Santa Fe, NM – Chiaroscuro Contemporary Art presents our 10th annual Contemporary Native American Art exhibitions bringing together nine Native artists across three generations. This year, along with the annual group show, we will present two solo exhibitions running concurrently, Rose B. Simpson: Emotive, and Rick Bartow: Big Crow. All nationally recognized as innovators in the field of contemporary Native art, the exhibitions include new work from represented artists: Emmi Whitehorse, Yazzie Johnson and Gail Bird, Jeff Kahm, Joe Fedderson and guest artists Lisa Holt and Harlan Reano. The exhibitions are on view from August 16 – Sept 10, with the artist’s reception Friday, August 19, 5-7pm, to coincide with Santa Fe’s Indian Market weekend.
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Solo Shows
Rick Bartow: Big Crow
Rick Bartow (1946-2016) (Wiyot) – Working with the Froelick Gallery, Portland, Oregon, Chiaroscuro is proud to present a solo exhibition of Rick Bartow’s work titled, Big Crow. With a concise selection of 19 works on paper and canvas, this exhibition focuses on Bartow’s expressionistic and transformative images of birds, bears and self-portraiture. Chiaroscuro has presented Bartow’s work annually since 2007, and began planning this exhibition before Bartow’s passing last Spring. IAIA’s Museum of Contemporary Native American will also be presenting a major traveling retrospective of Bartow’s work titled, Rick Bartow: Things You Know But Cannot Explain, which opens August 18 at MoCNA and runs into the Fall as well.
Rose B. Simpson: Emotive
Rose B. Simpson (Santa Clara Pueblo) – Always inventive and provocative, Simpson’s ceramic figures and mixed media objects, steadily push the boundaries of contemporary Native art. In this exhibition, Simpson explains the overarching theme as, “an empathic response to all things in the world around us, including our natural and material surroundings.“ Specifically, working with figurative and vessel forms, Simpson is anthropomorphizing the power and form of engines and machines in her artwork. The resulting pieces are incredibly original and unique. For instance, one figure carries a 4 cylinder engine, modeled of clay, on her head. This engine, simultaneously feels like a heart and vessel. The show will also feature a grouping of large scale wall masks, and free standing vessels.
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Group Show
Yazzie Johnson & Gail Bird (Johnson-Navajo; Bird-Santa Domingo & Laguna Pueblos ) – For well over 30 years, Johnson & Bird have consistently presented unique jewelry incorporating dynamic and innovative designs executed with the highest level of craftsmanship and artistry. Chiaroscuro is pleased to present a full exhibition of their most recent work for the second year. Many of the works on display at Chiaroscuro do not qualify to be displayed at Indian Market because of materials or processes used to create this work. These “non-market” pieces are critical viewing for those who want to witness Yazzie and Gail’s accomplished artistry in precious gems, stones, gold and silver.
Emmi Whitehorse (Navajo) – Known for her large-scale atmospheric abstractions on paper mounted to canvas, Whitehorse continues to explore “the incredible diversity and multiple layers of nature, which provides a primary source and inspiration for my ongoing exploration of color and imagery.”
Jeff Kahm (Plains Cree) – Jeff Kahm describes his work as “a fusion of Indigenous motifs (stripes and geometric shapes) combined with the Modernist aesthetic” and this synthesis is clearly evident in the compositions of his new paintings on view. Myriad sources inform Kahm’s work, from his own Plains Cree heritage and the linear patterns found on trade blankets and parfleche bags of Plains tribes, to the hard-edge abstraction of numerous 20th century masters.
Joe Fedderson (Colville) – This is Fedderson’s second time exhibiting with Chiaroscuro, this show will present a combination of new work in three mediums; blown glass, woven baskets, and recent mono-prints.
Lisa Holt & Harlan Reano (Holt -Cochiti Pueblo; Reano-Santa Domingo Pueblo) – Holt/Reano’s hand-built ceramic vessels define a contemporary vision of Native American pottery. Lisa Holt hand-builds the forms, and Harlan Reano paints the surface design on their traditionally fired earthenware pottery.
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