Sandra Hale Schulman
Special to ICT
The latest: Cahuilla artist retrospective, music from Taos Pueblo, short films highlight Autry Festival
ART: Gerald Clarke goes big with tradition
Sourcing unusual materials to upend traditional crafts and objects such as baskets, trail markers and branding irons, Cahuilla artist Gerald Clarke has a retrospective of his work “The Door is Open” now through September 1 at Breck Create in Breckenridge, Colorado.
Featuring sculpture, painting, video and other media from the 1990s to today, this self-described “30-year emerging artist,” teacher and citizen of the Cahuilla Band of Indians puts a unique spin on his personal, national and Cahuilla tribal histories.
His humorous work aims to uplift Indigenous narratives, source the impacts of colonialism, and disarm viewers into absorbing and understanding his art. He creates enormous baskets out of smashed tin cans attached to satellite dishes, uses branding irons to make prints, and creates updated trail markers to rewrite history.
Clarke says, “I aspire not to romanticize the subjects or content of my work. I strive to ‘keep it real’ and have found that my best works are inspired by my personal experiences. Beer cans, branding irons and gourd rattles represent aspects of my reality. These materials reflect who I am and not how the mainstream might understand the contemporary Native American experience. They represent my community as well: a community that struggles with various issues but that also laughs, loves and continues to evolve.
“While my work may not appear ‘traditional,’ it is part of a continuation of creative responses to the world that the Cahuilla have exercised since ancient times. I believe the strict adherence to traditional materials and authentic forms has been forced onto Indigenous expression by Euro-American belief systems that view art and culture through a monetary lens. The result is a narrow conception of Native American art that imposes an 18th Century aesthetic and transforms it into a commodity.
“I am not simply a contemporary artist that happens to be Indian. I am a Native American artist. I am a Cahuilla artist.”
In addition, To the Next Generation opens August 16 and ends September 8. An exhibit of Clarke’s roadside monuments will be on display outdoors. Clarke’s research for this project included delving into Ute Nation and Summit County histories, as well local geography and environmental issues.
MUSIC: ‘Dead Man’ movie inspires new song
A new Taos Pueblo original song, “Dead Man,” debuted by Mozart Gabriel recently. The video shows Gabriel in tricky triplicate dancing and playing various instruments.
“At my mothers Fashion show at the very first Native Fashion Week, I had 3 new songs premiering on the runway!” Gabriel said in an Instagram post. “Dead Man was released this weekend. I had an incredible time and experience making this project with a good friend and talented artist, producer, Jared Corder from one of my favorite bands Repeat X2 and the help with some final touches with @riograndestudios. We wrote this on the spot in one day!
“My family were good friends with actor Gary Farmer. He wanted to show us a movie called ‘Dead Man’ in 1996. It’s a fantastic movie made by Jim Jarmusch. It stars Johnny Depp and Farmer in it. I used to call him ‘Uncle’ and seeing him in the movie die at the end was a little surreal.
“It was my realization that films and reality are two different worlds at the age of six. And what’s incredible about singing these songs in Taos Pueblo chants is that I don’t have to come up with lyrics like, ‘Oh, me as a little boy watching somebody’s life pass away,’ it just seems really cheesy. I know what I’m saying with the chants, it allows us to open our mind and listen in different ways that we’ve never heard.”
An exhibit of Patricia Michaels’ fashions from the show that featured star models Tantoo Cardinal and Joely Proudfit are on display at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture in Santa Fe.
FILM: Sundance short films at Autry
The annual American Indian Arts Festival runs June 8-9 at the Autry Museum of the American West in Los Angeles, where there will be live music, powwow dancing, one-of-a-kind art, live theatrical performances from Native Voices, the Autry’s resident theatre company, and a series of curated short films from the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.
The short film tour will then play in locations across the country and internationally throughout 2024 and 2025. This specially curated selection has drama, thrills, eye-opening and heartwarming indie shorts with a few jury prize winners that offer a peek into the festival program.
“Despite an industry-shifting year in filmmaking, short films continue to strengthen its art form,” says Mike Plante, senior programmer for the Sundance Film Festival. “This year’s showcase is a collection of shorts from the 2024 Festival that proves just how fertile the format continues to be for fresh ideas from ambitious and dynamic emerging filmmakers.”
Films include:
• “Bay of Herons” (2023),directed by Jared James Lank
• “Winding Path” (2024), directed by Alexandra Lazarowich and Ross Kauffman
• “Headdress” (2023), directed by Tai Leclaire and David Spadora
• “Ekbeh” (2023), directed by Mariah Eli Hernandez-Fitch
• “Baigal Nuur-Lake Baikal” (2023), directed by Alisi Telengut
• “Hawaiki” (2023), directed by Nova Paul
• “Sunflower Siege Engine” (2023), directed by Sky Hopinka
• “Goodnight Irene” (2005), directed by Sterlin Harjo
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