An exhibition at the center of the art world starts and ends with New Orleans.
Earlier this month, Big Chief Demond Melancon kicked off the Venice Biennale in Italy, arguably the contemporary art world’s most important exhibition, with beads, plumes and song. Wearing a grand, chartreuse suit, Melancon and members of the Young Seminole Hunters from the Lower 9th Ward beat tambourines.
Titled “Blessing the Ancestors,” the performance helped launch the exhibition and its theme, “In Minor Keys,” in early May, where he was one of two New Orleans artists featured in the prestigious central group show…