Jeffrey Gibson, an acclaimed artist whose works include a thought-provoking 2022-2023 exhibition at the Portland Art Museum, has been chosen to represent the United States in the 60th Venice Biennale in 2024. The U.S. Pavilion will be presented by the Portland Art Museum and New Mexico’s SITE Santa Fe, and is co-commissioned by Kathleen Ash-Milby, Curator of Native American Art at the Portland Art Museum; Louis Grachos, Phillips Executive Director of SITE Santa Fe; and Abigail Winograd, an independent curator.
Gibson, 51, is a member of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and is of Cherokee descent. He will be the first Indigenous artist to represent the U.S. as a solo artist in the history of the Biennale, which was established in 1895.
The exhibition is also the first to be co-commissioned and co-curated by a Native American curator. Ash-Milby, who is co-curating with Winograd, is a member of the Navajo Nation.
Gibson’s heritage isn’t the only factor that makes his inclusion in the 2024 Biennale significant, Ash-Milby said. “He was the right artist for this honor, and at the same time, this is a very big deal in that for the first time the United States is choosing a Native person to represent them in this very important venue.”
Artist Jeffrey Gibson
The Venice Biennale is a globally prestigious cultural event, often called “The Olympics of the Art World.” The Biennale is notable for its international scope, which, every two years, showcases a broad spectrum of artists whose works are displayed in national pavilions.
The United States Pavilion opened in 1930, and is managed by the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, which works with the U.S. Department of State and curators to install U.S. exhibitions in the pavilion.
Kathleen Ash-Milby is Curator of Native American Art at the Portland Art Museum.
“We’re all thrilled,” Ash-Milby, 53, said of the Biennale honor. While she and Gibson have known each other for years, many Portlanders may have gotten their first look at the artist’s work with “Jeffrey Gibson: They Come From Fire,” a site-specific installation that was at the Portland Art Museum from October 2022 through early 2023.
That show reflected aspects of Gibson’s work, including his interest in examining issues and concerns surrounding Indigenous, LGBTQ+ and other traditionally marginalized communities.
Without going into specifics about just what he will be creating for the Biennale, which opens in April 2024, and runs through November 2024, Gibson said the U.S. Pavilion’s 1930s history had him “thinking a lot about how the position of Native and Indigenous people in the U.S. and globally have shifted since that time.”
The "Jeffrey Gibson: They Come From Fire" installation that opened at the Portland Art Museum in October 2022 included a large wall of photographs of local community members. Beth Nakamura/StaffThe Oregonian
Gibson’s work is also known for its vibrant blend of color, and imaginative applications of media including painting, sculpture, video, beadwork, text and more.
Materials he uses are often considered Native American, Gibson said. “But they really are global materials,” such as beads that were produced in Venice. “There’s a history of Native influence going back and forth between Native America and the rest of the world that’s always been of interest to me. I’m hoping people will be able to see themselves in the work, because if we stop and think, we have to acknowledge how many different cultural influences there are in our lives.”
In his art, Gibson said, “My goal is for people to engage.” Gibson said he seeks to provide so much information in the artwork that people will be pulled in, and be able “to go as deep as they want to go.”
Gibson, whose work is included in the permanent collections of such institutions as the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, and the National Gallery of Canada, spoke to Ash-Milby about applying to be in the Biennale last fall.
The two had made an earlier visit to the Biennale, Ash-Milby said, and “We talked about him representing the United States in Venice. So, it’s always been a dream.”
Last fall, Gibson said he thought he was ready to apply, and he told Ash-Milby he wanted her to be involved, along with Louis Grachos, with whom Gibson had worked on a project at the SITE Santa Fe contemporary art space, and Abigail Winograd, an independent curator Gibson with whom Gibson had also worked.
While the Biennale selection comes with a grant, Ash-Milby said the team would still need to do additional fundraising for the project.
For now, Ash-Milby said, she’s excited to focus on Gibson and the Biennale. “His work is about acknowledging the past, but also looking forward to the future. He’s very inclusive in his work, and it’s often focused on bringing in community as participants, as he did here in Portland. He wants everyone to feel welcome in the space he’s creating.”
The role of the Portland Art Museum in the world-renowned Biennale will also reflect well on the Rose City institution and the West Coast in general, Ash-Milby said.
“I think it’s going to be really great for the region.”
— Kristi Turnquist
503-221-8227; kturnquist@oregonian.com; @Kristiturnquist
Our journalism needs your support. Please become a subscriber today at OregonLive.com/subscribe
"artist" - Google News
July 27, 2023 at 10:03PM
https://ift.tt/9OvtRcZ
Artist Jeffrey Gibson, Portland Art Museum curator among team representing U.S. in 2024 Venice Biennale - OregonLive
"artist" - Google News
https://ift.tt/cEr67Fu
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Artist Jeffrey Gibson, Portland Art Museum curator among team representing U.S. in 2024 Venice Biennale - OregonLive"
Post a Comment