Project Statement:
SE Raleigh used to be one of the African American neighborhoods in Raleigh, North Carolina. The neighborhood is currently in the process of being gentrified. Long-term residents can no longer afford to pay the rising property taxes or rents, and are forced to sell their houses and move away. Younger, more affluent and predominantly white people buy the houses, renovate them and change the face of the neighborhood completely.
Artist Bio:
Gesche Würfel is a contemporary visual artist based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Würfel’s background in urban planning and visual sociology informs her work, which explores the social and political implications of spatial processes by challenging notions of geography, history, race, class and gender. Würfel’s work has been exhibited, published and awarded internationally. Most recently, she has had solo exhibitions of her Oppressive Architecture project at the Contemporary Art Museum (CAM) in Raleigh, North Carolina, and at the Heavy Load-Bearing Body (Schwerbelastungskörper) in Berlin, Germany. Würfel was named as the Juror’s Pick for the LensCulture Emerging Talent Awards 2016.
