New Myth: Contemporary Artists Of Native American Descent

The Arts Club is delighted to present New Myth, a timely new exhibition centred around six American artists whose vibrant, raw, and poetic works traverse their cultural roots and their lives today. For too long the commodification of traditional Native art seemingly, falsely, suspended Native American artistic practices somewhere in the past, obscuring more recent histories and ever-evolving visual languages. The artists featured here balance personal and familial histories with contemporary artistic, societal, and political concerns, forging practices that address our constantly shifting present.

Included in the exhibition are: Gisela McDaniel (b. 1995), a diasporic, Indigenous CHamoru artist whose work explores the effects of trauma, displacement and colonisation, largely through portraits of women and non-binary people who identity as minority ethnic; Julie Buffalohead (b. 1972), an artist from the Ponca Tribe of Oklahoma whose work describes indigenous cultural experiences through personal metaphor and narrative, frequently critiquing the prejudicial commercialisation of Native American culture and representations of the Old West; Cannupa Hanska Luger (b.1979), a member of the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation whose installations combine performance and political action to communicate stories about the experiences of 21^st century indigenous people; Esteban Cabeza de Baca (b.1985), an artist of Mexican and Native American heritage whose work draws on influences ranging from petroglyphs to Jackson Pollock and interrogates complex relationships between colonialism and its critiques; Jaune Quick-to-See Smith (b.1940), a member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Nation, Montana, who incorporates appropriated imagery, commercial slogans and signage, and art historical references into her work to create a powerful visual language that engages with socio-political commentary; and Mario Martinez, a member of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona whose expansive canvases full of writhing forms combine an admiration for the New York School and Abstract Expressionism with an emphasis on the historical interest in abstraction amongst indigenous cultures.

New Myth comes at a time when a wider movement to recognise contemporary indigenous artists from different cultures across the globe is gaining momentum across museums, biennales, galleries and academia. Art History is undergoing a major paradigm shift in whose stories are selected and told, and by whom, of which these artists are a key part, in addition to the unique beautiful visual languages they’ve individually created.  Arts Club members and the public are invited to contemplate the ever-evolving ideas and aesthetics that these works embody.

The exhibition programme at The Arts Club London and Dubai is curated by Amelie von Wedel and Pernilla Holmes of Wedel Art. We are very grateful to the artists, lenders and gallery teams for their generosity and collaboration on this exhibition.

The exhibition runs from 23rd May 2024 – 22nd September 2024.

For all enquiries and to access the exhibition on Wednesdays as a member of the public please contact: Wedel Art at email@wedelart.com

To access the exhibition on Saturdays as a member of the public please contact: Reservations team at reservations@theartsclub.co.uk

Kindly note, members of the public are welcome to view the exhibition, however we will not be able to fulfil any requests for food or beverages.