ICA installation explores Richmond's burning in 1865
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Deo Vindice (Orion's Cabinet) at ICA. Photo: Karri Peifer/Axios
A new immersive sculptural installation that explores the burning of Richmond at the end of the Civil War opens Friday at the Institute for Contemporary Art.
Why it matters: The piece was commissioned by L.A.'s Museum of Contemporary Art for its "Monuments" exhibition, which opened last year and included the toppled statue of Jefferson Davis that loomed over Monument Avenue for 100 years.
State of play: The installation at ICA, "Deo Vindice (Orion's Cabinet)," is from New York-based artist Abigail DeVille.
- DeVille was inspired by the photographs of Richmond burning in April 1865, blazes that were set by Confederate soldiers when it became clear the Union Army would take the city (and it did, days later).
- The Confederate-set fires reduced much of the city to ashes; and as soon as she saw it nearly 3,000 miles away in Los Angeles, ICA senior curator Amber Esseiva knew she needed to bring it here, she tells Axios.
Zoom in: As an artist, DeVille, whose family history can be traced to Richmond, focuses on Black American histories that have been overlooked, Esseiva tells Axios.
- With "Deo Vindice," she uses Colonial-style curio cabinets, arranged to mimic the Orion constellation, to explore the legacy of the Lost Cause — the revisionists myths that sprang up in the decades following the Civil War.
- With lighting, charred cabinets and torn strips of fabric, the installation invites viewers to consider the myths that helped shape Richmond, literally and metaphorically.
- A second DeVille work in the back of the gallery, "Black Hole Chapel," plays a chorus of audio recordings of Black voices, making the entire installation a powerful, sensory experience for visitors.
Also opening Friday at ICA, Pond Theater, a floating, spinning public art piece on a pond behind the museum.
- The theater will host performances and events through Nov. 29.
- When it's not, locals can sit on it and hang.
If you go: "Deo Vindice" and "Black Hole Chapel" open Friday and runs through Aug. 18. Pond Theater runs through Nov. 29.
- There will be an opening reception with a DJ and food and drink from 5-9pm.
- DeVille will be in town and at the ICA on Juneteenth for a Black history performance and event.
- Admission to the ICA, at the corner of Broad and Belvidere, is free.