INTRODUCTION:
In the summer of 2017, I attended a professional development seminar, entitled Tres Culturas, in Santa Fe NW. This opportunity allowed me to explore the history, diversity, and artistic heritage of New Mexico’s Native American, Hispanic, and Anglo cultures. Through this experience, I was able to better understand the ways in which these cultures are forever intertwined (the good, along with the bad and the ugly…) and how the art produced then and now is a reflection of these relationships and circumstances.
This experience supports the general approach that I take when teaching art, which is to ask students to consider culture and cultural identity as driving forces for artists; it is through contextual understanding of time and place that we can better know why art is the way that it is at any point in history. Further, this type of cultural exploration encourages tolerance and discourages prejudice, helping to deepen awareness of self and of the human condition (which art documents).
Among the numerous Native American artists whose work I was thrilled to see (Maria Martinez and Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, for example), I was also introduced to artists whom I had never heard of, including Frank Buffalo Hyde. His solo exhibit, I-Witness Culture, at the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture immediately struck me. You can learn more about this exhibit and the included work HERE.
This experience supports the general approach that I take when teaching art, which is to ask students to consider culture and cultural identity as driving forces for artists; it is through contextual understanding of time and place that we can better know why art is the way that it is at any point in history. Further, this type of cultural exploration encourages tolerance and discourages prejudice, helping to deepen awareness of self and of the human condition (which art documents).
Among the numerous Native American artists whose work I was thrilled to see (Maria Martinez and Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, for example), I was also introduced to artists whom I had never heard of, including Frank Buffalo Hyde. His solo exhibit, I-Witness Culture, at the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture immediately struck me. You can learn more about this exhibit and the included work HERE.
A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE ARTIST:
- FRANK BUFFALO HYDE believes it is the artist’s responsibility to represent the times in which they live.
- To do so, Hyde investigates the spaces where Native Americans exist today:
- Between: ancient/new
- Between accepted truth/truth
- Between known/unknown
- He uses "street art techniques" and "juxtaposition of 21st century pop culture signifiers with symbols and themes from his Native American heritage" to address:
- The misconception Native Americans no longer exist - and the strange behaviors of those who "see them" (touching their hair, "snapping pictures as if you had seen Big Foot").
- The fact that Native Americans are, like everyone else, part of the digital age. Native artists are using technology as a tool of "Indigenous activism" and a form of validation - a way to be seen - to let the world know who they are. "We are here, we are educated, and we define Indian art."
- The ways that popular culture homogenizes indigenous cultures through “jacked-up portrayal(s) of Native American imagery” - culturally appropriated fashion lines, misogynistic music videos, or offensive mascots and Halloween costumes.
HEAR THE ARTIST SPEAK ABOUT HIS WORK. PRACTICE, AND PROCESS:
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STILL CURIOUS ABOUT FRANK BUFFALO HYDE?
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CURIOUS ABOUT OTHER NATIVE AMERICAN ARTISTS? Take a look at 8 Contemporary Native American Artists Challenging the Way We Look at American History
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