The Yang Family University Art Gallery at Indiana State University announces the upcoming exhibition Present Tense Indigeneity. It showcases six contemporary Indigenous artists who are reshaping outdated colonial narratives through their thought-provoking and progressive artwork. Present Tense Indigeneity is free and open from October 7 through November 1.
Indiana State University is privileged to showcase artists such as Jaune Quick-to-See-Smith (Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes), who in 2023 had a retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art (New York), Michael Namingha (Ohkay Owingeh [San Juan Pueblo]/Hopi Tribe), who recently completed an epic commission for the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York), and Indiana artist Katrina Mitten (Miami Tribe of Oklahoma), whose works are on display and in the permeant art collection at the Eiteljorg Museum (Indianapolis). The other equally accomplished artists are Tom Jones (Hocąk [Ho-Chunk]), Douglas Miles (White Mountain Apache/Akimel O’odham), and Diego Romero (Cochiti Pueblo) works are in notable public and private collections like the Heard Museum (AZ), the British Museum (UK), the National Museum of Scotland (UK), the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (CA), and the Smithsonian: National Museum of American Indian (DC/NY).
Present Tense Indigeneity acknowledges and celebrates these six contemporary Indigenous artists and their role in the 21st-century art world. By emphasizing the current impact and importance of these artists, their work, and their respective communities, we further unravel outdated narratives and ideologies seen through the lens of colonialist history. Each artist uses innovative materials and a progressive approach to art-making, addressing issues from commentary on the use of sacred tribal homelands to identity and the misrepresentation of American Natives through popular culture. The intended goal of the exhibition is to help reconcile the past by raising awareness of the present contributions Indigenous artists are making in today's art world.
Visitors will see a wide range of artistic mediums, like Tom Jones’ striking large-format photographs, which capture the intersection of the past and present through the clothes and other traditional and non-traditional elements worn by present-day members of his Tribe (Hocąk [Ho-Chunk]). In contrast, Douglas Miles uses street art aesthetics to paint transient objects such as skateboard decks and suitcases that speak to the current pop culture and past nomadic roots of the White Mountain Apache/Akimel O’odham peoples.
Tanmaya Bingham, Director of Indiana State University Art Galleries in the Department of Art and Design, curated, programmed, and designed the catalog for Present Tense Indigeneity. She said, “Growing up in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Indigenous arts and culture were an intrinsic part of my life, and I am honored to have the opportunity to celebrate Indigenous artists and their artwork at Indiana State University. I am grateful to Dorene Red Cloud (Oglala Lakota), Curator of Native American Art, Eiteljorg Museum, for her guidance in ensuring that the content is accurately representative of contemporary Indigenous voices in art. I also wish to extend my gratitude to the artists who have instilled their trust in me to showcase their works.”
To accompany the exhibition, a free catalog will be made possible in part by Arts Illiana and the Indiana Arts Commission, which receives support from the State of Indiana and the National Endowment for the Arts. This catalog includes the artwork in Present Tense Indigeneity and an essay by Dorene Red Cloud (Oglala Lakota) (Curator of Native American Art, Eiteljorg Museum, Indianapolis, IN) who speaks about the relevance of each artist and their work by highlighting that “their names, their cultures, reflect thousands of years of progressing traditions, and yet they are very much artists of the twenty-first century who continue to draw from the past to envision the future, creating, inventing, and surpassing all expectations and sometimes definitions.”
Present Tense Indigeneity runs from October 7 to November 1 in the Yang Family University Art Gallery in the Landini Center for Fine and Performing Arts at Indiana State University. A reception event will occur on October 17 from 4 pm to 6 pm. The exhibition is free and open to the public Monday through Friday between 11 am and 4 pm, with extended hours until 6 pm on Thursdays.
The Swope Art Museum will partner with the Indiana State University Art Galleries to exhibit Present Tense Indigeneity II, a satellite solo exhibition featuring ceramic works by Dorene Red Cloud (Oglala Lakota) at the Swope Art Museum in Terre Haute, Indiana. Like Present Tense Indigeneity at Indiana State University, this exhibition celebrates contemporary Indigenous art in the 21st century and will run from October 7 to November 1.
Special Thanks: Dorene Red Cloud, Curator of Native American Art, Eiteljorg.
Courtesy of: Container, containertc.org, Turner Carroll Gallery, turnercarrollgallery.com, and artists.
Catalog: Funding for the catalog is made possible in part by Arts Illiana and the Indiana Arts Commission, which receives support from the State of Indiana and the National Endowment for the Arts.