The National Museum of the American Indian Presents Water’s Edge: The Art of Truman Lowe
The first major retrospective of acclaimed artist Truman Lowe (Hoocąk [Ho-Chunk]), features nearly 50 evocative sculptures and drawings.
On view at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC, Water’s Edge: The Art of Truman Lowe is the first major retrospective of work by acclaimed artist Truman Lowe (1944–2019). Featuring nearly 50 sculptures and drawings, the exhibition reflects on Lowe’s Hoocąk (Ho-Chunk) cultural traditions, memory, and relationships with water and place.
This landmark show brings together for the first time many of Truman Lowe’s monumental sculptures and significant works from public and private collections, including 28 from the National Museum of the American Indian.
“Truman Lowe’s art reflects on the waters and woodlands of his home, as well as family and cultural traditions, memory and knowledge,” said Rebecca Head Trautmann, exhibition curator. “We are excited to share his work and his story with our visitors.”
As an artist, museum curator, university educator and mentor, Lowe influenced generations of emerging artists, scholars and curators. He left an enduring legacy to the fields of American and Native North American art. An internationally exhibited artist, Lowe also taught sculpture for 35 years at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and was the founding curator of contemporary art at the National Museum of the American Indian. While there, he significantly expanded the museum’s contemporary art collection.
Leading support for the exhibition is provided by Bank of America. Major support is provided by the Henry Luce Foundation. Generous support is provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art and Ameriprise Financial. Additional support is provided by John and Meryl Lavine, Greg and Cathy Tibbles, and Leslie A. Wheelock.
Exhibition Catalog
The catalog for the show celebrates the artist’s life and career in a retrospective featuring more than 100 images and intimate insights on his original and evocative sculptures and drawings.
The catalog explores the overlapping themes of moving water, woodland structures, memory and knowledge, and landscape and place that permeate Lowe’s work. Essays from scholars contextualize the art within his life, career, and heritage, including the repeated expulsion of the Hoocąk people from their ancestral homeland and their resolve to return. In deeply moving reflections, fellow artists share their connections to Lowe, his influence on their lives and work, and his impact on American art.
To offer an intimate look at Lowe’s influences and process, Water’s Edge includes personal and historical photos of his family and studio.
The exhibition is on view at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC, through January 2027.
To learn more, visit AmericanIndian.si.edu.
