Sandra Hale Schulman
Special to ICT
The latest: Indigenous artists featured in Manhattan museum, luminous painter of the west, Caribbean music
ART: Clay, tipis and neon feature in new artists’ work
The 81st edition of the Whitney Biennial – the longest-running survey of contemporary art in the United States, hosted at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City – features 71 artists making sense of today’s most pressing issues.
The exhibition’s subtitle, “Even Better Than the Real Thing,” gives rise to questions of identity and authenticity. The curators say that “in making this exhibition, we committed to amplifying the voices of artists who are confronting these legacies, and to providing a space where difficult ideas can be engaged and considered.”
Three top Native artists are featured with works that call on both heritage and Indigenous futures.
Born in Gallup, N.M., Demian DinéYazhi’, Diné Bikéyah, is a poet and activist, who wanted to use colonizer language against colonialism, saying they “want to see more poetry at protests.” His word play work called “we must stop imaging apocalypse/genocide + we must imagine liberation” is telegraphic and hung by one of the Whitney’s large windows, visible from inside the museum and out, and mounted on a frame that suggests protest signs. Written in red neon, the text pays homage to the late Klee Benally, a Diné activist, musician and friend of the artist who passed away in December 2023.
DinéYazhi’ wants those working toward liberation to avoid seeing futures rooted in a Euro- Western “romanticization and addiction with apocalypse.” Instead, he veers towards writing lines and stories of liberation to work through oppressive moments.
Cannupa Hanska Luger, Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara and Lakota, exhibits “Uŋziwoslal Wašičuta,” a Lakota phrase meaning “the fat-taker’s world is upside down” with an inverted tipi – a word that the artist has turned into an acronym, standing for Transportable Intergenerational Protection Infrastructure (TIPI). Luger employs deadstock fabric, found objects and clay as a commitment to sustainability and reuse.
Luger says, “This installation is not inverted. … Our current world is upside down.”
From the Santa Clara Pueblo, Rose B. Simpson’s Daughters: Reverence, is four figures that gaze at each other to create a force-field of protection and solidarity that stands in contrast to an unstable world.
“My lifework,” Simpson said in a statement, “is a seeking out of tools to use to heal the damages I have experienced as a human being of our postmodern and postcolonial era – objectification, stereotyping and the disempowering detachment of our creative selves through the ease of modern technology.”
The earthy figures have symbolic details, such as the plus signs representing direction and guidance. This work follows Simpson’s practice of making larger-than-life clay sculptures that are abstracted portraits of herself and her community.
The Biennial runs March 20 through Aug. 11.
ART: From Disney to museums
A stunner of a new exhibit at Western Spirit: Scottsdale’s Museum of the West, Inner Light: The Art of Tom Gilleon, shows a painter who started as an illustrator with NASA’s Apollo space programs and with Disney Imagineering before becoming a full-time artist of the West.
Gilleon, Cherokee and Scottish, paints with luminous colors and authentic portrayals of Native Americans and iconic Western structures and landscapes. The exhibition has paintings, a mesmerizing digital art triptych, and original artworks on special loan from Walt Disney Imagineering.
Gilleon has been compared to modern greats Edward Hopper and Mark Rothko, with a glowing sense of light and place. He excels at images of tipis, Montana landscape at different times of the year, and portraits of tribal citizens.
In addition to showcasing paintings created throughout Gilleon’s Western art career, the exhibit presents the world premiere of Spirit Catcher, his stunning 22-minute digital painting triptych that morphs before viewers’ eyes with smoke that travels across the screens to obscure, then reveal new images. The work was created with former Disney Imagineer and concept designer Marshall Monroe of Marshall Monroe Magic.
Western Spirit’s CEO and Executive Director Todd Bankofier said in a statement, “Tom Gilleon’s mastery of light and the emotional resonance it brings to his art is remarkable. Inner Light is a testament to his profound ability to infuse his creations with the very essence of the American West, inviting viewers to explore hidden treasures of the soul within the landscapes we often take for granted. His artistic odyssey is a brilliant fusion of nature, light, and spirit that transcends traditional artistic boundaries.”
Opened Jan. 16, 2024, the show runs through Aug. 25, 2024.
MUSIC: Tribal tunes more than skin deep
Native Bones Tribal Band plays contemporary Indigenous music at powwows, museums, night clubs, fire circles and festivals. Headed up by Akitchitay, the band has six nominations from the Native American Music Awards and a win as Musician of the Year from the Taino Awards in 2023.
The band has appeared on Fox News, radio stations and podcasts, “America’s Got Talent,” and many powwows.
Akitchitay, who plays percussion, is Taino and Cherokee. Vocalist Auramesh Shirin is from Iran. A songwriter, she composes with passion and insight. Daviid Serra, Taino Cuban, brings strong Latin indigenous sounds to the stage through the guitar.
In the studio recording their fifth CD, the band has songs online and performances lined up for the summer.
