After a distinguished career in education administration and social work, Upton “Greyshoes” Ethelbah Jr. (Santa Clara/White Mountain Apache) turned to sculpture in his retirement and began another distinguished career. In 2009 he was named the Native Treasures Living Treasure by the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture, the same year he won his first First Place in Marble Sculpture at Santa Fe Indian Market for his Mountain Spirit Dancer.
Greyshoes (Upton S. Ethelbah Jr.) (Santa Clara/White Mountain Apache), Gaan Dancer, bronze, ed. of 30, 22 x 11 x 5"
George Rivera (Pojoaque Pueblo), Lightning Boy—Tzigiwhaeno, bronze, ed. of 12, 25 x 28"
His sculptures are often of dancers, their sensuous curves inspired by the movement of the dancers’ bodies and their regalia. Gaan Dancer represents a participant in an Apache healing and renewal ceremony. The dancers in the Crown Dance at White Mountain are the Gaan or mountain spirits. The Gaan dancers also prepare the ground for the coming of age ceremonies of young Apache women.
Nocona Burgess (Comanche), Quanah Parker - War Bonnet, acrylic, 24 x 48"
Gaan Dancer will be in the exhibition Culture, Connection and Change: Five Indigenous Artists Explore Traditional Arts in Modern Times at Manitou Galleries’ Palace Avenue location in Santa Fe, New Mexico, August 19 through 30. The gallery will have extended hours August 19 and 20 preceding Indian Market. It will be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Participating artists, in addition to Ethelbah, are Nocona Burgess (Comanche), Ed Natiya (Diné), George Rivera (Pojoaque) and William Rogers (Diné).
William Rogers (Diné), Japanese Yei Maiden, mixed media, 59 x 25 x 15"
Greyshoes (Upton S. Ethelbah Jr.) (Santa Clara/White Mountain Apache), Apache Mountain Spirit, bronze, ed. of 22, 34 x 20 x 12"
Rivera portrays a special dancer in his sculpture Lightning Boy—Tzigiwhaeno. His son, Valentino Tzigiwhaeno Rivera, who had been dancing and running since he was a baby, proclaimed, at the age of 4, that he was going to be a hoop dancer. At the age of 5 he was the youngest dancer in the Pueblo of Pojoaque Youth Hoop Dance Group. In 2014, the group performed in Paris and La Rochelle, France, and later in Geneva, Switzerland, where they performed at the U.S. Embassy. The young dancer, whose name means lightning, was seriously injured in an automobile accident in 2015. He struggled like a warrior to recover but died the following year. Lightning Boy celebrates his indomitable spirit.
Ed Natiya (Navajo(Diné)), Manuelito - Man of the Four Corners, bronze, ed. of 25, 25 x 18 x 9”
Nocona Burgess (Comanche), Quanah Parker - Eagle Feather, acrylic, 24 x 48”
William Rogers (Diné), Four Feathers, mixed media, 80 x 27 x 3”
Burgess celebrates another warrior in his painting Quanah Parker—War Bonnet. Parker (ca. 1845-1911) was the last chief of the Comanche. He had been a warrior but became a statesman and advocated for the education of his people. Burgess depicts his great-great-grandfather in strong, colorful profile. The artist is steeped in the history of his family and of his tribe and, like Quanah Parker, is an educator. He brings the Indigenous people we see in vintage and white photos to colorful life, introducing their vitality and stories to a new century.
Manitou Galleries
August 19-20, 2021
123 W. Palace Avenue, Santa Fe, NM 87501
(505) 986-0440, www.manitougalleries.com
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