Take a short, scenic drive south out of Santa Fe, following a winding road through the Galisteo Basin until you come to La Sala de San José, a historic dance hall dating to the 1890s. Step inside this hallowed communal cultural space and you’ll find the Indigenous-owned and -operated Duende Gallery, an intimate oasis of contemporary art that places prominent and emerging artists together in timely and compelling conversation.
Jeffrey Gibson (Mississippi Choctaw/Cherokee), SAY A PRAYER, 2021, lithograph, 3815/16 x 30¼ in. Collaborating Printers: Valpuri Remling and Lindsey Sigmon. Printed and published by Tamarind Institute, ed. of 20.
Co-founded by business and life partners Jaime Herrell (Cherokee Nation) and Robert King (Choctaw), Duende’s current exhibition, Marking the Margins, was created in collaboration with the Tamarind Institute. Drawing from the institute’s archives, the exhibition presents a meticulously selected collection of unique and limited-edition prints from 18 artists whose relationships with Tamarind collectively span more than six decades. Among them are Native artists Jeffrey Gibson (Mississippi Choctaw/Cherokee), Jaune Quick-to-See Smith (Confederated Salish/Kootenai Nation), Rose B. Simpson (Tewa of Kha,p,oe Ówîngeh), Marie Watt (Seneca Nation), Raven Chacon (Navajo (Diné)), Emmi Whitehorse (Navajo (Diné)) and Duane Slick (Meskwaki). More prints by renowned artists, including Ruth Asawa, Kerry James Marshall and Harmony Hammond, join them on Duende’s adobe walls.
“Jaime and I curate pieces that we find personally meaningful, beautiful and important,” King says, “and we curate those with other works, which may or may not be Native, that we view in the same fashion.”
Robert King (Choctaw), man/beast No. 2 (future fossils), 2026, stoneware, 18 x 14 in.
Beyond selecting which prints to include from the massive archive, how the pieces were placed in the gallery space was also a carefully considered facet of the exhibition.
Herrell recalls asking: “How can we put Jeffrey Gibson in conversation with Kerry James Marshall, Raven Chacon with Michelle Stuart, Marie Watt with Harmony Hammond and Ruth Asawa to create narratives about motherhood, care, love and being vulnerable like an open book?”
Rose B. Simpson (Tewa of Kha,p,oe Ówîngeh), Let Story Go, 2021, 10-color lithograph with dusting and chine collé, 60 x 28 in. Collaborating Printers: Valpuri Remling and Alyssa Ebinger. Printed and published by Tamarind Institute, ed. of 20.
In the show, Gibson’s Say a Prayer (2021), a 21-color lithograph whose bold graphics and evocative text explore devotion and faith, finds a natural counterpart in Marshall’s seven-color Memento (1996). Watt’s Blanket Stories Continuum (2007) and Simpson’s Let Story Go (2021) are joined by their reverence for the power of storytelling, while Whitehorse’s Falling Water [State I] (2003), Slick’s The Coyote Flower: Polka-dot Faboo (1993), and others, present mixed motifs of the natural world.
Marking the Margins offers visitors not only a diverse survey of artists who have worked with the renowned printmaking center, but also a glimpse into the collaborative process behind these works.
“One of the things that really opened my eyes when visiting their archives,” King says, “and seeing the work that was available to us for this show, was how good the Tamarind master printers are at helping artists realize their vision and create dimensionality.”
Tamarind’s master printers work closely with artists to translate ideas into lithography, a process that can involve layering, reversal and transfer, as well as intricate, delicate negotiations between artist and printer.
Robert King (Choctaw), Sebastian (black needles), 2026, stoneware, 15 x 8½ in.
Kerry James Marshall, Memento, 1996, lithograph with gold powder, 30¼ x 441/16 in. Collaborating Printer: Ross Zirkle. Printed and published by Tamarind Institute, ed. of 33. Institutional Acquisition Only.
“Every one of our wall texts lists the printmakers that collaborated with the artist, which is really important,” Herrell says. The names of the printers are part of each piece’s story, acknowledging printmaking as a dialogue rather than a solitary act of authorship.
That spirit of mutual respect has also defined Duende’s relationship with Tamarind. “For them to trust us to be stewards of the work, to uphold professional integrity maintaining the work, speaking about the work, honoring the artists, has really felt good,” King says. “It’s been a beautiful partnership for us.”
IAIA students view a work by Fritz Scholder (Luiseño)
Marking the Margins grew from a casual conversation with Tamarind gallery director Marissa Fassano, a serendipitous idea that might have fallen through the cracks at a larger institution. But Herrell and King’s openness to unexpected collaborations is one of their gallery’s greatest strengths, and one that will continue to shape what comes next for Duende.
“We’re hesitant to plan too far ahead for the shows we host,” King says. “We’re interested in being relevant to the moment as best we can.”
Ruth Asawa, Babies, 1965, lithograph, 171/8 x 231/16 in. Collaborating Printer: Kinji Akagawa. Printed and published by Tamarind Lithography Workshop, ed. of 20. Institutional Acquisition Only.
“We have the privilege, and I believe the responsibility, to use our no-red-tape setup to curate into the immediate present,” Herrell adds.
Both in its execution and its essence, Marking the Margins has upheld another of Duende Gallery’s core values in its ongoing run.
“There’s something about print that just feels accessible to people,” King says. “And so much of what we do at Duende is about accessibility. Making sure that, as Jaime says, ‘the granny off the pueblo can get something out of the show, and so can the cowboy down the street in Galisteo, and the art academics.’”
With Marking the Margins on view through November 30, there’s still time to make the drive to Galisteo to experience the exhibition firsthand. As King says, “You don’t know what you’re going to feel until you’re immersed in the building itself.” —
Duende Gallery
Through November 30, 2026
5637 Highway 41, Galisteo, NM 87540, www.duendegallery.net
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