Meet the Artists from the "Map" Show: Part 3

“THE MAP IS NOT THE TERRITORY”

PARALLEL PATHS—PALESTINIANS, NATIVE AMERICANS, IRISH

September 6 through October 18, 2013

Opening Reception, September 6, 6-8pm

*“The Map is Not the Territory” was coined by philosopher/scientist Alfred Korzybski

©Andrew Ellis Johnson, 2013

The words Palestinians and Native Americans do not often appear the same opening sentence, but they do in regard to “The Map is Not the Territory” exhibition.  A conversation is created through the work by Native American and Palestinian artists, as their paintings, artist books and films echo each other’s histories and present day concerns.

Artist and educator Nadema Agard (Winyan Luta/Red Woman) made a resonant statement as part of her artist statement for her piece, Tatanka Ska Oyate/White Buffalo Nation: “We have a relational concept of nationhood that is not defined by maps but is the territory of the heart, spirit, mind and body of the Oyate or The People.” Compare this to a line by Mary Tuma, artist and educator, Palestinian, about her fiber piece Lingering Presence: “Even if we are driven all the way to the moon, our spirits will continue to fill the lands that were once our homes….The land remembers us.” Interestingly, both of these artists’ works for the exhibition share a delicacy of color, a lightness of materials and a tenderness of touch.

Melanie Yazzie, who grew up in the Navajo Nation, creates a diptych in her piece Seeing Each Other, in which she depicts herself and a friend from Lebanon now living in the United States.  She says “We are both tied to our homelands and our cultures.”

Andrew Ellis Johnson’s 4 images from his series Pressed: When Words Were Earth, takes its inspiration from a poem by Mahmoud Darwish, “Psalm Three.”  The mural installation addresses the uprooting of Palestinian olive trees and the diminishment of the agricultural sector, and the people they sustain.  Andrew and artist Susanne Slavick will be talking about their work at the Gallery in October.

Norman Akers, a member of the Osage Nation, talks about the “need to define an indigenous place within this ever-changing landscape” of the Americas, in his print Crowded.

THE MAP IS NOT THE TERRITORY opens September 6.

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