Tuesday's Tweevenings Explains Why Contemporary Native Art in the Northland Differs from the Southwest

Blue Otter in Red Water; Karen Savage-Blue

Wendy Savage addresses attendees this past Tuesday eve. 

Tuesday evening I attended a very special presentation by Wendy Savage on the current Intersections exhibition at the Tweed Museum of Art on the campus of UMD. It was the best attended Tweevenings talk since I have been attended maybe five years ago. (Full Discolsure: I have missed a few so that assertion may be incorrect... It was the best attended of those I have participated in these past five years.)

Ken Bloom welcomed us, made a few remarks about this exhibit, and then introduced Wendy Savage, an adjunct professor here at UMD who received her BFA at the University of Wisconsin.

Detail from John Feather's The "Don't Remember" Bar

Like many speakers who are enthusiastic about their subject matter, Ms. Savage was overflowing with potential directions her talk could go. The began by sharing the creation story by Gitche Manitou (the Great Spirit) and talked about our power to dream. She shared several idea fragments while providing an overview of the history of the relationship between native peoples and the United States.

For me, the absolutely fascinating part of her talk was the story behind why the Native art scene is so very different here from the Santa Fe / Southwest art, which I personally liked but found somewhat cliche in the sense that it seemed to "define" what Native art should look like. In covering the many expressions of Native artists here in the Northland these past eight years or so, I have felt that there was something unique going on, but I did not know the why.

Carl Gaboy, one of the influential and respected artists of our region, felt that "Southwest Art" should not be embossed on the Native art here. There were discussions, and George Morrison, a nationally recognized artist, met with some other leading artists to address this issue. The result was an Ojibwa Art Expo, the first native American Exhibition run by and for Native Americans.

But, you say, didn't the Native Americans run the SW arts scene? No. And that was the Aha! takeaway.

Untitled oil on canvas by George Morrison. 

What I was seeing here in the Northland scene was an art informed by Native roots, but that incorporated all kinds of expressions, like various flavors of tea, aromatically enhanced by herbs and spices from all over the world. There has been a liberation from what the art is "supposed" to look like, while still remaining distinctive.

After her general remarks, Wendy Savage led a walking tour around the gallery hall and discussed the individual artists and their works.

The art on display is all part of the Tweed Collection, which now has upwards of 11,000 pieces. It is an exhibition curated by Dr. Karissa Isaacs of the Bad River Ojibwe Band. The 19 Minnesota artists are connected with a variety of tribes from the Upper Midwest. The images on this page are all from the current show, which really ought to be visited sometime this coming year.

Detail from Dyani White Hawk's Quiet Strength Series. (Oil on canvas)

Wendy Savage discusses Dyani White Hawk's painting.

Because words can be often insufficient, I recommend visiting the Tweed for this, and several other featured exhibits, including Anne Labowitz's 122 Conversations.

Related Links
Review of Intersections Opening Reception
Review of Steve Premo's "Free the Slave -- Slay the Free"

Meantime, art goes on all around you. Get into it.

Local Arts Scene -- Third Thursday In Superior Tonight and Niiyo-wiij-anishinaabeg Tuesd

Composition by Joe Geshick

Original drawing by George Morrison

In recent years I have been running into a few new concepts that may have been out there but I hadn't given much thought to. One of these is the notion of mindfulness, which is defined as "a mental state achieved by focusing one's awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one's feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations, used as a therapeutic technique."

The idea of mindfulness syncs up with another concept which many of us became aware of 40-50 years ago, that of living holistically. I can't say I've lived that conscientiously, but the notion certainly has gained more appeal as I get older.

I mention all this because it seems to me that in many respects that Native peoples practiced these things in a manner that we could have learned from had there been an attempt to do so. Native culture was a holistic relationship with the elements, with the earth, with one another, and here in the Northland many features of their culture have been re-emerging.

One way to gain a window into Native culture is through the arts. This coming Tuesday the Duluth Art Institute is hosting a closing reception July 24 for the exhibition Niiyo-wiij-anishinaabeg, which is translated "Four Friends." The exhibit has been currently on display in the Great Hall at the Depot.

The four friends include the three artists and a space holder for you, the viewer, to become a part of the relationship the artists all have in common, creating art to build community and relationships among humanity. As you explore each unique piece, you're invited to reflect on your path as you experience "traveling with friends together" (wiijiiwaagan). The exhibition includes sketches by Joe Geshick and George Morrison as the blueprints for what would become their master works and signature styles. Carl Gawboy has eight new works on paper that storyboard the artist's first major book project, set to be released later this year.

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Reminder

Tonite it's Third Thursday in Superior

MORE REMINDERS

Bee sure to check out the Honey Bee Fest 

(follow This Link)

Two days of great music and more.

"Let me tell you 'bout the birds and the Bees."

No, it's actually much more than that, though it's

so beautiful there you just might fall in love again.

It's kinda what happens at Oldenburg House.

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Local Art Seen: Washington Gallery and AICHO

"A Captain's Log" by Grandson

“Sometimes I arrive just when God's ready to have someone click the shutter.” ― Ansel Adams
 
Friday evening I attended two art events and enjoyed both.The first, called Lake Effect, featured work by photographers Samantha Pranger and Brett Grandson. It's impressive how many ways photographers who see the same things we all see can so effectively capture those secret moments to share them with a wider world. The natural beauty of this region creates infinite possibilities, especially for those fascinated with the Great Lake Superior. Weather conditions shift continuously and the opportunities for discovery are endless.

Brett Grandson, a lifelong resident of Duluth, had four large black and white photos on display in the east room of the gallery. Three were taken on Minnesota Point here in Duluth and the fourth, "Dancing Into The Night," was taken at Joshua Tree National Park in California. Grandson's images were printed on canvas and stretched, all of them 24"x 30" or larger. Grandson culled these from his Sticks and Stones Collection - 2013. The fourth piece was playfully titled, "Captain's Log," captured after a thunderstorm had passed over the city. "The size of the waves made it difficult to capture this image because the log was constantly being pushed around as the waves crashed in. A ship waiting to enter the harbor had weathered another storm on its journey home," Grandson wrote in the show's leaflet notes. The juxtaposition of ideas and image produced this title and evocative image.

Samantha Pranger (left)  arrived on our shores from across the state, having grown up in the Milwaukee area. Her choice of University of Wisconsin in Superior (UWS) was more for the distance from home and the in-state tuition. What she found here was a new home, and like others who visit the lake has an effect on them.

"I was my photographs to help people see the beauty that surrounds us, as I experience it every day," she states. "My goal is to convey the everyday world in such a way as to show people how extraordinary it truly is." Her ten gallery wrapped canvas pieces effectively do this.

Down the hill and two blocks east there was another exceptional event in Trepanier Hall, the former YWCA building that now is home to the American Indian Community Housing Organization (AICHO). I'm not sure what I expected so the occasion offered an element of surprise.

Duncan Konczak

Initially I walked past Michael Lemon's remarkable paintings to reach the main room where walls were liberally decorated with paintings by artists Duncan and Tom Konczak, and Avery Makes Room. Jake Vainio provided ambience with subtly sensitive strokes on an electric guitar. My immediate impression was that this was more of a family gathering. All ages were present and the sharing of the art was a social experience and an occasion.

I was struck by the quantity and colorfulness of the art. It entered my mind that our Native American brothers and sisters have suffered immensely yet the work displayed was comprised of brightness and color, rich and full of wonder. Each piece was its own justification.

As I was leaving a spent some time examining the intricate detail in Michael Lemon's paintings. Lemon is from the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe out at Cass Lake. The paintings were amazing, many (if not most) created in something reminiscent of pointillism. But the more I studied the images it struck me that the surface was more like the Indian beads I once made a headband out of as a boy. Except Lemon is using a very fine-point brush. Little dots of color, conspiring to tell stories.

And Lemon had stories to tell. He described an encounter he had with a man in Massachusetts who told how the Lord spoke to the man in a dream about a thunderbolt that would be sent to North Dakota. Lemon said he had had the same dream. All of this was tied to the current shale field boom currently underway there.

Lemons paintings are worth exploring further. This exhibition will be on display thru mid-October, so if you are able try to check it out.

Fox by D. Konczak

Jake Vainio helped create a mood and it was good.

Starry Night Over Duluth