One night after the Richmond Police shot tear gas into a peaceful crowd gathered around the Lee Monument, which has been dubbed the Marcus-David Peters Circle, the statue’s pedestal was lit up with images of Black men and women killed by police across the country.
The projections were the work of local artists Dustin Klein and Alex Criqui, who say they made a spontaneous decision to portray the victims of police violence. “We spent the last five months out there,” Criqui said. “Two months straight every night projecting onto the Robert E. Lee monument.”
Last night's protest ended with a projection show on the Lee Monument - images of the faces of Black Americans killed by the police appeared, under "BLM" (Black Lives Matter) and "No Justice No Peace." pic.twitter.com/a6QnefYkeR
— VPM (@myVPM) June 4, 2020
Now the two, along with painters Miguel Carter-Fisher and Josh Zarambo, are debuting a new work inspired by this year’s protests for racial justice, titled "Marcus-David Peters Circle." Carter-Fisher, who also teaches at Virginia State University, said it was a collaborative process. “None of us individually could have predicted what the final result was gonna be, and there’s something very organic and exciting about that,” he said.
In the end, Criqui says they owe a debt to the activists and protesters who transformed Marcus- David Peters Circle: “We couldn’t do what we do if those people hadn’t reclaimed that space.”
The work, a monumental 11-foot canvas with animated elements, is part of the 1708 Gallery’s InLight exhibition, and will be shown at the Randolph Community center from 7-11 pm through November 15.
