Keith Sonnier
Chacahoula

Museum

1997
Existing artwork from the Zumtobel Collection

The artwork is a graphic composition of various coloured, curved neon lines and empty, unlabelled tin cans as well as plug connections, cables and a transformer.

The title ‘Chacahoula’ presumably refers to the river ‘Chacahoula Bayou’. Keith Sonnier has developed a series of works that refer to places and landscapes in Lousiana - such as the swamps of the Atchafalaya Basin, the areas inhabited by the Okalousa Indians or the parish of Ouachita Parish.

The large-format drawing can be read as a snapshot of Louisiana's esprit, in which indigenous and African, French and Spanish influences meet. Colours and shapes stand for the attitude to life that is expressed in jazz, zydeco, blues and Cajun, as well as in the masks and costumes of Mardi Gras, a variant of carnival.