Blog @ the Nelson-Atkins

Over the weekend, the Museum hosted thousands of visitors for the member preview of the new American Indian art galleries.

The new galleries greatly increase space for American Indian art from approximately 1,500 square feet to just over 6,000. The Nelson-Atkins is one of the only comprehensive museums in the US to dedicate that much space to native American art.

The new galleries are positioned adjacent to the new American art galleries which opened in April 2009. This bold step establishes American Indian art as part of American heritage and creates an unprecedented continuity and commitment rarely seen in a fine arts museum.

The two new galleries are now on the second floor in what used to be the Modern & Contemporary galleries. However, they look nothing like the former space.

Grouped by eight main culture areas of North America, the new installation includes masterworks from a wide spectrum of cultures from pre-European contact to the present, including Woodlands, Plains, Southwest; Plateau; California and the adjacent Great Basin, Northwest Coast and Arctic. Navajo textiles, Woodlands and Plains quillwork, beadwork and sculpture, Pueblo pottery, Southwestern jewelry, Northwest Coast sculpture and California and Plateau basketry are among the artistic traditions represented in the Museum’s collection.

There are approximately 200 objects in the new galleries including many masterworks such as this incredible Objiwa Coat, Lonnie Vigil's gorgeous Micaceous Pottery Jar and one of my favorites, this Arikara Shield.

There are many "smaller" objects in the galleries too. Some literally only a few inches such as this ivory Toggle that is only 1 5/8 inches long. One pair of objects I found fascinating are these Prescription Sticks here and here.

Prescription Sticks were used by a healer as he or she prepared herbal medicines. The edges of the sticks are incised with pictographs that represent plant species and quantities. These are from the Potawatomi tribe in either Wisconsin or Kansas.

I'm looking forward to exploring the galleries in depth and learning more about the objects and sharing stories about the people who created them. The galleries are open to the public now. This weekend is the community celebration with special activities and performances.

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Gallery 214 is unique. It is devoted to American Art on Paper, and these art objects are often smaller in size, which I have learned is typical of the predominant media represented: lithographs, pastels, etchings and woodcuts. The sizes of earlier prints, particularly those of the 19th and early 20th centuries (pre-1945), were quite likely dictated by available materials, the desire to sell or distribute reproductions, or the desire to create more intimate viewing experiences. I have been told that some contemporary print artists (for example, Tom Huck) are experimenting with larger prints.

In Gallery 214, the text labels that hang beside the prints blend almost seamlessly into the walls. The subdued ambiance of the gallery is appropriate considering the art objects it houses. The work required to create a print is intensive (I strongly recommend individual research on these interesting processes), and the gallery does not detract attention from these deceptively "simple" objects. To adequately consider their layers, a person must be patient enough to really slow down, pause and look.

The art objects in the gallery’s current exhibition, Impressions of the Southwest and Mexico, depict a wide range of early-twentieth century life in that geographic area.

In the early 20th century, there was widespread fascination with the American Southwest (in this exhibition, specifically New Mexico, Arizona, California) and Mexico. The artists featured in this exhibition were clearly stirred and motivated by the people, architecture, landscapes, weather and customs of these spaces.

These prints ask viewers to examine the lives and worlds of their inhabitants. The prints invite viewers to see the internal and external beauty, history and multiplicity of peoples and a space often defined as isolated, arid and deserted.

Activities represented range from celebrations to daily labor to reflective moments. The prints depict moments that are intimate and also voyeuristic. Simple and complex. They are dynamic and calm. Direct and subtle. Mourning and hopeful. Innocent and brave…

But only if we take a moment to really see them.

Image: David Alfaro Siqueiros, Zapata, ca. 1930.