‘An Indigenous Present’ Is a Paradigm-Shifting Illumination of Native North American Art Today

Jamie Okuma, “Elk Boots” (2017), glass seed beads on Giuseppe Zanotti boots, 21 x 7 inches. Photo by Cameron Linton, courtesy of Ellen and Bill Taubman. All images © DelMonico Books, shared with permission

“Historically, books about contemporary Native and Indigenous art have often been composed of academic essays illustrated with artworks by Indigenous makers,” Jeffrey Gibson (previously) says in the introduction to An Indigenous Present. “The writing often references previously published texts that can be problematic and outmoded.” Released by DelMonico Books/Big NDN Press last month, the nearly 450-page volume renders solid a new paradigm of representation and visibility of Native North American art.

Works by more than 60 artists comprise the monumental survey, exploring myriad practices focused on and intersecting contemporary art, music, filmmaking, choreography, architecture, writing, photography, design, and more. The tome highlights the remarkable diversity of media and cultural influences across the continent, from fashion artist Jamie Okuma’s intricately beaded designer boots to Dana Claxton’s elaborate Headdress portrait series to Northwest Coast artist and Chief Beau Dick’s expressive masks. Gibson continues:

For An Indigenous Present, I wanted to make a lavish picture book (“sexy” was a word I used a lot to describe this project) that invites an audience to consider the creative and conceptual spaces artists need to think freely, disrupt the flow, take chances, make mistakes, and even fail in the process of creating something new.

Find your copy on Bookshop.

 

Melissa Cody, “Dopamine Regression” (2010), 3-ply wool, aniline dyes, wool warp, and 6-ply selvedge cords, 70 x 48 inches. Image courtesy of the artist and Garth Greenan Gallery, New York

All pieces by Dana Claxton. Images courtesy of the artist

Wendy Red Star, “Awaxaawippiia (Ominous Mountains)” (2021), acrylic, graphite, kitakata paper, and marble paper in 30 parts, overall: 112 x 183 inches. Image courtesy of the artist and Sargent’s Daughters, New York

Beau Dick, “Volcano Woman” (c. 2005), red cedar, acrylic, and horsehair, 24 x 20 x 10 inches. Image courtesy of Fazakas Gallery, Vancouver

Both pieces by Caroline Monnet. Images courtesy of the artist

Meryl McMaster, “Dream Catcher” (2015), Giclée print, 32 x 66 inches. Image courtesy of the artist, Stephen Bulger Gallery, Toronto, and Pierre-François Ouellette art contemporain, Montréal

Nicholas Galanin, “Never Forget” (2021), iron, paint, and steel, 59 x 360 feet. Image courtesy of the artist and Peter Blum Gallery, New York

Raven Halfmoon, “Hey’-en, Ina, Ika” (2020), stoneware and glaze, 58 x 48 ½ x 19 inches. Image courtesy of the artist

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The Supernatural Veils El Gato Chimney’s Magical Paintings of Adorned Animals

“Home Sweet Home” (2021), watercolor and gouache on cotton paper, 100 x 70 centimeters. All images © El Gato Chimney, courtesy of Tory Folliard Gallery, William Baczek Fine Arts, Antonio Colombo Arte Contemporanea, and Vision West Contemporary, shared with permission

Strips of vibrantly patterned fabrics, entwined red thread, and everyday objects floating in the sky are a few of the recurring motifs within El Gato Chimney’s works. The Milan-based artist has a surreal vision tinged with metaphysics, spirituality, and myth that he layers into scenes replete with unexpected details: clusters of birdhouses and floral embellishments envelop a bird’s upper body like a garment, a forlorn mule clutches a gold staph while yellow frogs climb its torso and legs, and a detached arm emerges from a cloud grasping an angry snake. Each piece marries the natural world with the occult and magical, firmly placing recognizable subjects and objects within the supernatural realm.

Working in vivid watercolor and gouache, El Gato Chimney is drawn to animal symbolism across folk traditions and cultures, whether it be European mountain regions, the Himalayas, or areas in Japan. “It’s incredible to discover how many similarities there are between these three areas, especially in relation to animals and their symbolism,” he says. “I use birds more than other animals because birds are the animals with more symbolism and magic power for almost all cultures.”

El Gato Chimney currently has works included in the group exhibition Birds Rising at Brassworks Gallery in Portland, with upcoming shows planned at Visions West Contemporary in Bozeman and Denver and at Antonio Colombo Arte Contemporanea in Milan. Find more of the artist’s work on his site and Instagram.

 

“The World” (2023), watercolor and gouache on cotton paper, 140 x 100 centimeters

“Unexpected Choice” (2022), watercolor and gouache on cotton paper, 100 x 70 centimeters

Left: “The Age Of The Trees” (2022), watercolor and gouache on cotton paper, 100 x 70 centimeters. Right: “Lost And Found” (2021), watercolor and gouache on cotton paper, 50 x 70 centimeters

“Dangerous Worlds” (2021), watercolor and gouache on cotton paper, 100 x 70 centimeters

“Ghost of Himalaya” (2023), watercolor and gouache on cotton paper, 98 x 153 centimeters

“Trinity” (2023), watercolor and gouache on cotton paper, 100 x 70 centimeters

“Fuochi Fatui” (2023), watercolor and gouache on cotton paper, 100 x 70 centimeters

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Fantastic Creatures and Common Animals Materialize in Miguel Arzabe’s Woven Bestiaries

“Animales Familiares,” woven acrylic on canvas and linen, 78 x 108 inches. All images © Miguel Arzabe, courtesy of Johansson Projects, shared with permission

In Miguel Arzabe’s bestiaries, wide-eyed owls, pink pumas, and whale sharks emerge from planes of woven acrylic. The Oakland-based artist draws on his Bolivian roots and Andean textile traditions as he laces strips of sliced paintings into landscapes occupied by creatures both real and mythological. Arzabe’s most recent body of work, Animales Familiares, brings these beasts to the fore through vivid planes of blurred Earth and sky.

The artist begins each piece by reproducing a pair of modernist paintings, which he cuts into thin lengths and weaves together. Most often unrecognizable in their new forms—Rothko’s clear influence in the color-blocked  “Tiburón Ballena” makes the piece an outlier—the replicas root the works in Western art history. Arzabe distorts these references, though, by layering the paintings into new landscapes, intertwining the varying geographies and cultures to allow both to coexist.

On view from September 16 to October 29 at Johansson Projects, Animales Familiares imagines creatures common to the planet and spiritual realm to consider “one’s place in the universe,” Arzabe says.  Find more of the artist’s work on his site and Instagram.

 

“Flamencos,” woven acrylic on canvas and linen, 56 x 78 inches

Detail of “Flamencos,” woven acrylic on canvas and linen, 56 x 78 inches

“Puma Roja,” woven acrylic on canvas and linen, 50 x 72 inches

“Tiburón Ballena,” woven acrylic on canvas and linen, 50 x 46 inches

Detail of “Animales Familiares,” woven acrylic on canvas and linen, 78 x 108 inches

“La Bestia del Progreso,” woven acrylic on canvas, 48 x 60 inches

“Nada De Nada,” woven acrylic on canvas, 48 x 60 inches

Arzabe at work

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Persian Carpets Merge With Crumbling Concrete in Jason Seife’s Elaborate Paintings

All images © Jason Seife, shared with permission

Using fine-tipped brushes to compose intricate details, Jason Seife (previously) reimagines Persian carpets as remarkable acrylic paintings. Over the past six years, he has increasingly incorporated concrete in place of canvas, inviting relief elements that gouge into the surface. “Each painting has its own set of obstacles,” he wrote recently on Instagram. “The sculptural elements, which add depth and texture to what is normally a very flat process, are some of my favorite parts of working with this material.”

Seife examines our associations around architecture and interior space, transferring patterns we normally see beneath our feet onto the wall. The chipped concrete evokes crumbling villas or excavated ruins, as if the carpets have melded with and grown into the architecture itself. In his recent exhibition at Pérez Art Museum Miami, the artist exhibited some of his largest works to date, incorporating colorful panels nestled within wallpaper-like botanical reliefs.

Find even more on Seife’s website.

 

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Hayao Miyazaki’s New Film ‘The Boy and the Heron’ Wanders Into a Magical World of Life and Death

All images © Studio Ghibli

Iconic Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki once again crafts an otherworldly landscape filled with mystery and wonder in his highly-anticipated new film, The Boy and the Heron. Nearing the end of his decades-long career, the Studio Ghibli (previously) director has hinted that this may be his last movie. As a result, an air of mystery has surrounded The Boy and the Heron for some time, but just this week, U.S. audiences were treated with an official trailer.

Upon this first look at footage, small blobbed creatures float into the sky, a woman liquifies to the touch, a large fire glows as it encases an inviting figure, and dozens of frogs clutch onto the protagonist. Viewers are welcomed into Miyazaki’s world imbued with hope, despair, creation, and fantastical encounters, all of which are familiar to Ghibli lovers and exhibit the enigmatic culmination of his legacy. Ultimately, the trailer leaves those watching with a mystifying final note, “Where death comes to an end, life finds new beginning.”

The Boy and the Heron is set to release in theaters nationwide on December 8.

 

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It’s a Zoo in Here! A Diverse Cast of Whimsical Animals by Yen Jui-Lin Emerge From Wood

All images © Yen Jui-Lin, shared with permission

Yen Jui-Lui instills a growing group of characters with playful wiles and whimsy in an ongoing series of wooden toys (previously). Just a few of the artist’s recent creations portray pudgy bears that double as receptacles for spare change or fruit, a downcast rabbit enduring an inner tube, and birds that sprout dried flowers from the tops of their heads. Using a variety of wood types local to his home in Taiwan, he repurposes segments of cypress, cinnamon, and beech, among others.

Yen is currently working on a series inspired by the zoo, which has been in progress for more than two years. “This series is not imitating real animals; it’s more reshaping the imagination of the animals in cute and interesting shapes,” he says. You can find more of the artist’s work on Instagram.

 

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Two Dozen Artists Gather a Diverse Flock of Avians at Brassworks Gallery for ‘Birds Rising’

Diana Sudyka. All images © the artists, shared with permission courtesy of Brassworks Gallery

Mixed-media pieces by two dozen artists take flight in Birds Rising at Brassworks Gallery in Portland, Oregon, this month. Curated by artist Heiko Müller, a vibrant selection of works take feathered creatures as a starting point, showcasing a range of styles that reference mythology, fairytales, and quickly-changing habitats. Works by Diana Sudyka, El Gato Chimney, and Caitlin McCormack—among many others—highlight a variety of media almost as diverse as the avian world itself.

Birds Rising opens with a preview on September 9, and you can find more information on the gallery’s website and Instagram.

 

Richard Ahnert

Alexandra Lukaschewitz

Eiko Borcherdin

Ki Sung Koh

Ana Juan

El Gato Chimney

Mario Klingemann

Ryan Heshka

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article Two Dozen Artists Gather a Diverse Flock of Avians at Brassworks Gallery for ‘Birds Rising’ appeared first on Colossal.

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