Native American Art

Sunday dawned bright and free of obligations.  I hoped to seize the opportunity to spend time on my knitting and my sewing, as I am getting to a point where I am pretty desperately in need of clothes.   Indeed I did spend a few hours at the sewing machine even though that meant spending less time knitting. 

Whereas I looked forward to a day with "nothing to do", G was less thrilled and was, immediately after breakfast, scanning the papers looking for diversions to occupy our time.  I have enough diversions here in the house.  There are times I could happily spend days here not going out, just knitting and sewing.  But not so the male member of this household.  Instead he suggested an excursion consisting of lunch and a museum visit, not at all a bad way to spend a hot Sunday afternoon.

Following a nice lunch of Vietnamese cuisine we ventured over to the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center  at Vassar College where we wished to peruse an exhibit of Native American Art called Forms of Exchange. 

The exhibit was well worth while, small but choice, primarily consisting of contemporary pieces of artwork from three distinct groupings of Native Americans.  I think most of the pieces were stunning and the development from some older styles, and the occasional cross-referencing of forms and ideas between peoples and with modern western culture were very interesting as well.

There were wonderful Inuit drawings and prints, some shocking modern, some quite tradtional, several of which made wonderful commentaries on the juxtaposition of traditional and modern lives.  The detail and the spirit in many of these pictures is amazing. Aside from the merits of this painting as a work of art, I can't get the combinations of colors and shapes, the flow of space out of mind.  This appeals to the part of me that loves to play with color and fabric and yarn, as well as the part of me that enjoys looking at art.

The pottery was from the southwest and was overwhelmingly beautiful.  I kept wandering around pieces, staring, studying the patterns, admiring the skill, the development of skills and culture over time, the evoltuion of art.  Gee that sounds tremendously pretentious doesn't it.  Not so.  Tremendously overwhelming for a small exhibit it was, at least for this paltry brain.

I loved looking at the traditional shapes, which of course I have seen many of in the past, and even more appreciated studying these contemporary works which all draw upon traditional forms and patterns but are strikingly modern, sometimes almost startlingly so.

The Iroquois baskets were beautifully intricate and delicate looking and the witty modern basket made from film strips, shown if you click on the link to the gallery above, makes me smile just with the thought of it.  The embroidery was also stunning.  The skill and detail appealed to the fiber artist in me, even if the form of the work did not appeal to my more modern and geometric aesthetic.

You don't really get a sense of the work from this photo.  What looks like embroidery on rough cloth is beadwork on velvet or velveteen.  Stunning.  This is a contemporary work done in an older style.  I marvel at how nicely the work is done and I can't imagine doing anything like it myself.

Comments

[Gina]

I am ashamed to say that I have not even ventured into FLAC at Vassar College as of yet. What a good idea for the lunch hour!