AFTER STONE, AFTER RUINS (NOTATION 1)
February 5th - March 5th 2026
A Solo Show
Opening Reception: Thursday, February 5th 6-9 pm
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Cleo the Project Space in collaboration with Atlanta Center for Photography and Swivel Gallery is pleased to present After Stone, After Ruins, the newest body of work from Le’Andra LeSeur:
“In recent years, I have become increasingly interested in exploring the body’s response to sites of historical violence across the U.S.—both those that serve as catalysts for violent acts and those where such acts have occurred. What continues to move me is not only the depth of information that remains unavailable at these sites but also the limitations of the narratives that do exist, often restricting how these histories are acknowledged and honored.
With my work, I seek to uncover the traces left behind at these sites, guided by the understanding that absence is never truly empty.
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At Dunbar Creek, where the Igbo people refused enslavement, choosing death in a collective act of defiance and freedom, the water leaves behind a haunting void that echoes in the quiet waters of Ebenezer Creek, where hundreds of recently freed Black people were abandoned to drown during Sherman’s March to the Sea. Binding these histories is a shared current of loss amidst the promise of freedom.
These waterways, bound by both geography and spirit, extend further to the historic Baptism trail in Riceboro, GA, where faith and survival have long been intertwined. Through these connections, I’ve come to believe that while water bears the weight of this violence, it also carries the capacity to heal, hold, and renew.
Throughout my practice, I have sought to reckon with histories that persist unseen within the land itself, questioning how emptiness is measured—not just physically, but spiritually. This inquiry opens space to consider how historical violence, silencing, and erasure shape our mental and physical presence, ultimately influencing our perception of space and our collective memory. In acknowledging these imprints, I am interested in how practices of repair can reframe these perceptions, generating possibilities for reconciliation and a sense of renewed understanding.
This work will evolve throughout three iterations and reference artistic interventions to land such as Beverly Buchanan’s Marsh Ruins, Nancy Holt’s Stone Ruin Tour, and Stanley Brouwn’s How Empty is This Space?.”
Join us at Cleo for the first iteration of this showcase: After Stone, After Ruins (Notation 1) opening on February 5th 2026. This opening will mark the end of a three week pilgrimage and research trip around coastal Georgia visiting sites and gathering archival material and testimony to be displayed in the gallery tracing LeSeur’s route of investigation. Two additional exhibitions will follow, further reflecting this study through new print and sculptural works: at Atlanta Center for Photography from February 12–April 18, and at Swivel Gallery from May 6–June 6.
Le’Andra LeSeur is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice spans video, installation, photography, painting, and performance. LeSeur’s practice is rooted in an ongoing pursuit of liberation—examining how repetition and ritual become pathways to reclaiming space, visibility, and agency. Grounded in personal experience yet resonating on a broader scale, her work honors Blackness, queerness, and femininity while critically examining the societal structures that seek to suppress and silence these identities. Through the presence of her body and voice, LeSeur crafts immersive experiences that disrupt perceptions and resist imposed narratives encouraging audiences to engage in deep reflection and recognition around themes of identity, collective memory, and the duality of grief and joy.
The artist has received several notable awards, including the Tulsa Artist Fellowship (2024), Leslie-Lohman Museum Artists Fellowship (2019), the Time-Based Medium Prize as well as the Juried Grand Prize at Artprize 10 (2018). LeSeur has appeared in conversation with Marilyn Minter at the Brooklyn Museum, presented by the Tory Burch Foundation, and has lectured at The New School, NY, NY, and the University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA, among others. Her work has been shown in solo and group exhibitions at Pioneer Works, Brooklyn, NY; MFA Boston, Boston, MA; The Shed, New York, NY; Atlanta Contemporary, Atlanta, GA; A.I.R. Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, and others. Residencies include Pioneer Works, iLab at The University of the Arts, Visual Studies Workshop, ArcAthens, NARS Foundation, Marble House Project, and MASS MoCA. Her work is in the Whitney Museum of American Art collection.
@ellechien