Le’Andra LeSeur and Anna Parisi: Bearing Witness

Mitzi and Warren Eisenberg Gallery
February 23, 2024–May 24, 2024

This exhibition of works by Le’Andra LeSeur and Anna Parisi examines the act of bearing witness to oppressive and debilitating systems, particularly those faced by women of color. LeSeur and Parisi, recipients of Gallery Aferro’s Lynn and John Kearney Fellowship for Equity, address themes of Blackness, gender, and self-representation. Both artists reclaim lens-based media to dismantle stereotypes and interrogate power structures while creating a space for reflection and healing.

LeSeur is an interdisciplinary artist who explores the experience of invisibility and debility as a Black queer woman. LeSeur’s two single-channel videos on view in this exhibition incorporate the artist’s body and voice to reflect on themes of Black grief and joy. The video In Reverence (An Honoring) (2018) features open palms reaching upward against a blue sky in an act of hope. In the video Grief is a burden we carry without consent (2021), the artist’s arm, accompanied by her spoken words, is the protagonist, expressing tenderness that emerges amid moments of pain.

Parisi is an Afro-Brazilian interdisciplinary artist who reveals the enormous strength required to resist systemic injustices through their sculptures, videos, collages, and endurance-related performances. In their video Caught in the Act (2020), they portray the utopian interaction of two women who are bound by a rope yet separated by their life experiences. Parisi juxtaposes racialized bodies, embodying both the violence and enduring legacy of slavery, ultimately fostering a narrative of mutual accountability.

In the face of traumatic experiences and oppressive systems, LeSeur and Parisi bring beauty, empathy, and healing to bear in their practice. Together, the works in this exhibition celebrate Blackness while offering visions for liberation and transcendence.

Anna Parisi, Caught in the Act, 2020, video still. Courtesy of the artist.