Jose Torres Tama is multi-disciplinary artist based in New Orleans Louisiana. The Ogden is proud to have several of his works on paper in the permanent collection. Currently, a catalogue documenting his exhibition New Orleans' Free People of Color & Their Legacy is under construction through the Ogden for release this summer. It will include images of his pastel portraits of New Orleans' les gens de couleur libres, considered the first multiracial people in the United States, borne of a mixing between the African, French, Spanish, and native races of Louisiana. The text, written by Keith Weldon Medley, explains the accomplishments of the Free People of Color to the development of New Orleans and the nation.
Jose Torres Tama is currently touring the United Kingdom with two original performance works, The Cone of Uncertainty and Lower 9th Ward Ritual of Mourning. The Cone of Uncertainty debuted in London on Friday, May 8, as part of Tama's residency at Roehampton University. Jose and his work have found a rapt audience in London, and Jose has taken to signing his emails "El Juan Bond from her Majesty's Secret Salsa Service with a license to transport subversive performances across international waters."
Top: Ode to Edmund Dede, 2002, Collection of Ogden Museum.
Bottom: Jose Performs in Goldring Hall, 2008. Photo by David Houston.
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