The photograph “Pony Girl” by Dana Claxton, a member of the Hukpapa Lakota tribe, is on display in the “Reflective Lens: 20 Years of Photography” exhibition at the University of California Gorman Museum of Native American Art through September 1. Ru. davis campus. (Photo provided by Gorman Museum of Art)
One thing is certain about “Reflective Lenses: 20 Years of Photography,” the latest exhibit at the Gorman Museum of Native American Art on the UC Davis campus. That means it doesn't include images of American Indians by Edward Curtis.
“But some of our artists have definitely responded to his work,” exhibit curator Polly Nordstrand said in a brief phone interview Monday, as part of the giant landmark series “North American Indians.” mentioned the American photographer (1868-1952) who defined what Many white Americans at the time imagined what life was like for our country's first people.
She created a “stereotype” of what Mr. Curtis believed to be a “disappearing race,” but perhaps told Mr. Curtis, “You're trying to get something that doesn't exist.” Alluding to the Indian interpreter who allegedly said it, he said he missed the point. The realities of Native American life in the early 20th century, especially as reflected from a Native American perspective. (To be fair, Curtis' extensive collection may have its flaws, but it can also be considered a body of work dedicated to the concept of life living in harmony with tradition and nature.)
The exhibition features over 20 Indigenous artists from North America, Aotearoa and Australia from diverse backgrounds, and highlights the museum's photography collection, along with new works on loan from several artists. I am. The exhibit of 26 works by 22 artists, with works ranging in size from 16 by 20 inches to 46 by 154 inches (approximately 4 feet by 13 feet), will run through September 1.
Nordstrand said the museum has for decades hosted artists who promote Indigenous “visual sovereignty,” an assertion of Indigenous autonomy, “nationhood and autonomy” through visual media. It was defined as
Unsurprisingly, photography is at the heart of the museum's contemporary art collection. And those themes “often relate to social and environmental justice, connection to the homeland, and the empowerment of indigenous peoples in the modern world,” museum curator Veronica Passalacqua said in a press statement.
Throughout its nearly 200-year history, photography has been a “tool of the colonial project” around the world, she added. Because non-Indigenous photographers create images that dehumanize and stereotype Indigenous peoples, perhaps portraying them as “vanishing cultures, primitive minds, victims of progress.'' Just like Curtis did.
Photography was not taken seriously as an art form until the early 20th century, but it was taken especially seriously in the 1960s, when art schools began to recognize photography as an important art form.
And the work of early Indigenous photographers can be seen as the emergence of an Indigenous perspective.
“These images not only restore the dignity of their subjects, but also reflect the priorities and realities of Indigenous experiences,” Passalacqua said in a prepared statement. “Taking the camera was an act of visual sovereignty.”
Contemporary artists typically approach photography in a variety of ways, from photojournalism and performance art to digital production and filmmaking.
“There's a wide variety of things artists can do,” Nordstrand said, including the act of taking a photo, printing it, and incorporating it into other media to enhance the effect.
Consider “Pony Girl” from Hukpapa Lakota artist Dana Claxton's “Mustang Series.” This work depicts two women. One is an American Indian, the other a white man, both dressed in red, one pointing into the distance and the other wearing a rein. mouth.
Nordstrand said it represents “the importance of horses” in Lakota culture, the Black Elk horse dance, and “the importance of horses in popular culture and Indians moving into the future.”
The black and white collages by Larry McNeil, a native of Tlingit, Alaska, appear to symbolize the negative advances of capitalism and Big Oil and their impact on American Indian people and their lands.
Brenda L. Croft's “Irrisistable/irresistible” is a 2000 Ilfachrome digitally processed image from the “fever (you give me)” series, developed over three years while she worked in New York City. part of the project, which was subsequently produced in Perth. and Sydney, Australia.
Croft's statement on the label reads in part (including punctuation): A connection to a place, a chain of time that is difficult to find. Diluted by the filter of populist/populist/revisionist storytelling. The formation of new, macabre (urban) myths. ”
Referring to Australia's history, particularly colonialism, Mr Croft said: “Irrigistible was the name of one of the first ships to arrive in Australia after 1788. It's also about how you looked at it.”
Passalacqua characterized the works in the exhibition as creating “visions and counter-narratives of collective memory, in addition to portraits and landscapes.”
Main theme? “Local presence,” she said in a news release.
Nordstrand said the exhibit showcases the Gorman photo collection from around the world and the “brilliance” of its artists.
“The artists in our collection are among the most highly acclaimed in the field,” she added.
Some related events: Sunday 2pm, Curated Walkthrough with Nordstrand; There will be an artist talk and reception with Sarah Sens on April 12th from 2-4 p.m.
This exhibition and event is sponsored by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Museum Future Fund and the University of California Davis College of Arts and Sciences.
if you go
what: “Reflective Lenses: 20 Years of Photography at the Gorman Museum.”
where: Gorman Museum of Native American Art, 1 Shields Ave., UC Davis.
when: Until September 1st
time: Wednesday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.Saturday and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m.
Admission fee: free
online: gormanmuseum.ucdavis.edu
phone: (530) 752-6567