~DUKE RILEY LANDS IN OHIO !!
DUKE RILEY – ‘An Invitation to Lubber Land’, 2010/FILM STILL/COURTESY & COPYRIGHT: DUKE RILEY
. . . island of Manhattan aside – if you happen to be the mid-west – here’s the opening to make !!
‘DUKE RILEY: AN INVITATION TO LUBBER LAND’ – OPENS TO-NITE – FRI SEPT 10, 2010 / 7-10 PM
On View September 10th, 2010 thru January 9th, 2011
MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART CLEVELAND
8501 Carnegie Avenue, Cleveland, OHIO.
note: there will be an ARTIST TALK – with DUKE RILEY – ‘CIGARETTE TREES & OTHER HOBO FANTASIES’ – at the start of tonight’s opening – 7 PM.
you can read more about the exhibit: here !!
. . . but here are some of the most pertinent & colorful details, that Duke sent along . . . quote:
HISTORY:
Buried beneath the city of Cleveland is a prehistoric river known as Kingsbury Run. Before it was re-routed underground, itinerant workers made their home along its banks. During the depression of the 1890s, a “tramp census” conducted by John McCook indicated 6% of the population of the United States were itinerant. At that time Cleveland was regarded as a “hobos’ paradise” because of the gracious handouts itinerants would receive, and lenient treatment by the city’s police.
During the Great Depression of the 1930s the itinerant population swelled to 30%, and the Kingsbury Run grew into a sprawling shantytown. However, a series of gruesome murders occurred along the Run, targeting the hobos. As a band-aid solution to stop the serial killings, the police department arrested and displaced the population, burning the neighborhood to the ground.
PROJECT:
Today, itinerant cultures both nationally and globally are being marginalized to the brink of extinction. The hobo census, a once respected barometer for the American economy is now obsolete.
Motivated by our current economic climate, I traveled the country by freight train, attempting to re-conduct McCook’s census, ultimately returning to Cleveland. By infiltrating the sewer system. I regained access to the forgotten Kingsbury Run. In search of the lost “hobos’ paradise” I followed the Run, beneath the streets of Cleveland to its headwater.