About Face: Self Portraits by Native American, First Nation, and Inuit Artists
By Zena Pearlstone and Allan J. Ryan (2006)
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By Zena Pearlstone and Allan J. Ryan (2006)
Published in conjunction with the first exhibition of its kind, About Face includes sixty-two self-portraits by indigenous artists of the United States and Canada who work in a variety of media, from pottery and stone sculpture to acrylic painting and digital photography. In works created over the last four decades, artists celebrate their communal and cultural connections, explore the complexities of living in two worlds, contest the legacy of damaging stereotypes, and exalt in the healing powers of artistic practice. Their works are at once conceptually sophisticated, disarming, engaging, insightful, frequently amusing, and sometimes frightening in their candor and intimacy. For all their indigenous particularity, the works are united by a common humanity. The artists, their creations, and their words leave a lasting impression.
Also in this volume, six writers trace the development of self-portraiture in the West from the Renaissance to the present day, consider the evolution of Native American self-representation from its early focus on communal identity, and examine the emergence of individualistic portrayals. Their essays illuminate the diversity and complexity of the self-portraits in About Face—self-representations that interface, both literally and metaphorically, with one another and with viewers and readers in an ongoing conversation about difference and identity.
Artists included:
Joe Feddersen, Nisha Supahan, David Bradley, Shan Goshorn, Okpik Pitseolak, Jolene Rickard, Arthur Shilling, Neil David, Sr., Brian Honyouti, Roxanne Swentzell, Kathleen Carlo, Mattiusi Iyaituk, Joe David, Jesse Cooday, Frederick McDonald, David Neel, David Ruben Piqtoukun, Rick Bartow, Robert Davidson, Rebecca Belmore, Carl Beam, Napachie Pootoogook, Oviloo Tunnillie, G. Peter Jemison, Harry Fonseca, Bill Powless, Ukjese Van Kampen, Pierre Sioui, Allen Sapp, Norval Morrisseau, Joane Cardinal-Schubert, Rosemary Lonewolf, Ron Senungetuk, Melanie Yazzie, Kay WalkingStick, George Littlechild, Viviane Gray, Susan Stewart Medicine Horse, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Rosalie Favell, Jeffrey Thomas, Carm Little Turtle, Ernie Pepion, Lucita Woodis, R. Gary Miller, Robert Markle, Riel Benn
200 pages; 90 illustrations
Additional Essays by
Joanna Woods Marsden, Joanna Roche, Janet Catherine Berlo, and Lucy R. Lippard
Forward by
Gerald R. McMaster