Cross Generational: John Hitchcock, Edgar Heap of Birds, Rosalie Favell and Patricia Marroquin
April 9 - June 2, 2002
Cross Generational is an exhibition that will bring together the work of four contemporary Native American artists from the Plains States who are at varying stages in their artistic careers and in their experiences and lives. Participating artist John Hitchcock has selected the artists for the exhibition.
John Hitchcock's work blends printmaking, digital imaging, video, and installation. The social and political views in his work are a direct result of stories shared by family members and issues regarding living on Kiowa/Comanche lands in Oklahoma. John often questions the notion of progress as he contemplates the relationship of past to present and the influence of technology on society. He asks through his work, "What have we learned from progress? What will be the fate of my people's indigenous ways?"
His art is involved in the ideas of loss of language, spiritual beliefs, and culture due to the influence of Indian boarding schools, welfare programs, the notion of assimilation and control that is reinforced through government systems, etc.
Edgar Heap of Birds, one of America's leading Native American artists, represents the oldest generation in the exhibition. His works reflect "the constructive and destructive politics of daily life.” They are based in a broad range of media, namely large-scale marker drawings, prints, abstract paintings, and text messages deployed in sculpture through billboards, digital signs, traffic panels, and porcelain enamel on steel.
Rosalie Favell, of Métis descent, is a photographer whose work has, for some time now, explored issues of personal and cultural identities by questioning cultural constructs. She mines her family's snapshots and images from popular culture in search of visual evidence, clues to explain the shaping of her identity and to better situate herself as a contemporary native woman.
Patricia Marroquin, the youngest artist in the exhibition, is finishing a M.F.A. degree from the University of Wisconsin, Madison in video production, photography and printmaking. She will exhibit her newest video installation in the exhibition. She is of Chicana/TarascanApache background, born and raised in Chicago by a family of migrant farmers, factory workers, and entrepreneurs of combined Native American and Mexican descent.
Exhibition funded by:
ECOLAB
This activity is made possible by a Minnesota State Arts Board Operating Support grant, thanks to an appropriation by the Minnesota State Legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Programming is supported in part by a grant from the City of Grand Forks through the North Valley Arts Council.
