Ivete Lucas), documents in a multitude of media the recuperative efforts to rebuild a community after the devastation of catastrophe.  The artists spent a month in Cameron, Louisiana working with the Mennonite Disaster Service to rebuild homes for victims of Hurricane Ike. The photographs, sound pieces, and videos detail with startling frankness the post-disaster landscape, and provide an intimate view into a Mennonite community of rebuilding volunteers.

A comprehensive installation of their efforts is on display in the gallery. Many of the works show the activities of the old order Mennonites, a religious sect that traditionally shuns photography. The artists show this community at work and at play—dealing cards, wielding hammers on the job site, and praying.  A central motif of the exhibition is that of the kitchen. While Patrick directed the building activity, Ivete cooked three meals a day for the volunteers.  Kitchen, in this context, acts as the site of the recovery process, both through the sustenance that food provides, and the community that sharing a meal creates.

Patrick Bresnan ( Otis Ike) is most noted as a roving builder, photographer and video maker living and traveling in a Volkswagen RV with two dogs, 6 cameras, tools and an archive of Art Bell radio programs. He has exhibited at Art Slant in Madrid, Spain and was the installation builder for several works by Barry McGee and Clare Rojas. He now resides in Austin, TX.

Ivete Lucas, born in Brazil, is a photographer and filmmaker who moved to Austin from Monterrey, Mexico. In 2007 she was awarded a grant by the Mexican Film Institute (IMCINE) to produce and co-direct her first short film, Asthma, an amalgamation of moments in the lives of the tenants of a beat up apartment building. She is currently working on a documentary with Bresnan on Vietnam War reenactors. She will be attending the Radio, Television, and Film graduate program at UT in the fall.

artist’s website.