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# New Poster Exhibition Showcases the Importance and Impact of Indigenous Designers
- URL: https://hyperallergic.com/new-poster-exhibition-showcases-the-importance-and-impact-of-indigenous-designers/
- Published: 2026-10-02T14:30:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-02T21:41:17.000Z
- Description: “Designed to Be Red: Native American & Indigenous Poster Works” is now on view at Poster House in New York City through February 21, 2027.
- Author: Poster House
- Tags: Announcement, Exhibition Announcement, Poster House, Sponsored

In November 2022, Brian Johnson (Monacan Indian Nation) gave a lecture called “Posters That Sing: Notes on Indigenous Poster Design” at [Poster House](https://bit.ly/4AD2cmC?ref=hyperallergic.com) in New York City. Shortly afterwards, he was asked to curate a show for the museum.

The culmination of the years of work that followed is the exhibition [*Designed to Be Red: Native American & Indigenous Poster Works*](https://bit.ly/4iSzsQs?ref=hyperallergic.com), which is currently on view at Poster House through February 21, 2027\. Johnson has also authored an expanded companion text, *Designed to Be Red: Native American & Indigenous Graphic Works*, now available at the [museum’s shop](https://bit.ly/4ymufFx?ref=hyperallergic.com). 

“Native students and friends ask me, ‘Where are our books? What works should drive and inspire my practice?’” Johnson said. “This exhibition is my answer.”

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/2026/09/data-src-image-a60eea35-004e-4a69-b40f-eae3197fc93a.jpeg)

Images from left: **Indian Power*, c. 1971, Designer Once Known, Collection of Michael Lellouche; **Alcatraz Proved a Point*, c. 1972, Joseph "Indian Joe" Morris (1921–2009, Blackfeet Nation), Poster House Permanent Collection; **Let Us Put Our Minds Together*, c. 1975, Akwesasne Notes (Mohawk Nation at Akwesasne), Poster House Permanent Collection

Covering over 100 years of visual history, *Designed to Be Red* challenges colonialist narratives around design, showing that Indigenous perspectives have always been integral to the practice. Whether making psychedelic posters, protest art, or public service announcements, Native designers have influenced how we see the world. Modern works by artists like [Kent Monkman](https://bit.ly/4htuFmd?ref=hyperallergic.com) (Fish River Cree Nation), [Jeffrey Gibson](https://bit.ly/4y0aEtO?ref=hyperallergic.com) (Mississippi Choctaw/Cherokee), and [SIYO-WIN](https://bit.ly/3TVxYuv?ref=hyperallergic.com) (Dakota Sioux/Mexican) show how that influence persists into the present.

“Until recently, we were seen primarily as craft makers and ethnographic objects.” Johnson said. “This show stands out because Native Americans are still here. We are designing.”

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/2026/09/data-src-image-3de787c2-3e18-43af-9f4f-5b588f2a23ae.jpeg)

Images from left: **Anniversary of the National Museum of the American Indian*, 2009, Ryan Red Corn (b. 1979, Osage Nation), Poster House Permanent Collection; **For Indians Only/Light Show*, 1967, Alfred Young Man (b. 1948, Cree \[Chippewa Cree Indians of the Rocky Boy’s Reservation\]), Courtesy of IAIA Archives, Santa Fe, NM; **Because Once You Enter My House, It Becomes Our House*, 2021, Jeffrey Gibson (b. 1972, Mississippi Choctaw/Cherokee) and Dana Claxton (b. 1959, Hunkpapa Lakota \[Wood Mountain Lakota First Nations\]), Courtesy of the Artist

*Designed to Be Red* offers a record of contemporary Native American life, featuring a stretched animal hide inscribed with the Proclamation for the [Indian Occupation of Alcatraz](https://bit.ly/4rDZTMb?ref=hyperallergic.com), posters from the protests against the [Dakota Access Pipeline](https://bit.ly/4AHjFKM?ref=hyperallergic.com), and works raising awareness for [murdered and missing Indigenous women](https://bit.ly/4hAy7vr?ref=hyperallergic.com). Johnson’s exhibition also shows that Native life is not defined by struggle: other posters include an exuberant 1990s census campaign and an Indigenous tribute to the Marvel cinematic universe.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/2026/09/data-src-image-387b623c-d3ab-4f55-a615-7a7ee42afeb1.jpeg)

Images from left: **ᎧᎹᎹ Kamama*, 2022, Monique Ortman (b. 1987, Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma), Private Collection, Turtle Island; **Count Yourself In!*, 1986, Rocky Fiddler (b. 1959, Cree \[Sandy Lake First Nation\]), Poster House Permanent Collection; **You Are On \_\_\_\_\_ Land*, 2017, Warren Montoya (b. 1982, Tamaya/Kha'po Owingeh) and Jaclyn Roessel (b. 1983, Diné \[Navajo\]), Private Collection, Turtle Island

The exhibition contains five sections: “Indigenous Joy,” “Creative Sovereignty,” “Resistance and Protest,” “It’s Complicated,” and “Extractive Marketing.” The latter section hosts some of the exhibition’s most mainstream — and most problematic — posters, including one that uses a still from the infamous [1971 “crying Indian” TV ad](https://bit.ly/47mZ1lz?ref=hyperallergic.com). “Extractive Marketing” is cordoned off from the rest of the exhibition, and viewers are intentionally redirected back to “Indigenous Joy” after viewing it.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/2026/09/data-src-image-016bf806-d39a-448a-88e4-e16a00fb1106.jpeg)

Images from left: **We Are Still Here*, 2024, Jimmy Dean Horn (b. 1988, Chickasaw Nation), Courtesy of the Artist; **Protect the Sacred*, 2024, Siyowin (Lauren S. Peters, b. 1997, Dakota Sioux/Mexican), Private Collection, Turtle Island; **Water is Life*, c. 2016, Onaman Collective \[Christi Belcourt (b. 1966, Métis) and Isaac Murdoch (b. 1975, Ojibwe, Serpent River First Nation)\], Polymode Foundation Collect, Courtesy of the Artist

“The past tense is a weapon deployed to consign us to museum dioramas,” said Johnson. Indeed, *Designed to Be Red* stands out for its rigorously modern approach, providing a stark contrast to exhibitions of Indigenous works at larger institutions.

Learn more at [posterhouse.org](https://bit.ly/4AD2cmC?ref=hyperallergic.com).