Art for a New Understanding: Native Voices, 1950s to Now

Art for a New Understanding

Native Voices, 1950s to Now

Art for a New Understanding

Native Voices, 1950s to Now

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art

Mindy N. Besaw

Candice Hopkins

Manuela Well-Off-Man

The University of Arkansas Press

Fayetteville

2018

There is much more to Indian Art than pretty, stylized pictures. There was also power and strength and individualism (emotional and intellectual insight) in the old Indian paintings. . . . Indian Art can compete with any Art in the world, but not as a suppressed Art.

—Oscar Howe, letter to the Philbrook Indian Art Annual’s jurors, 1958

Director’s Foreword

Rod Bigelow

Acknowledgments

I. Topics

Art for a New Understanding

Mindy N. Besaw Candice Hopkins Manuela Well-Off-Man

Indigenous Art as a Beacon of Survival

heather ahtone

Inclusivity at Midcentury: George Morrison, Oscar Howe, and Lloyd Kiva New

Jessica L. Horton

I Am an Artist Who Happens to Be an Indian: Working through Modernism in the 1970s and Early 1980s

Richard William Hill

The Fourth World and the Second Wave: On (Non)Encounters Between Native Women and Feminism

Aruna D’Souza

Indigenous Bodies: Native Performance and Temporalities of Being

Amelia Jones

Indian Art for Modern Living

Paul Chaat Smith

II. Catalog

Mindy N. Besaw Ashley Holland Candice Hopkins Jen Padgett Manuela Well-Off-Man

Lloyd Kiva New

George Morrison

Oscar Howe

Fritz Scholder

Daphne Odjig

T.C. Cannon

Kay WalkingStick

Norval Morrisseau

Spiderwoman Theater

Hock E Aye Vi Edgar Heap of Birds

James Luna

Edward Poitras

Jolene Rickard

Carl Beam

Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun

Anita Fields

Norman Akers

Brian Jungen

Isuma and Zacharias Kunuk

Jaune Quick-to-See Smith

Rebecca Belmore

Anna Tsouhlarakis

Steven Yazzie

Melissa Cody

Sonya Kelliher-Combs

Nicholas Galanin

Shan Goshorn

Kent Monkman

Andrea Carlson

Virgil Ortiz

James Lavadour

Walter Scott

Dana Claxton

Olivia Whetung

Jeffrey Gibson

Cannupa Hanska Luger

Athena LaTocha

Tanya Lukin Linklater

Marie Watt

Holly Wilson

Yatika Starr Fields

Works in the Exhibition

Additional Works Illustrated

Selected Bibliography

Illustration Credits

Contributors

Index

Director's Foreword

When the concept for this exhibition, Art for a New Understanding: Native Voices, 1950s to Now, was first launched in 2014, we recognized that our young museum could play a role in addressing the subject of Native American art within the broad context of contemporary art.

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art was created with a vision of transforming lives through art experiences, and it opened in 2011 with a mission of welcoming all. We’re a museum of American art, dedicated to celebrating the American spirit in its full breadth and diversity. Our galleries and programs explore the unfolding story of America through the eyes of its artists, both past and present, and outstanding works of art that illuminate our heritage and artistic possibility. It was a natural fit for us—and a responsibility—to help ensure that Indigenous perspectives are embraced by the larger art community as a part of the American artistic story.

Art for a New Understanding: Native Voices, 1950s to Now is a step toward that goal. It is our charge to share the stories of Indigenous North American artists through highlighting significant works of art that played a crucial role in the development of contemporary art overall. Our proximity to Indigenous communities, as well as artists living and working in our region, provided invaluable insights and perspectives necessary to creating an exhibition that does indeed illuminate heritage and artistry.

Curators Mindy N. Besaw, Candice Hopkins, and Manuela Well-Off-Man took that charge and assembled an exhibition that features forty-one important Indigenous artists from the United States and Canada spanning the 1950s to today and challenges assumptions and biases about Indigenous art.

During the years that this exhibition was in development, curator Mindy N. Besaw and curator Manuela Well-Off-Man, formerly with Crystal Bridges, were involved in developing the museum’s art collection to reflect the diversity of the American experience. Significant acquisitions of contemporary art by Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Fritz Scholder, and Jeffrey Gibson, as well as loans from a variety of institutions and private collections, have helped our galleries become more inclusive. These are steps and strides in building relationships and understanding the breadth of the American artistic story more fully. It’s an ongoing commitment, one that presents learning opportunities and challenges along the way, and ultimately, we hope, leads to art as a catalyst for a new understanding.

We’re grateful to this curatorial team and the many community members and advisors who have helped create this important exhibition and to the artists represented in it whose work is an essential part of the narrative of contemporary art. Through their work, Art for a New Understanding tells a stronger, broader story of America, as seen through the eyes of its artists.

Rod Bigelow

Executive Director & Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art

Acknowledgments

Art for a New Understanding: Native Voices, 1950s to Now charts a history of contemporary Indigenous art from the United States and Canada and posits that Native American art enriches our understanding about contemporary art. An exhibition of this scope and ambition could only have resulted from a significant coordinated effort. We thank the leadership of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art for believing in the significance of this artwork and for providing an open platform for dialogue and conversation and, ultimately, the presentation of this major exhibition. In organizing this project, we also benefited from the insight of colleagues, artists, and community members.

This exhibition is supported in part by the Christy and John Mack Foundation, Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, National Endowment for the Humanities, Bass Pro Shops, National Endowment for the Arts, ConAgra Brands, Arkansas Humanities Council, Becky and Bob Alexander, Frank and Pat Bailey, Randy and Valorie Lawson / Lawco Energy Group, the Sotheby’s Prize, and James and Emily Bost, as of the publication date.

Early in the planning process, a group of advisors generously contributed feedback that helped shape the content of the exhibition. Two days of conversation about themes and artists proved fruitful and invigorating, and for that, we are deeply grateful to heather ahtone, American Indian Cultural Center and Museum, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Bill Anthes, Pitzer College, Claremont, California; Bruce Hartman, Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Overland Park, Kansas; Joe Horse Capture, Minnesota Historical Society, Minneapolis, Minnesota; Kate Morris, Santa Clara University, San Francisco, California; Marshall Price, Nasher Museum, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina; and to those who participated by phone: Anne Ellegood, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, California; and John Lukavic, Denver Art Museum, Denver, Colorado.

As inspiration for all of us, we hold a special place for the artists included in this exhibition, who continue to create and to contribute their voices and worldviews to contemporary art. Thank you to all the artists who trusted our curatorial vision for the exhibition. These artists, and many assistants, have shared objects, educated our team, tracked down images, and photographed their work for this project. Thank you to Norman Akers; Rebecca Belmore; Andrea Carlson; Dana Claxton and studio assistant Pauline Petit; Melissa Cody; Anita Fields; Yatika Starr Fields; Nicholas Galanin; Jeffrey Gibson and studio manager Kate Minford; Shan Goshorn and studio assistants Rose McCracken and J. Lorae Davis; Hock E Aye Vi Edgar Heap of Birds; Brian Jungen; Sonya Kelliher-Combs; Zacharias Kunuk and Isuma; Athena LaTocha; James Lavadour; Tanya Lukin Linklater and dancers Ceinwen Gobert and Hanako Hoshimi-Caines; Cannupa Hanska Luger; Kent Monkman and studio assistant Brad Tinmouth; Virgil Ortiz and assistant Tish Agoyo; Edward Poitras; Jolene Rickard; Walter Scott; Rose Simpson; Jaune Quick-to-See Smith; Spiderwoman Theater, especially Muriel Miguel and Gloria Miguel, founders, and their managing consultant, Deborah Ratelle; Anna Tsouhlarakis; Kay WalkingStick; Marie Watt and studio manager Brianna Coolbaugh; Olivia Whetung; Holly Wilson; Steven Yazzie; Osvaldo Yero; and Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun.

And to those artists we remember fondly, who could not be here to see contemporary Native American art presented as part of contemporary art more broadly. First, a very special recognition to James Luna, who passed in 2018, in the midst of planning this exhibition. Also to Carl Beam, T.C. Cannon, Oscar Howe, Lisa Mayo, Norval Morrisseau, George Morrison, Lloyd Kiva New, Daphne Odjig, and Fritz Scholder—all of whom made a lasting impression on the visual arts. An additional thank you to the estates of Carl Beam and James Luna, and to the family members and representatives of other estates: Lisa Scholder (Fritz Scholder), Briand Morrison (George Morrison), Aysen New (estate of Lloyd H. Kiva and Aysen New), Inge Dawn Maresh (family of Oscar Howe), Stan Somerville (Daphne Odjig), and Joyce Cannon Yi (T.C. Cannon).

Thank you, too, to those lenders who have graciously shared their artworks with us. We extend our thanks to institutions in both Canada and the United States and all those who facilitated the loans and image rights for the catalog, including Institute of American Indian Arts Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, Tatiana Lomahaftewa-Singer and John Joe; Minnesota Museum of American Art, Mai Vang and Christopher Atkins; Philbrook Museum of Art, Christina E. Burke and Darcy Marlow; National Archives and Records Administration, Eisenhower Presidential Library, William Snyder and Troy Elkins; National Gallery of Canada, Marc Mayer and Greg Hill; National Museum of the American Indian, Kathleen Ash-Milby and Nathan Sowry; Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada, Michelle LaVallee and Kevin Gibbs; Denver Art Museum, Nancy Blomberg, John Lukavic, and Renée B. Miller; Chrysler Museum of Art, Kimberli Gant and Alisa Reynolds; Vancouver Art Gallery, Kim Svendsen and Danielle Currie; Stark Museum of Art, Sarah E. Boehme and Katherine Barry; Davis Museum at Wellesley College, Bo Mompho; and the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art, Jennifer Complo McNutt and Christa Barleben. We are also indebted to many galleries who not only lent artwork but also facilitated loans and contacts with private collections. Thank you to Todd Bockley at Bockley Gallery; Rachel Gonzales at Kavi Gupta Gallery; Rachel Garbade at Garth Greenan Gallery; Bill Havu and Nick Ryan at the William Havu Gallery; Catriona Jeffries at Catriona Jeffries Gallery; Casey Kaplan, Jamie Russell, and Rosie Motley at Casey Kaplan Gallery; June Kelly at June Kelly Gallery; Richard Lampert at Zaplan Lampert Gallery; Sarah Macaulay and Nikki Peck at Macaulay & Co. Fine Art; and Wanda vanderStoop with Vtape Distribution.

We are sincerely grateful to the private collectors who have parted with their treasures for long periods of time, including Tony Abeyta, Rosalind and Amir Adnani, Nancy and Richard Bloch, Mary Sue Comfort, John Cook, Bill and Christy Gautreaux, Anne and Loren Kieve, Eira Thomas, and other private collectors.

Several individuals at Crystal Bridges stand to be commended for their support and contributions to this project through its many phases. We are thankful for the leadership and advocacy of Rod Bigelow, Executive Director & Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, Margi Conrads, Director of Curatorial Affairs, and Robin Groesbeck, Director of Exhibitions and Interpretation, who saw the value and contribution of the exhibition from the very beginning. Interpretation Manager Samantha Sigmon and Research and Evaluation Manager Juli Goss worked diligently with the curatorial team to bring the content to life in the exhibition. Project Manager Catherine Hryniewicz once again coordinated an endless number of details, large and small, to keep the project on schedule and within budget. Exhibition Designer Jessi Mueller managed to make objects of vastly different scale and media work together seamlessly in her design, and Creative Director Anna Vernon added her vision to make the exhibition lively while also clean and modern. Registrar Melanie Fox gracefully juggled loan forms, shipping arrangements, and venue checklists for the exhibition. The research files compiled by curatorial interns Michael Hartman and Michelle Dao were invaluable. For their good work on the exhibition catalog, thank you to Linda DeBerry, Diane Carroll, and Alexia Gonzalez. The Crystal Bridges Education/Public Programs team of Janelle Redlaczyk, Sara Segerlin, and Moira Anderson organized an exciting roster of lectures, performances, events, classes, workshops, and gallery conversations to add to the exhibition content in ways that could not have otherwise happened. Special thanks also to Mallory Taylor, Jay Benham, Kristi Dane, and Whitney Scullawl for connecting our programming team to local and regional Indigenous communities. Feedback and suggestions from our conversations with these community members have been invaluable to the Crystal Bridges team in working on all aspects of the exhibition. Thanks also to the development team who worked with individuals and granting agencies for support to realize the full potential of the exhibition.

In the curatorial department, several individuals were invaluable to the project. Jen Padgett, Assistant Curator, compiled research, tracked down artists and images, and coordinated numerous details with the University of Arkansas Press—we are convinced the book would have never happened without her. We are grateful that an internship brought Ashley Holland (now Assistant Curator for the Art Bridges Foundation) to Crystal Bridges, where she served in a much broader capacity as a consultant for the exhibition and author for the catalog. Ali Demorotski, Curatorial Assistant, worked on every aspect of the exhibition before taking a job as Assistant Director at the Brett Weston Archive in Oklahoma City. And the moment Taylor Day began as our curatorial Project Manager, she enthusiastically assisted with visiting artists and other tasks as assigned.

Many community members throughout Northwest Arkansas also supported the exhibition, especially the artists who visited to create site-specific work. A very special thanks to Glenn Jones, who donated his time to tour Edgar Heap of Birds and Athena LaTocha throughout the region, focusing on Trail of Tears sites. Thank you also to Chuck Neustifter for assisting Athena LaTocha with lead impressions of the rock shelters at Pea Ridge National Military Park, and thank you also to park rangers Kevin Eads, Troy Banzhaf, Aaron Artripe, David Harkleroad, Sirena Evans, and Matt Fry.

This catalog has benefited greatly from contributions by excellent scholars thinking about contemporary art broadly and about the special place of contemporary Indigenous artists in conversation: heather ahtone, Jessica L. Horton, Richard William Hill, Aruna D’Souza, Amelia Jones, and Paul Chaat Smith. Our editor, Domenick Ammirati, is to be commended for his ability to clarify and refine each and every word of text. Thank you also to artists who granted us permission to reproduce their works in the catalog essays: Harrison Burnside, Alex Janvier, George C. Longfish, Erica Lord, Bobby C. Martin, and Cara Romero.

We are excited to share the exhibition with other venues, and look forward to collaborating with the Institute of American Indian Arts Museum of Contemporary Native Arts in Santa Fe and its Director Patsy Phillips, and with the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University and Marshall N. Price, the Nancy A. Nasher and David J. Haemisegger Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art.

To all of the people who have helped make this exhibition happen, our deepest thanks.

Mindy N. Besaw

Candice Hopkins

Manuela Well-Off-Man

Art for a New Understanding

Mindy N. Besaw Candice Hopkins Manuela Well-Off-Man

Art for a New Understanding

Mindy N. Besaw Candice Hopkins Manuela Well-Off-Man

Art for a New Understanding takes its title from a series of twenty-three sculptures by Brian Jungen made between 1998 and 2003. At the time of the works’ creation, Jungen was searching for a way to comment on the commodification of Nativeness and how images of it largely benefitted non-Native consumers. His Prototypes for New Understanding—the title itself borrowed from the language of a treaty document—took a highly valued consumer item, Nike Air Jordans, and transformed them into ersatz Northwest Coast masks. For Jungen, his sculptures were not to be confused with customary ceremonial items. (He refuses to call them masks because they function rather as objects). Instead, like many artists before him, he creates such works to call attention to how the cultural production of Native North American people circulates in mainstream society as images that are continually romanticized, stereotyped, and profiteered upon, despite growing challenges to the practice.

Recognizing the unique position of Crystal Bridges as a new museum of American art that has an opportunity to launch a different narrative, curator Manuela Well-Off-Man proposed a comprehensive survey of contemporary art by Native artists in 2014. Two years later, independent curator Candice Hopkins and Crystal Bridges curator of American art Mindy N. Besaw joined her effort to develop an exhibition. For a museum of American art to more fully represent American art history, it had to make substantial strides toward supporting important voices, practices, and histories that have informed art history but have been largely left out of the canon itself. Crystal Bridges, like many other art institutions, is now taking a hard look at an irrefutable historical bias in favor of the practices of white male artists that persists even now.

The co-curators realized that to represent even a small part of the development of contemporary Native art, it was necessary to begin not ten or even twenty years ago but in the 1950s, a decade that marks a rupture in this evolution. It was during this time that many Native American and Alaska Native artists in the United States—as well as First Nations, Métis, and Inuit artists in Canada where there are long-standing exchanges and shared exhibition histories—began to create work that challenged perceptions of what constituted Indian art. They actively positioned their work within the canon and discourses of modernism, many with formal art degrees behind them.

This survey is only a beginning. The artists featured in Art for a New Understanding have made significant impacts on the development of contemporary Native American art, from Lloyd Kiva New’s establishment of an innovative art curriculum at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe and Daphne Odjig’s founding of the first Native-run art spaces in Winnipeg to the work made by Cannupa Hanska Luger as part of the No Dakota Access Pipeline (#NoDAPL) movement. These and all the other participants in the exhibition have not only changed the ways in which we think about contemporary Indigenous art but also contributed greatly to contemporary art more broadly.

The limited breadth of Art for a New Understanding inevitably omits many important figures. Our hope is that our efforts form a starting point for future exhibitions, ones that will generatively build upon what has been started here and support the work that has taken place for many decades at institutions such as the Denver Art Museum, the Philbrook Museum of Art, the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art, the Institute of American Indian Arts Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, the Seattle Art Museum, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, and the Minneapolis Institute of Art, to name only a few. There is no single history of contemporary Native art, and many parallel histories and distinct discourses have developed based on region (Oklahoma compared to New York, for example) as well as style. Art for a New Understanding is thus one piece in a larger whole.

It is well known that Native cultural production was an inspiration for the development of modern art, Surrealism, and even some Minimalism. Jackson Pollock credited his drip paintings, specifically the gesture of spilling paint onto canvas on his studio floor, to his witnessing Diné (Navajo) sandpainting during Nightway ceremonies as a teenager. Pollock’s claim is suspect, the story likely being an invention given that outsiders are generally not welcome in such ceremonies and that everything would have been conducted in the Diné Bizaad language. Like many others in the New York art world, he likely did witness the performance of sandpainting enacted during the famous 1941 Museum of Modern Art exhibition Indian Art of the United States. Other artists firmly situated at the center of American art history kept their inspirations more private. At the Chinati Foundation, which has preserved Donald Judd’s Marfa, Texas, homes and studios, it’s revealing to see what Judd chose to surround himself with at home. On the bed, walls, and floor of his rather modest living space are Diné weavings, the majority of which have no images or symbols