Innholdsfortegnelse for October/November 2019/ No.23 i Native American Art Magazine

MUSEUM OF INDIAN ARTS AND CULTURE Here, Now and Always, an exhibit at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture running through January 2020, tells the story of the oldest communities of the Southwest. The exhibit is based on eight years of collaboration among Native American elders, artists, scholars, teachers, writers and museum professionals. One of those creators is Jemez artist Alvina Yepa, known for her sgraffito technique, in which designs are created on the surface of the pot by gradually etching away the top layers. Commissioned by MIAC and purchased from the artist for inclusion in the exhibit, Prayer and Meditation Jar is a perfectly symmetrical clay jar with feather, dragonfly, turtle and corn iconography, as well as the Tewa deity Avanyu. “This exhibit has eight thematic sections. The…

As an online-only gallery, we are located in the cloud and not tied to a specific geographic area. The first quarter of this year was quite good, but the second quarter dipped in both lookers and buyers. However, the third quarter has started off well, with an increase in web traffic and conversion to buyers. Canadian and Japanese buyers remain solid, but the core of our Native American market continues to be the United States. Continued emphasis on authenticity and staying away from cheap imports and fakes is a key for all gallery owners. Contemporary and traditional jewelry each have their fans, and both have been selling this year. Albert Lee is about as hot as one can get; and the jewelry of Althea Cajero and Piki Wadsworth are being…

The lineage of the greatest living Northwest Coast artists goes—according to many experts and scholars—Charles Edenshaw (Haida, 1839-1920), Mungo Martin (Kwakwaka’wakw, 1879-1962), Bill Reid (Haida, 1920-1998) and Robert Davidson (Haida). Each of them stands as a herald, legend or stalwart icon within the Northwest Coast artist communities. Edenshaw’s life coincided with the initial interest in and then the desire to acquire traditional works of the Northwest Coast peoples by the Western world. Initially, these requests could be honored without interference from the government or missionaries, both of who looked down upon these traditions, but that changed for the worse beginning in the 1880s with Canada’s potlatch ban. Edenshaw, however, developed a market through tourists and outsiders, becoming the first collected artist of the Northwest Coast peoples. The Standard-bearers: CHARLES EDENSHAW, MUNGO…

As many New Yorkers do, Allan Lokos and Susanna Weiss said one winter, “Let’s get out of New York and go to someplace warm.” They chose Santa Fe, New Mexico, not aware at the time that at 7,000 feet it isn’t Sun City. “It was snowing,” Susanna recalls. “But it was beautiful!” They were seduced by the Land of Enchantment. They were also captivated by Native culture, its closeness to the earth and the art it produced. She says, “Friends invited us to use their house in Santa Fe when they weren’t here. We did, and soon we were hooked.” Their New York apartment now houses a fine collection of Native art and other pieces they have purchased in Santa Fe. Allan was a director, actor and a singer and…

INDIANAPOLIS, IN A major Western and Native American institution, the Eiteljorg Museum in Indianapolis, is fast at work on a new reinstallation for its Native American collection that is slated to open in 2021. While that is certainly a long time to wait to see this magnificent collection, the wait will be worth it as the museum will present the artifacts and objects in a striking new gallery and recontexualized to more prominently place the collection within the region it is based. “It’s all about the relationship to the water,” says Scott Shoemaker, the Thomas G. and Susan C. Hoback Curator of Native American Art, History and Culture at the museum. “It’s the water that connects it all to the broader Great Lakes region. It’s the water that led to…

MONTCLAIR, NJ For the past two decades, multidisciplinary artist Virgil Ortiz has been on a mission to tell the history of the Pueblo Revolt of 1680. The narrative, which is lost to most Americans because it’s not taught in many schools, is one of overcoming Spanish Colonial rule by surviving religious persecution, genocide and the loss of lands. Pueblo leader Po’Pay devised a strategy to overthrow the Spaniards to allow the Pueblo people to have independence and the freedom to celebrate their traditions and ceremonies. Ortiz, of Cochiti Pueblo, tells the history through the lens of science fiction, which he has had a passion for since seeing Star Wars when he was around 6 years old. The artist has also been a fan of comic books, and he believes that…

PHOENIX, AZ Originating at the Denver Art Museum, Grand Procession: Contemporary Indian Dolls from the Charles and Valerie Diker Collection has journeyed to the Heard Museum in Phoenix and will remain on view through April 17, 2020. At the forefront of the exhibition are 23 contemporary Plains Indian dolls—also known as soft sculptures—from the collection of Charles and Valerie Diker. The couple, who began collecting Native dolls and ledger drawings in the mid-1980s, amassed one of the largest private collections of its kind. Grand Procession, originally curated by Nancy Blomberg of the Denver Art Museum, celebrates not only the exceptional collection of dolls, but also the story of Indigenous peoples from the Great Plains and Great Basin regions who lived in those areas during the late 19th to early 20th…

LOS ANGELES, CA Fritz Scholder, Allan Houser, Charles Loloma and T.C. Cannon are just a few of the names associated with the modern Native American art movement in the 20th century, where artists were building on their traditional roots but pushing to a modern aesthetic that was groundbreaking for its day. On September 16, Bonhams will host its first standalone sale dedicated to modern and contemporary material titled Traditional/Individual: Modern Native American Art. The tightly curated auction of 78 lots, happening at its Los Angeles showroom, will feature jewelry, paintings, sculpture and more. “Our focus for this sale was artists who had gone to a different level in their work,” says Ingmārs Lindbergs, Bonhams’ director of Native American art. “They’re Native artists who are working in a traditional sense, but…

DALLAS, TX On June 25, Heritage Auctions hosted its Ethnographic Art: American Indian, Pre-Columbian and Tribal auction with high demand for its pre-Columbian pieces leading the sale to a total of just over $1 million. The Native American component of the sale was also strong, with three items landing in the top 10 lots and an array of other pieces pulling strong prices. The highest earner in the category was the day’s No. 3 lot, a Tlingit Chilkat blanket that had multiple collectors vying for the piece. The work, which had been in the same collection since the 1970s, measured 68 inches wide without its fringe and was in very good condition. According to Delia Sullivan, director of ethnographic art at Heritage, these blankets are “getting rarer” as the auction…

SANTA FE, NM On the evening of August 9, a line of collectors eagerly waited at the doors to the opening preview for the 41st annual Whitehawk Antique Indian & Ethnographic Art Show, held at the Santa Fe Community Convention Center. When the clock struck 6 p.m., they were invited in for wine and hors d’oeuvres and the main event: a sneak peek of the weekend’s historic exhibition that has been a mainstay in Santa Fe, New Mexico, for decades. The preview also allowed art lovers the first chance to purchase works and to see dealers who have become friends over the years. According to the show, during the entire event through August 12, “Sales were brisk and the energy was buzzing as returning collectors flocked to their favorite dealers…

Order your free guide today at TravelOK.com! Cherokee Heritage Center — Watch basket weaving, a game of stickball and other Cherokee pastimes at a re-created village in Tahlequah. National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum — Feast your eyes on 28,000+ Western and American Indian artifacts and artwork in Oklahoma City. Museum of the Great Plains — Marvel at the historical and artistic treasures of the early Great Plains inhabitants in Lawton.…

Dakota Hoska Assistant Curator of Native Arts Denver Art Museum Museum Ad (720) 865-5000 www.denverartmuseum.org What event (gallery show, museum exhibit, etc.) in the next few months are you looking forward to, and why? Although I won’t have much time to travel since I just arrived in Denver, if I could, I would go to the Natalie Ball exhibition at the Seattle Art Museum titled Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Snake. She is a young artist who is taking some risks in her work and pushing boundaries in ways that remind me of both Brad Kahlhamer and Marie Watt’s work. Those predecessors are having a great influence on our younger artists. I would also like to attend an exhibition in Spokane, Washington, titled As Grandmother Taught: Women, Tradition and Plateau Art. These…

The Burke Museum has been the repository for all things related to natural history and culture in the Pacific Northwest since it opened in 1899. Located on the northeast end of the University of Washington campus, the multifaceted museum and research institution is now undergoing a major facelift and will reopen later this month after being closed for an entire year. One aspect of the museum that will also undergo a considerable change is the Bill Holm Center for the Study of Northwest Native Art. The Center was founded in 2003 to honor Bill Holm’s career and legacy as a fundamental source of knowledge on Northwest Native art. In envisioning the new Native gallery, curator Kathryn Bunn-Marcuse decided to reach out to six Pacific Northwest Native women artists to curate…

The traditions of Native American culture expressed in historic and contemporary arts highlight the year. Jennifer Stevens, an Oneida potter, responded to a question about creating: “It’s not just a physical experience. It’s a rich spiritual experience that fuels our identity as Indigenous people. It helps ground us, it helps heal us, it helps to connect us.” Our Universes: Traditional Knowledge Shapes Our World continues at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C., through late 2021. “Our Universes focuses on Indigenous cosmologies—worldviews and philosophies related to the creation and order of the universe—and the spiritual relationship between humankind and the natural world. Organized around the solar year, the exhibition introduces visitors to Indigenous peoples from across the Western Hemisphere who continue to express the wisdom of their…

RENO, NV “Making art has always been my number one priority…I’ve always just wanted to do good work,” says Washoe and Western Shoshone artist Jack Malotte. He creates works that shine light on the landscapes of the Great Basin, zeroing in on the modern-day political issues that Native peoples face when seeking to protect and preserve access to their lands. The subject matter found in Malotte’s work—which explores historical narratives and myths of the American West in both serious and satirical tones—is as varied as the mediums with which he creates, from ink and acrylics to hand-dyed fringe and screen print on rice paper. “It’s sometimes hard for me to describe what I do because the pictures often just emerge. The things I’m thinking about just come out in a…

FLAGSTAFF, AZ It’s one of the most iconic scenes in movie history: Starfighters careening across the shell of a metal planet-sized space station. Turrets swivel back and forth firing barrages of green lasers. After raking the surface, the tiny spaceships make a high banking turn into a trench that circles the hulking station. Our hero, in an orange jumpsuit and scuffed helmet bounces in the seat of his starfighter. He looks through a computer targeting system that is aimed down the trench. As he prepares to fire, a voice cuts through the mayhem of the space battle, calming his fears and setting him on his path to victory. The scene begins with the line, “Ast’a ho nii yee holood.” Sound familiar? Maybe you’ll know the English translation: “May the Force…

BOSTON, MA Skinner’s upcoming American Indian & Ethnographic Art sale will offer a sizeable collection of Native American artifacts in addition to its Polynesian and African art offerings, but not too much Pre-Columbian work this time around, according to Michael Evans, director of American Indian and ethnographic art. The sale, which takes place November 9, will have a number of Navajo weavings, textiles and jewelry, Southwest pottery, and “Plains materials as usual, like beadwork, moccasins, pipe bags and two very nice tomahawks,” says Evans. He adds that there will also be a significant group of Inuit and Eskimo artifacts like walrus and ivory carvings. One of the highlights in the sale is a historic Inupiaq mask (est. $4/6,000), part of a strong collection of Northwest Coast pieces that will be…

TULSA, OKLAHOMA Often, to those less attuned to its diversity and nuance, Native art is viewed through a lens in which everything seems to fall into one homogenous category. While it’s undeniable that themes of Native cultures, religion, history and tradition are commonly seen throughout tribal artwork, it’s also abundantly evident that each artist brings a unique perspective to their own individual work. Each artist has a distinct style, voice, story and heritage, and in this way, Native American art is as varied as the artists themselves. Every fall, Tulsa, Oklahoma, is home to one of the largest and most anticipated celebrations of diversity in Native American art in the state. The 2019 Cherokee Art Market will be held October 12 and 13, representing the work of more than 150…

SANTA FE, NM Smiling faces are always wonderful to see no matter where you are in the world, but when you see smiles on the artists at Santa Fe Indian Market that’s a sign that good things are happening. And when they start beaming, that’s a sign of something even better—sales. Not only was this year’s market packed to the gills with people—collectors, enthusiasts, day-trippers from around Santa Fe, weekenders from around all around the Southwest and we even met an adventurous couple who came all the way from Germany—it was encouraging to see people buying Native American art. And buying frequently. By noon on the first day a number of artists had already packed up and went home because they had sold out, a good problem to have on…

THROUGH SEPT. 15 SANTA FE, NM Replenish II Authentic Traditions Gallery (505) 983-6689 www.authentictraditionsgallery.com SEPT. 16 LOS ANGELES, CA Traditional/Individual: Modern Native American Art Bonhams (415) 503-3294 www.bonhams.com SEPT. 21 ALBUQUERQUE, NM 10th annual IPCC Gala: Educate, Enlighten, Inspire Indian Pueblo Cultural Center (505) 843-7270 www.indianpueblo.org THROUGH SEPT. 29 AUSTIN, TX Jeffrey Gibson: This Is the Day Blanton Museum of Art (512) 471-5482 www.blantonmuseum.org OCT. 5 INDIANAPOLIS, IN Navajo Rug Auction Eiteljorg Museum (317) 636-9378 www.eiteljorg.org OCT. 5-13 ALBUQUERQUE, NM Albuquerque American Indian Art Festival Indian Pueblo Cultural Center (505) 843-7270 www.indianpueblo.org OCT. 5-MARCH 29, 2020 FLAGSTAFF, AZ The Force is With our People Museum of Northern Arizona (928) 774-5213 www.musnaz.org THROUGH OCT. 6 NEW YORK, NY Art of Native North America: The Charles and Valerie Diker Collection The Metropolitan…

Pacific Northwest Coast art—a term that applies to the style of artwork created by members of the Haida, Heiltsuk, Tlingit, Tsimshian, Nuxalk and Nuu-chah-nulth tribes, as well as other First Nations and Native American tribes from the Northwest Coast—is reflective of over 10,000 years of trade between the Native peoples of this region. Known for its great natural resources, this economy has enabled Northwest Coast tribes to develop societies distinctive for their social ranking, intricate ceremonial life and striking artwork, according to the National Museum of the American Indian. Rooted in traditional Northwest Coast beliefs, artwork from this genre typically relates to natural beings, supernatural beings or deities, and it also commonly reflects one of the four realms of sky, sea, earth and the Other World. This can be seen…

Ah, the emotions a homecoming can generate…for those who greet and welcome home the traveler, and for those who have been away from home so very long and at long last have returned. While some may not consider a new gallery exhibit a homecoming, for members of the six Tewa Pueblos, the one debuting in October at the Poeh Cultural Center in the Santa Fe, New Mexico, area is just that, and so much more. “Di Wae Powa,” which translates to “They Came Back,” is the name of this amazing display of pottery on loan from the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. Approximately 100 pots were culled out of the Smithsonian’s vast collection of well over 500 pieces just in Tewa pottery alone. Dr. Cynthia Chavez Lamar, who…

READING, PA In the Hopi creation story, the people first emerged into the fourth world through a portal known as sipapu located in the Grand Canyon. Dan Namingha often portrays a spiral in his paintings, the center of which is sipapu, “the center of the world.” He often connects another spiral to it, symbolizing the people’s journey through the present into the future. “The past is our future,” he says. “The future is our past. We are never disconnected from our past.” His great-great-grandmother was Nampeyo (1859-1942), the matriarch of the Corn Clan, grinding corn meal the people in the village needed for ceremonial purposes. Nampeyo is well-known for her innovative pottery. She reached into her own past and adapted designs she found on sherds of Sikyátki pottery produced from…

SANTA FE, NM Strong crowds, high sales and engaged buyers were reported June 22 and 23 at Brian Lebel’s Cody Old West Show & Auction in Santa Fe, New Mexico. More than 150 dealers were spread out in the Santa Fe Community Convention Center offering anything from cavalry rifles and parade saddles to Navajo weavings and Pueblo pottery. “We have been trying to reach a younger audience for some time. But it’s only in the past couple of years that we’ve had any success. I attribute that to us expanding our social media efforts,” Lebel says, adding that offering the show in Santa Fe has also increased interest. “We’re committed to working with the city and the community to keep growing the show and its economic impact on the local…

ALBUQUERQUE, NM Year after year, it’s no surprise to hear that the Great Southwestern Antique & Vintage Show was a slam dunk. The annual event, which ran August 2 to 4, was a soldout show with stellar attendance. An opportunity for collectors to browse a vast array of works including tribal and ethnographic art, vintage jewelry and rare books, the Great Southwestern Antique Show is known primarily for its focus on Native American artwork. “Our new efficient layout for the show was well received by both attendees and dealers, which made us very happy. The public found it easier to get around the entire show,” says show manager Victoria Roberts. “Several dealers told us they had their best show in 21 years, relieving some people’s fears that interest in antiques…