Artwork from a New Orleans native celebrating the tradition of HBCU marching bands opens soon at Dover’s Biggs Museum of American Art.
The exhibition, called “Battle of the Bands,” portrays 15 southern HBCU bands, including Howard, Grambling, and Florida A&M. Each band is featured in a large mixed media work, says Biggs Museum Chief Curator Laura Fravel.
2023
Acrylic, marker and patterned paper on paper
24 x 18 inches
© Keith Duncan
“15 of those pieces are over 10 feet wide," she says. "They are huge. They are painted on fabric. They have collaged elements, but they focus on the pageantry of the marching band.”
She says the parge works put the viewer in the center of the spectacle.
“When you stand in front of these, you feel like you're enveloped in the action," she says. "You are part of it. You see figures coming from all directions, and they are brightly colored.”
The exhibition also presents portrayals of the drum majors.
“And for Keith Duncan, the artist, this is really the star performer," says Fravel. "He grew up loving comic books, loving that feeling of the exaggerated action of the moment, where you can tell how a figure is moving.”
The exhibition opens on September 4, with a reception on September 11. The museum also plans two special events in October for middle and high school musicians.
