10th Anniversary Celebration of Eiteljorg Museum Fellowship Awards
The 2007 Fellows Dana Claxton, Gerald Clarke, Larry McNeil, Soyna Kelliher-Combs, William Wilson, and Distinguished Artist James A. Luna possess incredible talent, and their work will satisfy every expectation of a contemporary art exhibit; it will touch your emotions, tap unconscious perceptions, and stimulate new understanding through 45 works of photography, installation, four-channel DVD, drawing, printmaking and painting. But more than that, it is a chance to participate in the evolution of culture and explore the distinctions that define identity.
WHEN: November 10, 2007 - February 10, 2008 with opening gala Friday, November 9th.
WHERE: Eiteljorg Museum (map)
The primary was to access Native American cultures is through art. The Eiteljorg Fellowship strives to provide a select group of Native American artists increased visibility to demonstrate the dynamic and creative nature of their cultures–there is more than just baskets and clay pots and paintings of men on horses wearing feathers in their hair.
This exhibit will provoke a different sort of discussion about the nature of identity. Are these Native American artists? Contemporary artists? Both? One more than the other? The Eiteljorg Museum’s Curator for Contemporary Art defined the goal of the fellowship program as “help[ing] dissolve the distinction between Native American contemporary fine artists and simply, contemporary artists.” Is the goal to become part of the mainstream art world and shed the “Native American” descriptor? Should the term “Native American” be looked at as more of an influence or a reference to a style–as in “that artist clearly was influenced by Buddhist imagery or is part of the school of abstract expressionism,” or is it more vital? Is it a heritage and a world-view that should be deliberately spoken, a term that gives breath and life to those resilient cultures with each iteration? Come experience the evolution of culture.
Consider some earlier works by these artists.
“This work is composed of a 20″x30″ color photograph of a customary Cahuilla gathering on the Morongo Reservation. The definition of “tradition” that you see has been etched into the glass that covers the image. I sought to interfere with viewing the actual event with the superimposed text.” Gerald Clarke
Grandma and Mom/Once Upon a Time in America by Larry McNeil
Recommended Reading:
A review of modern art and the roots of identity based political and culture movements from the New York Times.
Who Owns Native Culture?, Michael F. Brown, Harvard University Press.
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