NEW ORLEANS MUSEUMS AND ARTS

MOVING PICTURES - NOMA presents the kinetic sculpture and prints of John Scott

New Orleans sculptor John T. Scott is inspired by the interplay of African beats and western harmonics in jazz music. The music as part of the historical continuum of African American culture, he says. That cultural intersection is also inspires his often bright and moving works of art.

“The visual continuum was broken when we came here,” Scott says. “But the music stayed around and it is a role model for visual art.”

He has used this model to produce vibrant and energetic contemporary art since the 1960’s. Circle Dance: John T. Scott Retrospective, opening at the New Orleans Museum of Art, surveys his style and his spiritual, musical and political influences.

He uses bright colors and large circles, and arcing lines in everything from his sculptures to his screen prints. His work is modern and sleek. His sculptures keep the viewer’s eyes moving, looking at the piece in different ways to be sure to get everything. Scott calls his style of thinking “spherical.” This thinking allows him to see relationships between all things. His signature kinetic sculptures seen in this exhibit and around the city balance pieces like in a mobile, with waves gently rising and falling against the shore.

The exhibit includes colorful multi-layered prints, sculptures and sketch books representing his creative journey. The exhibit is divided into four parts: Evidence, Quadrille, John de Conqueror and Sites/Sources and will be the most comprehensive showing of his work to date. Also included is a taped conversation with local jazz legend Ellis Marsalis.

The name of the show Circle Dance refers to African, Caribbean and local performances for entertainment and sacred ritual during slavery. “My work starts with who I am but it addresses things that concern all cultures,” Scott says.

Exposure to the city’s music and its legacy has inspired his work.

“The most powerful things in [jazz musicians] music in the silence between notes. In my kinetic work there’s an awful lot of space, and I play on shifting movement of that space.”

Scott’s work appears in public installations around the city. Those who don’t make it to the museum will still likely be touched by some of his kinetic style in the prominent display of pieces like “Ocean Song” at Woldenberg Park at the riverfront.

Opening May 7 at New Orleans Museum of Art. City Park off Esplanade Avenue 504-488-2631.