Detroit Red
Rice University's Semi- Permanent Structures for Moody Center of the Arts.
Public Art Installation
Fall, 2020
Photo Credits: Nash Baker
“In response to discussions with student leaders at Rice University, Houston-based visual artist Jasmine Zelaya has created a work reflecting the diversity of the Rice campus and the value of community during the current pandemic.
As the daughter of Honduran immigrants, Zelaya’s work often explores themes of race, gender, identity and commonality across difference. In this painting, which has been digitally transferred to vinyl, two figures stand arm in arm in a gesture of friendship and connectivity at a moment when COVID-19 has necessarily limited human contact. Petals adorn the hair and faces of the figures, and pink blossoms populate the background. This motif is both universal, a symbol of growth and renewal, and personal, since all the women in Zelaya’s family are named after flowers. Acting as visual metaphors for matriarchal figures, these organic forms indicate the centrality of familial narratives to our lives.
The title Detroit Red refers to the nickname given to Malcom X as a young man, inspired by the red tint of his hair. It alludes to each young person’s potential, regardless of their circumstances, to positively impact history.
Jasmine Zelaya (b. 1983, Houston, TX) received her BFA in Painting from the Kansas City Art Institute in 2006. In 2008, she was awarded a residency through the Charlotte Street Foundation’s Urban Culture Project, in Kansas City, Missouri where she also created and facilitated art programming for young people. Based in Houston, Zelaya’s work has been featured in numerous public exhibitions, including Houston’s HUE Mural Festival, Project Row Houses, and Discovery Green’s House of Cards installation.
This installation is made possible by the Leslie and Brad Bucher Artist Residency Endowment, in support of artists who create site-specific works for Rice University."
Text by Allison Weaver, founding executive director of Rice University's Moody Center for the Arts.