Thank You!!

Thank you so much to everyone that participated in last night's silent auction! It was a great success and we appreciate all of your support! I would like to especially thank ALL of the artists, John from the Union Gallery, Amy from amymade.com, Jim from Vestry Wines, Brooklyn Brewery, and to everyone that bid on the work!!

We still have a few more photographs available to purchase. I have listed the details below, along with all of the pieces from each of the 10 artists. Please be sure to VIEW ALL WORK (25 images total), scrolling through "older posts" in the blog. The prints are beautifully rich c-prints, and most are part of limited editions.

Remember 100% of the proceeds will be given to lowernine.org and each purchaser will receive a 501 (c)(3) receipt equal to the amount given. To purchase, or for any comments or questions, please contact me directly at orrie@orrieking.com.

Give the gift of art for the holidays, for yourself, friends, or family - this is a unique opportunity to buy pieces from these nationally recognized artists, from an outstanding collection of work, available at incredibly reasonable auction prices (and did I mention tax deductible?) and for a GREAT cause- we want to sell!!

Press Release, "Rebuilding New Orleans"

In support of the ongoing efforts to rebuild New Orleans, 10 NYC-based artists have been chosen to show their work in the upcoming photography exhibition, “Rebuilding New Orleans”. The photographs in the exhibition share a common directive and yet each artist has managed to take the viewer on a unique, intimate sojourn into the visual details of this culturally diverse city. Individually, the photographs capture singular, fleeting moments in time, both beautiful and haunting, spanning before and after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. Together, they comprise a series, which records the inimitable culture, spirit, charm, strength, and endurance of New Orleans and its residents.
Photographs will be sold to the highest bidders through a silent auction format. Each artist has generously donated their work, with 100% of the proceeds from sales and donations benefiting the non-profit organization lowernine.org. Lowernine.org is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that actively works with community residents to rebuild homes, facilitate access to social services, and create sustainable economic development in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans.

All sales and donations are tax deductible and will be compensated with 501 (c)(3) receipts equal to the amount given. Please pay by check only for all purchases and donations. This is a unique opportunity to buy pieces from these nationally recognized artists and from an outstanding collection of work, particularly at tax-deductible auction prices.

To learn more about lowernine.org please visit their website www.lowernine.org.

The Union Gallery
62 Walker Street
New York, NY 10013
www.theuniongallery.com

Auction: Thursday, December 4th, from 6:30-9pm
Preview Days: December 2nd, 3rd, and 4th, from 10am-6pm

Featured Artists:
Anthony Alvarez
Lani Bouwer
Joshua Bright
Brenda Davis
Orrie King
Todd MacIntire
Mark Murray
Tod Seelie
Carla Shapiro
Alex M. Smith

Show Curated by:
Orrie King

Behind the Fundraiser

I visited New Orleans for the first time this past February. I was invited to document the efforts of some volunteers, accompanying a group of high school students from the Beacon School in NYC. While there, I witnessed the devastation and destruction that Katrina left in it’s path. The impact of seeing these conditions in person, of complete neighborhoods torn apart and abandoned, was chilling. I met people throughout the city, particularly the residents and volunteers working together to rebuild the Lower 9th Ward. Since my return I have been in the process of organizing a fundraiser, featuring photographs of New Orleans, by many well known and established NY artists, due to show at the Union Gallery in the Tribeca neighborhood of NYC on December 4th. The photographs will be sold to the highest bidders, through a silent auction, with all proceeds going to lowernine.org. They are a non-profit group that has based itself there in the neighborhood, working hand and hand with home-owners and residents of the community. The volunteers are working hard and quickly to clean homes (from mold etc.), rewire and rebuild to get people back in, mowing lawns (to show that these homes are not abandoned by choice), hanging the street signs that have not been replaced since the storm, and much more. They are people that have come from all over the country to make a difference where others have left off.

-Orrie King (photographer and curator)

Photographer Anthony Alvarez

Untitled (1) (man with dog), 25"x 30" SOLD









Untitled (2) 25" x 30" $250













ANTHONY ALVAREZ

The French Quarter
Carriage rides and Creole.
Beignets and Hurricanes...
References to the past stay as markers for the future.
People stay, and continue...

www.anthonyalvarezphoto.com

Photographer Lani Bouwer

Perpetual Care 2008
20" x 24" $250



Blue Backboard 2008
20" x 24" $250



Preservation Hall 2008
20" x 24" $250



LANI BOUWER

Three years after the Hurricane hit, I visited New Orleans. The remnants of the destruction, the houses still damaged or destroyed, businesses that will never re-open, and the people living in the tent city right next to the center of town. It was a poignant and moving experience to see the evidence of how our government failed its own people and the trauma still so raw to New Orleans’ people. What amazed me about New Orleans was it’s resilience. People so proud of their city, changed forever but with spirit so strong you could almost breathe it in.

A visit to the street festival was full of color, noise, music, and people out for celebration. Yet the moments I felt the most connected to New Orleans, were the moments when I was alone. The stories were being whispered in my ear as I wandered through old graveyards, read in parks, listened to jazz. The slow decay of old structures caused by time, the vestiges of human touch long past, the sounds that graced the interiors of old buildings long before I was alive. The mystery and hints of times past are what captivated me in New Orleans.


www.lanibouwer.blogspot.com

Photographer Joshua Bright

Airport, 11"x 14", $150



Tough Times, 11"x 14", $150





Star of David, 11"x 14", $150
















JOSHUA BRIGHT

In January of 2008, award winning British photojounalist Joshua Bright accompanied a group of Jewish teenagers, from the Riverdale section of the Bronx, to help in the post Katrina New Orleans cleanup. Their work their included some days of volunteering with lowernine.org.

Three 11"x 14" color c-print photographs depict scenes from their visit: arriving at the airport, recovering a damaged Israeli flag from the mold and dirt left in a synagogue and words of hope in a Kosher New Orleans deli.

www. joshuabright.com

Video Installation by Documentary Film Artist Brenda Davis

Film Still taken from Video Installation










BRENDA DAVIS

The young activists of NY2NO are inspired by the Australian Aboriginal Activist, Lila Watson, who said, ‘If you have come to help me, you are wasting your time, but if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.’

This piece is inspired by the work of NY2NO.

Photographer Orrie King

"Bus, New Orleans 2008"
16"x 20" SOLD






"Street Signs, New Orleans 2008"
16" x 20" SOLD






"Roof, New Orleans 2008"
16" x 20" $250












ORRIE KING

I visited New Orleans for the first time this past February. I was invited to document the ongoing cleanup efforts, accompanying a group of high school students from the Beacon School in NYC. While there, I witnessed the devastation and destruction that Katrina left in its path. The impact of seeing these conditions in person, of complete neighborhoods torn apart and abandoned, was chilling. I met people throughout the city, particularly a group of residents and volunteers working together to rebuild the Lower 9th Ward.

Impressed by the resilience of the people that I met and in support of their ongoing efforts, I present to you the exhibition and fundraiser, “Rebuilding New Orleans”. Together, with 9 other artists whom I have chosen, we will auction our work with 100% of the proceeds from sales benefiting lowernine.org.

They are a group of people that are actively working, making a difference where help is still needed.


-Orrie King (photographer and curator)

www.orrieking.com

Photographer Todd MacIntire

Untitled (Water Damage)
20" x 24" $250





Untitled (family album)
20" x 24" $250






Untitled (Water Damage house)
20" x 24" $250










TODD MACINTIRE

I traveled to New Orleans on one of the first flights after the airport was reopened, almost a month to the day after Hurricane Katrina. I was amazed at how quickly Nature had crept in to take over. The water from the flood was gone, but it had left nearly nothing in the city untouched. The smells were so pungent, and the markings so beautiful. There was definitely an example being make of humanity, and the impermanence that we all seem to forget.

Photographer Mark Murray

Untitled (tits) 2006
8" x 10" SOLD







Untitled (FEMA) 2006
8" x 10" SOLD






MARK MURRAY

I took these photographs in March of 2006. The experience made me feel helpless. I felt that taking pictures wasn't enough, therefore I am now happy that the images can raise money for lowernine.org.

Photographer Tod Seelie

House Puddle 2008
20" x 20" SOLD




Ellery Yard 2008
20" x 20" $250





Bumper Cars 2008
20" x 20" SOLD











TOD SEELIE

I visited New Orleans for the first time since Katrina this past Spring. It was a conglomeration of staying in abandoned houses, second line marches and bouncing between the waterfront and an abandoned amusement park. I found a city of community, random violence, and uncertainty.

www.todseelie.com

Photographer Carla Shapiro

Regrets and Possibilities, New Orleans, Slidell Apartment 2006
20"x 24" $250







Regrets and Possibilities, New Orleans, Lower Ninth Ward, Wardrobe 2006
20"x 24" SOLD









CARLA SHAPIRO

I search for deserted houses that are dilapidated, crumbling, flooded or burned out. Their stillness has a mystery that attracts me, their structure a worn splendor. These buildings have both charisma and decay. I fill rooms with furniture, pictures, and flowers eliminating the emptiness but accentuating the loneliness. I move life and soul into barren rooms, fresh hope into an abandoned house.

I search for vacant structures, move in, set up, and photograph. My furniture creates potential in the barren space, dichotomizes new and old, strong and fragile, protective and dangerous. I have created mementos of what might have been in a former time. We have entered into an era of nostalgia because realities are so disturbing.

I photograph houses that are empty or filled with belongings covered in mud and mildew. There is sadness in what is, and hope in what can change.

www.carlashapiro.com

Photographer Alex M. Smith

Homeless Relief Workers
20" x 24" $250


Lawless High School Gym
20" x 24" SOLD






Vigel, Former 9th Ward resident
20" x 24" SOLD










ALEX M. SMITH

I went to New Orleans about nine months after hurricane Katrina. I really had no idea what to expect in terms of the remaining damage or the state of the people. Was I in America? Nearly a whole year had gone by and it appeared that the hurricane had occurred just a few days ago. There had been no visible effort to fix things. Aside from the few people working on their homes or others trying to turn a profit off of rusty metal they had stripped from cars, the ninth ward was completely deserted. Many rumors had surfaced of the city taking the land and re-selling it, but despite this, the majority of the people I encountered were set on staying. The people I met in New Orleans had a certain bond and pride that I have yet to come across again in my life.

www.asisfoto.com