Indian Art Exhibit Shows Humor With A Satirical Bite

Although no art should rely on text to legitimize its purpose, much can be gained by assimilating the words that accompany the art exhibit “Indian Humor” at the Cheney Cowles Museum.

The 38 participating Native American artists were asked to contribute a statement with their artworks, and most complied. The resulting combination of art and text allows the viewer to get the inside jokes in the works, humor that otherwise might be misunderstood.

Much of the “Indian Humor” exhibit directs itself at the duality of life as a contemporary Native American in today’s society, which is often a struggle between two cultures that are not easily reconciled.

Several artists express ironies of living in mainstream America’s culture of mass consumption, when frequently that which is consumed is Native American culture itself. Images drawing from Native American culture pervade commercial America, and likewise pervade this exhibition, in the forms of Land O Lakes butter cartons, sports mascots and even olive oil advertisements.

The very contemporary forms of these artworks, with their strong colors and incorporation of pop, kitsch and assembled materials, confront mainstream culture’s consumption of Native American artistic heritage. The touches of beadwork, for instance, in completely untraditional forms stand as a reminder that although the pursuit of “authentic” Native American artifacts abounds in today’s market, there is less recognition of the art being created by today’s Native American artists that doesn’t follow the stereotypical route.

Allusions to the past appear in this art, and much of the humor has a bite. Harry Fonseca’s paintings, for example, depict the Coyote, the Native American folk trickster. Despite the seeming silliness, undertones refer to a darker content.

The humor in this exhibition is not all wielded as a weapon, nor is the art nostalgic.

The artistic humor in “Indian Humor” can be viewed as simple success: Who wouldn’t laugh at the sight of the “Iron Horse Jacket (with Brooke Shields),” with its beaded version of Shields in bikini on the back of a studded leather jacket?

However, in reality the humor is not so simple, and for that reason it is good to fully hear the voices in this art - as well as see all there is to see.

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: ART REVIEW “Indian Humor,” through April 21, at the Cheney Cowles Museum.