Cree Multi-disciplinary Artist
Kent Monkman, Resurgence of the People. 2019. Acrylic on canvas. 132 x 264 inches. Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Two-Spirit Acts by
In this collection of short but powerful two-spirit plays, characters dispel conventional notions of gender and sexuality while celebrating Indigenous understandings. With a refreshing spin, the plays touch on topics of desire, identity, and community as they humorously tackle the colonial misunderstandings of Indigenous people. From a female trickster story centred on erotic lesbian tales to the farcical story about a new nation of Indigenous people called the Nation of Mischief, this collection creates a space to explore what it means to be queer and Indigenous.
A Coyote Columbus Story by
Coyote loves to play ball, but Christopher Columbus is too busy looking for India and for something that will make him rich and famous.
Cowichan and Syilx Painter
Challenging Traditions by
In the past few decades, contemporary Native American artists of the Northwest Coast have made a name for themselves as among the most dynamic and important artists working in North America. Challenging Traditions celebrates this success by presenting the work of forty top living artists whose works highlight the exciting combination of contemporary vitality and traditional roots. For more than a century, Native Americans were actively discouraged from pursuing their traditional cultures by both the church and state, but they persisted in keeping alive their arts and ceremonies. With the rise of cultural and political activism, Native art is now flourishing on an unprecedented scale. Many artists are examining the meaning and purpose of Native American art in the twenty-first century, while following traditions and boldly experimenting with innovative subjects, techniques, and materials. Ian Thom explores these contradictions by describing the career, working methods, and philosophy of each artist, all of whom he interviewed especially for this book. He also discusses at least two significant recent works by each artist. Both senior and younger artists from the Northwest Coast are featured, working in a variety of media and styles: groundbreaking abstract painting and metal sculpture, painstaking woven spruce root hats and ceremonial woolen robes, works in glass, masks, carved panels, painted drums, striking political paintings, "Haida manga," jewelry, carved argillite works, and bentwood boxes. This book is a beautiful, provocative introduction to contemporary Native American art of the Northwest Coast, in the words and works of some of its leading lights. Among the artists and their work are: --Robert Davidson (Haida) --Alano Edzerz (Tahltan) --Preston Singletary (Tlingit) --Dempsey Bob (Tahltan-Tlingit) --Beau Dick (Kwakwaka'wakw) --Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun (Coast Salish) --Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas (Haida) --Shawn Hunt (Heiltsuk) --Jay Simeon (Haida)
Kiowa Photographer
Horace Poolaw. Robert "Corky" and Linda Poolaw (Kiowa/Delaware), dressed up and posed for the photo by their father, Horace. Anadarko, Oklahoma, ca. 1947. (45HPF57) © 2014 Estate of Horace Poolaw.
For a Love of His People by
For more than five decades of the twentieth century, one of the first American Indian professional photographers gave an insider's view of his Oklahoma community--a community rooted in its traditional culture while also thoroughly modern and quintessentially American Horace Poolaw (Kiowa, 1906-84) was born during a time of great change for his American Indian people as they balanced age-old traditions with the influences of mainstream America. A rare American Indian photographer who documented Indian subjects, Poolaw began making a visual history in the mid-1920s and continued for the next fifty years. When he sold his photos, he often stamped the reverse: "A Poolaw Photo, Pictures by an Indian, Horace M. Poolaw, Anadarko, Okla." Not simply by "an Indian," but by a Kiowa man strongly rooted in his multi-tribal community, Poolaw's work celebrates his subjects' place in American life and preserves an insider's perspective on a world few outsiders are familiar with--the Native America of the southern plains during the mid-twentieth century. For a Love of His People: The Photography of Horace Poolaw is based on the Poolaw Photography Project, a research initiative established by Poolaw's daughter Linda in 1989 at Stanford University and carried on by Native scholars Nancy Marie Mithlo (Chiricahua Apache) and Tom Jones (Ho-Chunk) of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Horace Poolaw, Photographer of American Indian Modernity by
Laura E. Smith unravels the compelling life story of Kiowa photographer Horace Poolaw (1906-84), one of the first professional Native American photographers. Born on the Kiowa reservation in Anadarko, Oklahoma, Poolaw bought his first camera at the age of fifteen and began taking photos of family, friends, and noted leaders in the Kiowa community, also capturing successive years of powwows and pageants at various fairs, expositions, and other events. Though Poolaw earned some income as a professional photographer, he farmed, raised livestock, and took other jobs to help fund his passion for documenting his community. Smith examines the cultural and artistic significance of Poolaw's life in professional photography from 1925 to 1945 in light of European and modernist discourses on photography, portraiture, the function of art, Native American identity, and American Indian religious and political activism. Rather than through the lens of Native peoples' inevitable extinction or within a discourse of artistic modernism, Smith evaluates Poolaw's photography within art history and Native American history, simultaneously questioning the category of "fine artist" in relation to the creative lives of Native peoples. A tour de force of art and cultural history, Horace Poolaw, Photographer of American Indian Modernity illuminates the life of one of Native America's most gifted, organic artists and documentarians and challenges readers to reevaluate the seamlessness between the creative arts and everyday life through its depiction of one man's lifelong dedication to art and community.
Salish Painter
Subversions/affirmations : Jaune Quick-to-See Smith : a survey by
Exhibition held at the Jersey City Museum, Jersey City, N.J., Dec. 11, 1996-Feb. 15, 1997, and at three other institutions April 9, 1997-Feb. 14, 1998.
Apsáalooke Multimedia Artist
Wendy Red Star. Four Seasons: Spring, 2006. Archival pigment print on Sunset Fiber rag. 21 x 24 inches.
Wendy Red Star by
This catalogue is published on the occasion of the exhibition by the same name. Wendy Red Star: A Scratch on the Earth is a mid-career survey of the work of Portland artist Wendy Red Star (born 1981, Billings, Montana). Drawing on pop culture, conceptual art strategies, and the Crow traditions within which she was raised, Red Star pushes photography in new directions-from self-portraiture to photo-collage and mixed media-to bring to life her unique perspective on American history. An enrolled member of the Apsáalooke (Crow) Tribe, Red Star works across disciplines to explore the intersections of Native American ideologies and colonialist structures. With 60 works highlighting Red Star's production from 2006 to 2019, the exhibition includes photography, textiles, and film and sound installations. At the heart of the exhibition a new immersive video will be screened inside a sweat lodge constructed by the artist.The Indigenous roots of feminism, the importance of family, Crow mythology, the history of the Montana landscape, and the pageantry of Crow Fest are among the subjects Red Star explores in her work. A Scratch on the Earth also highlights how boundaries between cultural, racial, social, and gender lines are reinforced in America, and how these lines blur across time and place.
Picturing Motherhood Now by
Collective insights from a diverse and global group of contemporary artists whose works challenge traditional representations of motherhood Picturing Motherhood Now brings together work by a range of contemporary artists who reimagine the possibilities for representing motherhood. Drawing on a range of feminisms, this exhibition catalogue challenges familiar archetypes of motherhood, construing motherhood as a multivalent term. The artists in the catalogue see motherhood as a lens through which to examine contemporary social issues. While focusing on art made in the past two decades, the catalogue also integrates work by significant pioneers, narrating an intergenerational and evolving story. This richly illustrated volume features painting, sculpture, photography, and installations by 30 contemporary artists, including Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Latoya Ruby Frazier, Titus Kaphar, and Aliza Nisenbaum, alongside works by feminist pioneers who inspired them, such as Louise Bourgeois, Alice Neel, and Betye Saar. Scholarly essays examine dimensions of matrilineage and contemporary art, enlarging our understanding of motherhood in today's culture. The catalogue also includes a roundtable conversation among artists and thinkers, animating the themes of the exhibition through a dynamic exchange.
Luiseño Painter and Sculptor
Fritz Scholder, American Portrait with Flag, 1979. Oil paint on canvas; 40 x 35 in. Courtesy of American Museum of Western Art. The Anschutz Collection. Photo courtesy William J. O’Connor. © Estate of Fritz Scholder.
Super Indian by
This book explores Fritz Scholder's at times controversial depictions of contemporary Native Americans including rarely seen monumental canvases and lithographs that situate Scholder as a figurative artist and highlight his brilliant use of color. Over the past two centuries the lives of American Indians have been romanticized and idealized in everything from Hollywood films to souvenir shops. Fritz Scholder took another approach in his artwork. He blended figurative and Pop Art influences to create compelling and revolutionary images that challenge viewers to look beyond the stereotype and reveal the raw reality of being an American Indian. Part American Indian himself, Scholder defied the label "Native American artist." This paradox and others are evident in these works from his renowned Indian series, which spanned the years 1967-1980, and which are characteristic of the era's revisionist and rebellious spirit. Full color reproductions of works from the Denver Art Museum and public and private lenders display the full range of Scholder's vision. Essays from noted scholars discuss Scholder's influences and artistic process, including, for the first time, an assessment of the impact of his foreign travels on his work.
Fritz Scholder by
Now available again, this stunning volume examines the life and work of Fritz Scholder, the most influential, successful, and controversial Native American artist of the twentieth century. In the 1960s and '70s, the notion of American Indian art was turned on its head by artists who fought against prejudice and popular cliches. At the forefront of this revolution was Scholder (1937-2005), whose portrayals of Native American life combined realism, tragedy, and spirituality with the genres of abstract expressionism and pop art. This volume features hundreds of works from Scholder's career as a painter, printmaker, and sculptor. Essays explore the artist's major themes-humanity's place in the natural world, ancient mythical beings, women, Christian iconography, the millennium, and the afterlife as well as Scholder's role in the Native American community and the art world. A fascinating figure who fearlessly took on his own contradictions and those of his times, Scholder continues to generate passionate discussion. Fritz Scholder: Indian/Not Indian offers a lively, insightful exploration of his place in twentieth-century American art history as a colourist, expressionist, and figurative painter.
Santa Clara Pueblo Multi-disciplinary Artist
Rose B. Simpson. Maria, 2014. 1985 Chevy El Camino. Bodywork and customization by artist. Designs inspired by traditional Tewa black on black pottery, named after Maria Martinez of San Ildefonso Pueblo.
Mothers & daughters : stories in clay. by
Catalog of an exhibition held at the Heard Museum, Phoenix, Ariz., Jan. 10, 2009-Jan. 24, 2010
Form and Relation by
Form and Relation showcases the versatility of ceramics and its many forms through the work of seven contemporary Indigenous artists from across what is now the United States. Bringing together recent acquisitions, commissioned works, and loans directly from artists' studios, this book urges audiences to reconsider and expand their understanding of what constitutes Native American ceramics. The catalogue highlights the innovative and critical works of renowned artists Anita Fields, Courtney M. Leonard, Cannupa Hanska Luger, Ruben Olguin, Rose B. Simpson, Kali Spitzer, and Roxanne Swentzell through stunning photography by Addison Doty and critical essays by Hood Museum curatorial staff and outside scholars. In addition to shifting expectations, Form and Relation introduces new forms that demonstrate the ability of ceramics to hold complexity and wrestle with concepts like community, identity, gender, land, extraction, global climate change, colonialism, language, and responsibility. Exhibition dates: Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, April 1-August 2, 2020
Tlingit Glass Artist
Preston Singletary. Salmon (Xáat), 2018. Blown, hot-sculpted, and sand-carved glass; steel stand. Courtesy of the artist.
Preston Singletary by
The story Raven and the Box of Daylight, which tells how Raven transformed the world and brought light to the people by releasing the stars, moon, and sun, holds great significance to the Tlingit people of the Pacific Northwest Coast. A new body of work by artist Preston Singletary (American, born 1963) will immerse readers in Tlingit traditions by telling this story through his monumental glass works and installations. Primarily known for his celebration of Tlingit art and design, Singletary will explore new ways of working with glass inspired by Tlingit design principles. Tlingit objects were traditionally used to show wealth and tell stories by representing elements of the natural world, as well as the histories of individual families. By drawing upon this tradition, Singletary's art creates a unique theatrical atmosphere, in which the pieces follow and enhance a narrative. This book includes texts that place Singletary's work within the wider histories of both glass art and native arts traditions'especially the art of spoken-word storytelling. Also included are a biography and an interview with the artist.
Preston Singletary by
For nearly two decades, Preston Singletary has straddled two unique cultures, melding his Tlingit ancestry with the dynamism of the Studio Glass Movement. In the process, he has created an extraordinarily distinctive and powerful body of work that depicts cultural and historical images in richly detailed, beautifully hued glass. Singletary has translated the visual vocabulary of patterns, narratives, and systems of Native woodcarving and painted art into glass, a material historically associated with Native peoples through an extensive network of trading routes. Singletary entered the world of glassblowing as an assistant, mastering the techniques of the European tradition as he worked alongside Seattle-area artists such as Benjamin Moore and Dante Marioni. He also had opportunities to learn the secrets of the Venetian glass masters while working with Italian legends Lino Tagliapietra and Pino Signoretto. The Northwest Native icons, supernatural beings, transformative themes, animal spirits, shamanism, and basketry design of Singletary's Tlingit heritage are manifested in his work, creating a unique whole that resonates on many levels and reveals a new artistic direction. This mid-career retrospective of his work includes contributions by Melissa G. Post, Steven Clay Brown, and Walter Porter, as well as a DVD of Singletary working in his studio. Preston Singletary's works are in museum collections around the world, including the National Museum of the American Indian; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Seattle Art Museum; Corning Museum of Glass; Mint Museum of Art; the Heard Museum; and the Handelsbanken (Stockholm, Sweden).
Swinomish and Tulalip Photographer
Matika Wilbur. Rosebud Quintana, Northern Ute and Dine.
Haida Visual Artist
Mischief Making by
In a gorgeously illustrated exploration of the art of Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas, Mischief Making disproves any notion that play is frivolous. Deploying mischievous tactics, Yahgulanaas shines a spotlight on serious topics. As he investigates Indigenous and other worldviews, the politics of land, cultural heritage, and global ecology, his distinctive style stretches, twists, and flips the formlines of classic Haida art to create imagery that resonates with the graphic vitality of Asian manga. This engaging and beautiful book delineates the philosophical underpinnings and evolution of the artist's visual practice, revealing his deep understanding of the seriousness of play.
The Seriousness of Play by
Yahgulanaas has been exhibited internationally and his books and graphic novels'including RED, Flight of the Hummingbird, A Tale of Two Shamans and Hachidori'have been published in the United States, Canada, Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macau, Abu Dhabi, Serbia and Spain. The Seriousness of Play coincides with an exhibition at the Seattle Art Museum and is supported by a number of other exhibition fixtures in Japan and Europe.
Carpe Fin by
"The ragged edges of the temperate rainforest reach far out onto an island in the western seas. It is a place where one chooses to go ahead or turn back..." In a prequel to the award-winning Red: A Haida Manga, acclaimed artist Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas blends Asian manhwa/manga with the Haida artistic and oral tradition in another stunning hand-painted volume. In a small near-future community perched between the ocean and the northern temperate rainforest, a series of disasters is taking a heavy toll. It is early fall and a fuel spill has contaminated the marine foods the village was preparing to harvest. As food supplies dwindle, a small group decides to make a late season expedition to search for sea lions. Surprised by a ferocious storm, they abandon one man, Carpe, on an isolated rock at sea. After ten days they are finally able to return, but he has vanished. The story follows Carpe's encounters with the Lord of the Rock, who demands retribution for Carpe's role in the hunt, and Carpe's fate in the half-life between human and animal, life and death.
