Past Forward: Native American Art from Gilcrease Museum
Friday, February 16, 2024 - Sunday, April 28, 2024
PAST FORWARD: NATIVE AMERICAN ART FROM GILCREASE MUSEUM
In 1949 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, a new museum opened to the public, conceived and funded by Thomas Gilcrease, a citizen of the Muscogee Nation. Gilcrease had amassed a fortune in Oklahoma’s oil fields and had been assembling a collection for decades. During his lifetime, the museum focused on Indigenous art and history, including outsiders’ views of Native cultures. In addition, Gilcrease worked directly with Indigenous artists to buy work and shape the collection. Later, the museum grew to include the archival and artistic heritage of the Western Hemisphere more generally.
Past Forward delves into the deep holdings of Native American history and culture initially stewarded by the collector and cared for by Gilcrease Museum for over seven decades. It focuses especially on art from the heartland (the Southwest, the Great Plains, and the Southeast) from the late nineteenth century to the present, emphasizing the complexities of Native American art history. The selection is complemented by ancient carved stones and by a few works by Euro-American artists to highlight ways in which Native art exists both independent of and in conversation with Euro-American narratives. Native art is not an addendum to or a facet of American art, and it is not beholden to Western art historical periodization. It reflects the ways in which Indigenous peoples have preceded, encountered, and adapted to changing circumstances for millennia. As a result, Native arts and cultures are diverse not only across the continent, but within individual communities, as well. This exhibition foregrounds Indigenous innovation, adaptation, and sovereignty.
Past Forward is divided into four sections: two in this gallery, Ceremony and Sovereignty, and two in the adjacent gallery, Visual Abstraction and Identity It does not divide works based on time period, but rather provides a space in which artworks, artists, and ideas from different eras can converse with one another. When Native American art is considered, it necessitates consideration of the past, present, and future of Native art and artists at the same time. Future-thinking for Native peoples is inherently tied to knowledge systems, passed from one generation to the next. This ensures the survival and the vitality of Indigenous cultures.
Past Forward: Native American Art from Gilcrease Museum is co-organized by the American Federation of Arts and the Thomas Gilcrease Institute of American History and Art.
The exhibition is co-curated by Chelsea M. Herr, Jack and Maxine Zarrow Curator for Indigenous Art and Culture at Gilcrease Museum, and Janet Catherine Berlo, Professor of Art History (Emerita) at the University of Rochester.
The Ackland’s presentation of this exhibition has been made possible by the William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust, the Arthur F. and Alice E. Adams Charitable Foundation, and Jeff and Liesl Wilke ’92 (JD).
In 1949 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, a new museum opened to the public, conceived and funded by Thomas Gilcrease, a citizen of the Muscogee Nation. Gilcrease had amassed a fortune in Oklahoma’s oil fields and had been assembling a collection for decades. During his lifetime, the museum focused on Indigenous art and history, including outsiders’ views of Native cultures. In addition, Gilcrease worked directly with Indigenous artists to buy work and shape the collection. Later, the museum grew to include the archival and artistic heritage of the Western Hemisphere more generally.
Past Forward delves into the deep holdings of Native American history and culture initially stewarded by the collector and cared for by Gilcrease Museum for over seven decades. It focuses especially on art from the heartland (the Southwest, the Great Plains, and the Southeast) from the late nineteenth century to the present, emphasizing the complexities of Native American art history. The selection is complemented by ancient carved stones and by a few works by Euro-American artists to highlight ways in which Native art exists both independent of and in conversation with Euro-American narratives. Native art is not an addendum to or a facet of American art, and it is not beholden to Western art historical periodization. It reflects the ways in which Indigenous peoples have preceded, encountered, and adapted to changing circumstances for millennia. As a result, Native arts and cultures are diverse not only across the continent, but within individual communities, as well. This exhibition foregrounds Indigenous innovation, adaptation, and sovereignty.
Past Forward is divided into four sections: two in this gallery, Ceremony and Sovereignty, and two in the adjacent gallery, Visual Abstraction and Identity It does not divide works based on time period, but rather provides a space in which artworks, artists, and ideas from different eras can converse with one another. When Native American art is considered, it necessitates consideration of the past, present, and future of Native art and artists at the same time. Future-thinking for Native peoples is inherently tied to knowledge systems, passed from one generation to the next. This ensures the survival and the vitality of Indigenous cultures.
Past Forward: Native American Art from Gilcrease Museum is co-organized by the American Federation of Arts and the Thomas Gilcrease Institute of American History and Art.
The exhibition is co-curated by Chelsea M. Herr, Jack and Maxine Zarrow Curator for Indigenous Art and Culture at Gilcrease Museum, and Janet Catherine Berlo, Professor of Art History (Emerita) at the University of Rochester.
The Ackland’s presentation of this exhibition has been made possible by the William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust, the Arthur F. and Alice E. Adams Charitable Foundation, and Jeff and Liesl Wilke ’92 (JD).