VIVA NOLA April 2020

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Viva NOLA Magazine - Page 16
Brandan“BMike”OdumsBy AnaMaria Bech@anamabech‘Brandan is out painting” is what Iheard upon arriving at Studio Be inthe Bywater area of New Orleans foran interview with the artist himself. Ichecked my email, and, in fact, I hadmissed the update that instructed meto meet Brandan at 401 N. Romanstreet. We headed his way duringschool rush hour, hoping not to be toolate for the 4 p.m. appointment. In mymind, I imagined arriving at the locationand pulling Odums away from hisentourage during the painting session.As I got out of the traffic jam, I arrivedat the quiet street and saw the hugemural with sketches of various people,and only about 5% of the wall was fullydone. Brandan “BMike” Odums was byhimself, propped on a lift, iPad in onehand, spray can in the other, music isplaying. It was a beautiful spring day,but a feeling of uncertainty sweptthrough the community as the newsabout the spread of COVID-19 in ourcity was breaking. At this point, it wasbusiness as usual and Odums’ officefor the day felt pleasant with perfectwarm weather and even light. Hewas hoping to make progress on analready overdue project. This was thethird of my brief encounters with theartist. However, this was the only timeI actually got to see him in his elementcreating art.Odums got down from the lift togreet the photographer and I. Justthen, a black jeep drove by, blew thehorn, only to slow down and park. Thedriver was Charlie Vaughn, Odums’sfriend and an art teacher from a nearbyschool who came by to analyze histechnique and ask him some questions.While we were getting ready to takeOdums’ pictures, we talked brieflyabout his trajectory, about some ofthe press I’ve read about him, and howmuch coverage his work has received.We discussed the “illegality” of his initialworks at the Florida projects whenOdums’ art was considered defiant andforbidden. We mentioned we had beenpreviously introduced by a friend incommon during his massive Exhibit Be,an incredible display he had done inAlgiers some years ago. He immediatelystarted praising our mutual friendPerez, telling us how he made animpact on his life, saying, “he was oneof the first video professionals that“Systemic racism canbe tackled throughartwork”reached out to me about 2 Cent andtold me what we were doing was dope.”Odums explained he was workingon the last mural that needed to becompleted for the commission ofthe city of New Orleans during itstricentennial celebrated from February2018 for the whole year. He laughed,explaining he had been traveling alot, and that when he is in town he ispulled in many directions, includingthe school tours at his Studio Be onRoyal Street. While we talked about themural, cars passed by and beeped athim. A couple of girls in one car giggled,waved at him, and even looked a bitstarstruck. People greeted him, yelledpraising words, stopped and admiredthe mural before moving on. “This ispart of the process,” he says. This isanother reason why it takes him longerto paint in New Orleans. It’s quitedifferent when he goes out of townto paint because he can fully dedicatehimself to that creation free of manydistractions. Of course, there are afew interruptions but he can remainfocused on his masterpiece. At home,he is a staple of the community andhas to take care of business matterswhile people stop by to greet him andtalk to him. Naturally, he doesn’t mindthese interactions with the people andthe neighborhood as it provides him anopportunity to explain all the layers ofthe final piece. Educating the public isvery much part of his mission, and, ashe puts it, “that relationship betweenaudience is needed for sustainability.”For this mural, the city bestowed uponhim a complete artistic license, fromchoosing the location to creating thepiece.There is a lot of research thatgoes behind the work. It is a verycollaborative process. One locationhe scouted turned out to be theperfect setting when he learned thislocation was an important gatheringspot known as The Coliseum Arena.Here, boxing matches and other typesof gatherings took place, includingCivil Rights reunions with importantfigures such as Dr. Martin Luther KingJr., and Ella Fitzgerald, among manyothers. “Friends have found newspaperarticles, pictures, and all kinds ofinformation about this place,” saysOdums, indicating that the processinvolves community members whodevelop an interest in researchingthe history, which makes the artworkvery relevant. Friends also contributeby finding people and sending their
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