Ernest A. Bryant III -- For Rent
February 16, 2008 - March 20, 2008

Midway Contemporary Art is pleased to announce the opening of For Rent, a solo exhibition by the Minneapolis-based artist Ernest Bryant. Opening to the public on February 16th and running through March 22nd, there will be an opening reception this Saturday from 7PM to 9PM. In this exhibition, Bryant will be presenting a series of new works on paper, a video, and a shrine-like re-staging of the backdrop of a famous photograph that featured Huey P. Newton, co-founder and minister of defense for the Black Panther Party.

Bryant will also be presenting a special winter version of his Chicken Party Flight Jacket – Potlatch III. This will be the third in a series of exchanges between Bryant and the public, in which the artist grills chicken that is offered to the viewer with the agreement that recipients return the bones to the artist for his use in fabricating a ritualistic flight jacket that he has been making over the past year. In conjunction with the chicken potlatch, Bryant will also be screening a montage of video including concert footage of Jim Hendrix and Thelonious Monk, Looney Tunes cartoons, and two feature length films Ghetto and Throne of Blood. The potlatch will start at 8:30pm and run into the night in conjunction with the exhibition.

Ernest Bryant lives and works in Minneapolis. Over the past few years, he has participated in group exhibitions at the Soap Factory, Minneapolis; the Minnesota Museum of American Art, St. Paul; Intermedia Arts, Minneapolis; and at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Minneapolis. He has also had solo exhibitions with Franklin Art Works, Minneapolis; Juxtaposition Arts, Minneapolis; and Acadia Café, Minneapolis. He recently was awarded the Bush Foundation fellowship and the Jerome Fellowship.