Mound City Chronicle

Mound City Chronicle

by Jason Gray

Exhibition Dates: December 2024 to December 2025

Location: Post-Security, near gates E34 and 36

Mound City Chronicle is more than a series of images of St. Louis. It is testament to a path made through the city at a particular moment in time; a path the artist took to investigate his place and impact here and the history of those things, noting that like the Mississippi River, cultural forces claim, carve away, and redefine. Made over a decade of exploring and photographing people and places, these images tell the story of a journey that includes lost and found subterranean lakes and caves, sites removed from public view (due to security, secrecy, or both), neighborhoods with buildings crumbling in ruin or standing in stately grace, and the vibrant and varied people encountered in all these places. The artist himself is very much in the photographs, too. Gray calls Mound City Chronicle post-documentary work, perpetuated by his own decision making of where to point and when to click—a journey with no clear destination and many side roads. He reminds us that this is not a usual telling. For just as the aboriginal mounds of “Mound City” are all but gone, so will be many of the places and people photographed. Like a dream, only their impressions will remain.