�鶹��Ժ

ARTH 4919:��Can You See Me Now?
July 25 - October 15, 2016

By challenging stereotypes and confronting colonial histories the artists in this exhibition invite us to see the historical and contemporary experiences of Indigenous peoples. In the works on view, they bring past events into the present, disrupting and augmenting histories of contact providing an alternate, Indigenous perspective. Jimmie Durham’s sculptural assemblage combines natural materials and found objects, reclaiming and connecting plastic and wood. Jaune Quick-To-See Smith’s Paper Dolls series addresses the historical traumas experienced by Indigenous peoples and misperceptions surrounding cultural identities as constructed by colonial ideologies. Fritz Scholder confronts the romanticized depictions of Indigenous women and warriors that prevail in American visual culture. Edgar Heap of Birds uses reversed text to question the association between Indigenous and “Natural” and to think historically about exploitative representations of Native Americans in Western culture.

These contemporary artists address ideas of Indian art, through strategies of trickster irony and reversal of expectations that provoke reflection and challenge stereotypes and colonial perspectives.