Heard Museum | Phoenix, AZ

Larger Than Memory

The Heard Museum presents a large collection of contemporary art from Indigenous North America.

The Heard Museum in of Phoenix is making history with the largest exhibition of contemporary art they’ve ever organized. The exhibition, titled Larger Than Memory: Contemporary Art from Indigenous North America, features more than 40 works by 24 artists from different nations and communities from the U.S. and Canada.

Meryl McMaster (Plains Cree), What Will I Say to the Sky and the Earth II, 2019, chromogenic print mounted to aluminum composite panel, ed. 1/5, 40 x 60". Heard Museum Collection, gift of Kathleen L. and William G. Howard.

“Diversity was a big part of what we wanted to accomplish as far as the communities these artists are from,” says Erin Joyce, fine art co-curator, alongside Diana Pardue, chief curator. “There’s also a lot of diversity with the artists’ age ranges and stages in their careers. In terms of the works themselves, it was also important to have diversity in the mediums these artists explore.”

Mediums include painting, textiles, photography and even soft sculpture that takes form in 10- to 12-foot-tall earrings. In addition, there are large murals, diptychs, sculpture and film installations. The museum also received several commissioned pieces made just for the exhibition.

Jaune Quick-to-See Smith (Confederated Salish and Kootenai/French Cree/Shoshone) and Neal Inuksois Ambrose-Smith (Confederated Salish and Kootenai), Trade Canoe: Fry Bread, wood lath, artificial sinew, fry bread and varnish, 19 x 120 x 18". Courtesy the artists and Garth Greenan Gallery, New York.

“These artists’ careers are not in terms of where they sit in the art world, but what they’re saying about the art world, art institutions and what they’re experiencing in their communities,” furthers Joyce. “The artists explore issues like human impact on the environment and how it manifests into environmental racism, through institutions and corporations in the oil and gas industries, as well as the effect of colonial diet on Indigenous communities.”

Colonial diet themes are seen in the work of collaborative artists Jaune Quick-to-See Smith and Neal Inuksois Ambrose-Smith, both from the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Nation, in their piece Trade Canoe: Fry Bread. Their installation of a wooden canoe filled with fry bread tackles issues surrounding fry bread as a “traditional negative food.”

Mike Patten (Zagime Anishinabek), Little Red Dots, 2017, digital slide show. Collection of the artist.

“Indigenous people created fry bread and other foods out of what was given to them, but they’ve had some devasting effects such as high rates of diabetes, obesity and hypertension,” Joyce explains. “They created this work as a way of sending it back to the colonizer, to make a return to Indigenous food ways.”

Artist Mike Patten (Zagime Anishinabek) explores themes about the commodification of Indigenous cultures by dominate culture with his digital slide show Little Red Dots. The video shows the artist slowly placing red stickers (typically used in the art world to indicate a piece that has sold) all over his face, until he’s completely covered. “[The piece] is also referencing biological warfare, such as small pox used by the U.S. government on Indigenous cultures,” says Joyce. “Although the video only runs for one minute, what’s being discussed is quite dense and visually very powerful.”

Nanibah Chacon (Diné), What Dreams Are Made Of, acrylic on canvas, 72 x 240". Collection of the artist. Photo by Pat Berrett.

Other works in the show continue to “look at the way in which art can be attendant to social justice and how to break down the dominate culture lens,” Joyce says. “We’re looking at this project as a step toward space making [for Indigenous cultures] in the art world and decolonizing colonial spaces, like museums.”

Viewers are encouraged to take time to consider what they see in each piece, and to consider the stories from both the artists’ perspective and from their own. Don’t miss the opportunity to be a part of the conversation. The Heard is currently open with safety procedures in place for all to enjoy the exhibition through January 3.

Through January 3, 2021
Larger Than Memory: Contemporary Art from Indigenous North America
Heard Museum
2301 N. Central Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85004
(602) 252-9757, www.heard.org