Current Exhibition

Maxx Sizeler: Sliver By The River 100 feet down (Illuvial Project)

Exhibition Dates: October 11 – November 2, 2025

Opening Reception: Saturday, October 11, 6-9pm 

Gallery hours are Saturdays and Sundays, 12-5 pm, except for Second Saturdays when hours are 6-9 pm.

Illuvial and alluvial deposits under our feet are the foundation of our existence here in southern Louisiana. New Orleans would not be on this fertile land if the Mississippi River had not overflowed its banks freely for 7,000 years. Through settlement and development, this delta landscape of illuvial deposits has been robbed of nutrients in the name of economic progress. The list of destruction and pollution is long and ongoing: from harvesting the cypress forests that preserved and protected the coast and marsh; damming off the Mississippi River to tame its overflowing; dredging hundreds of canals throughout the marsh; constructing pipelines; extracting oil and gas; to lining the banks of the river with chemical plants and oil refineries. We have taken some of the most beautiful and fertile land on the planet and polluted and degraded much of it.

This work is constructed from illuvial clay borings collected from a construction site in uptown New Orleans. (Drill boring involves drilling into the ground, in this case with a 4” pipe, to assess soil quality. This is performed, in our soft landscape, to determine what kind of pilings to use in the foundation of a building). The test borings in this project document what’s in the ground from the surface to one hundred feet below. The clay is distinctly different at different levels. Some of the borings have been preserved, in found condition, by drying and bisque firing using a primitive method. Some of the clay borings have been rehydrated and constructed into kitschy tourist-ashtrays. The ashtray represents the trashing of our environment; the pieces resemble artifacts and fake Native American pottery shards. The work also includes objects made from reclaimed cypress, the trees of the native landscape.

Maxx Sizeler (he/him), visual artist of many media and fine woodworker, received an MFA from The University of New Orleans 2001, a BFA from Parsons School of Design New York 1988, and attended Parsons at the American College in Paris 1986. Maxx’s work reflects his interest in a wide variety of subjects including an on going exploration of subject matters close to his heart: living between the gender binaries, New Orleans history, and social justice issues. Present works include installations: Head Start (1949-2018 Mass-Shooting Project) and Sliver By The River 100 feet down (Illuvial Project).

Connections: Staple Goods 10th Anniversary Exhibition Catalog

Exhibition catalog commemorates the collective’s 10th anniversary exhibition, Connections (May 2021), and is available for $5.

Text by Amy Mackie. Book Design by Tiffany Lin. Printed at Paper Machine. Curated by Laura Richens.

Participating Artists: Minka/Thomasine, Aaron Collier, Robyn Denny, William DePauw, Abe Geasland, Daniel Kelly IV, Kristina Knipe, J Knoblach, Norah Lovell, Kaori Maeyama, Anne Nelson, Jack Niven, Laura Richens, Cynthia Scott, Sadie Sheldon, Lorna Williams