Art has been rooted in concepts like “home” and “ancestry” for millenia. Yet it was a surprise when the current cohort of Great Rivers Biennial awardees recognized those throughlines in their respective works.
A collaboration between the Gateway Foundation and the Contemporary Art Museum, the Great Rivers Biennial initiative, now in its 11th season, is meant to provide three emerging and mid-career artists from the St. Louis area grant funding – $20,000 each – and six months of exhibition space at the museum for their creations.
For Ronald Young, who has spent much of his 33-year career as a painter, it was an opportunity to share a different side of his practice: sculpture.
![“[Sculpture] is a more recent development. This body of work I’m creating now is [from] the last eight to ten years,” Ronald Young said.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/b418742/2147483647/strip/true/crop/8192x5464+0+0/resize/840x560!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fc3%2F6e%2F05cc46ae4491a46cf145057e9d8d%2Fcam-fw24-grb-ronald-young-0078.jpg)
Young’s sculptures utilize reclaimed materials from disused and abandoned buildings, mostly from St. Louis’ north side where there is an abundance of neglected infrastructure. He told St. Louis on the Air that, in a way, the items call out to him.
“It's really a process of elimination. A lot of it is just me trusting my instinct. I ride through the neighborhood. I'll see certain objects. In the beginning I was just gathering things, but now it's very specific,” Young said, “[Like] bricks, any type of hardware that appears to be unusual, [or] wood already burnt from the buildings that I find them in.”
This year’s Great Rivers Biennial artists also include Basil Kincaid, whose textile works encompass massive quilts with elaborate embroidery and beading made of fabric from St. Louis and Ghana; and Saj Issa, a painter, ceramicist and video producer who makes art that connects her homes in St. Louis and Ramallah, in the West Bank.
Right: Saj Issa’s “If I Don’t Take It, Someone Else Will” (2024)
Contemporary Art Museum chief curator Dean Daderko said a theme related to home emerged organically in this biennial’s show.
“It was a very welcome part of the exhibition. Over the course of the year that we worked with Basil, Ron and Saj, [we] really started to see a lot of [that] emerge,” Daderko said.
Young, who and created art in St. Louis and on the East Coast, said his pieces and the works of his fellow biennial awardees “play off each other.”
“It's almost like a jazz improvisation. One musician plays something, and then the other musician responds to it, and then they come back together and improvise, then they do a solo. It’s that type of flow between each gallery, each piece. I couldn't wait to see our work together,” he said. “It has really been a process that's been very enjoyable. To see all our work together in the space … it’s really good.”
For more on this year’s Great Rivers Biennial exhibition at the Contemporary Art Museum and how Ronald Young combines West African culture and St. Louis architecture to create life-size creations, listen to St. Louis on the Air on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube or click the play button below.
Related Event
What: Great Rivers Biennial 2024
When: Until Feb. 9
Where: Contemporary Art Museum (3750 Washington Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63108)
“St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by Miya Norfleet, Emily Woodbury, Danny Wicentowski, Elaine Cha and Alex Heuer. Jada Jones is our production assistant. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr.
