Meryl McMaster (Plains Cree/Blackfoot, born 1988), “Anima (In-Between Worlds series)” detail (2012), digital chromogenic print. Museum Purchase: Eiteljorg Fellowship
See contemporary art that surprises, dazzles and intrigues you. See Native Art Now!, an exhibit of some of the most compelling and best contemporary Native American artworks of the past 25 years, selected from the Eiteljorg Museum’s permanent collection. The Eiteljorg is home to one of the nation’s best collections of contemporary Native art.
Defying conventional notions of Indigenous art styles, Native Art Now! celebrates the broad continuum of Native expression in North America. It’s a fascinating collection of paintings, sculpture, installations, glass and fabric artof many styles — imbued with thousands of years of Native American cultural history.
What distinguishes contemporary Native art from other contemporary art? “The difference between a contemporary artist and contemporary Native artist is about 15,000 years,” says Jennifer Complo McNutt, curator of contemporary art at the Eiteljorg Museum in Indianapolis. “Contemporary Native artists have knowledge about their ancestors, traditions and cultures that spans thousands of years. That changes the way you see the world.”
Since 1999, the Eiteljorg Museum’s nationally renowned biennial Eiteljorg Contemporary Art Fellowship has recognized leading indigenous artists in the United States and Canada. This year’s presentation, Native Art Now!, includes a retrospective, a major survey book and feature documentary film that provides a broad look at the field.
Learn more at Eiteljorg.org/NativeArtNow.
Native Art Now! comtinues at the Eiteljorg Museum (500 West Washington Street, Indianapolis, Indiana) through January 28, 2018.
