Charles Beau Hoffacker | Past Works

Pitcha This Ya Heard?

This body of work, is a unique perspective on the victims and perpetrators of gun violence in New Orleans. The works are paintings of photographs from social media accounts of various perpetrators and potential victims of gun crimes. The "paint" for lack of a better term was made by adding atomized copper and or brass powder, as well as studio made gunpowder to a vehicle (acrylic medium). Much like renaissance painters made their own paint, the same was done with unconventional materials that would normally be used in bullet production. Crafting in an unprecedented medium was difficult, frustrating, and time consuming; it was not without a serendipitous learning curve. Once the paintings had dried, they slowly began to weep a clear oil which crawled down subject’s faces. Was it reminiscent of blood, tears, something else? These drippings were left as an ode to the chaotic nature of both the work and subject matter. Try as one may, one cannot control the aggression in our city much like the tears that it causes. But the issues of race, crime, and social standing are also uncomfortable to deal with. In that way, the medium reflects the task of solving the problem of the epidemic amount of violence the city of New Orleans endures every day. These are the images that the subjects CHOSE to use. They are not portrayed in a negative or positive light. They are simply images that they wanted to be represented by. These paintings reflect a genuine side of our city which is too often ignored. It is not celebratory and it is a side of our culture that is often hard to acknowledge despite its authenticity. It is the artists desire to encourage a conversation about issues of crime, social standing and violence, which affect the citizens of our city on a daily basis.