Post by Moon Seeker on Jul 16, 2009 10:58:16 GMT -5
Clairmont exhibition sheds light on Native American experience
By Independent Record - 07/16/09
With humor as stories, and hard-hitting imagery-in collages, monoprints, and mixed media pieces — Corwin “Corky” Clairmont uses his art to reclaim Indian history and to draw attention to the prejudice Indian people experience.
Clairmont’s arresting new exhibition, “Welcome to the Rez,” runs from July 10 until Oct. 24 in the Sherman Gallery of the Holter Museum of Art, with an artist reception on Sept. 11, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
In his mixed-media works, Clairmont, a member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai tribes, challenges viewers to re-examine accepted versions of historical events, whether it’s the story of Columbus or the 1855 Hell Gate Treaty creating the Flathead Reservation.
With irony and humor, his brilliantly-colored monoprints and mixed-media sculptures portray the Indian side of the stories of Christopher Columbus, the Voyage of Discovery, and even the widening of Highway 93. His artwork always pushes the viewer to see the Indian side of the story, by asking us: Who is controlling the telling of history?
Clairmont’s multi-media “Welcome to the Rez” is a searing piece of commentary on the 1910 Homestead Act that opened up the Flathead Reservation to white settlers.
A satirical rendering of lighted doorway and real-estate agents display booth, the piece presents slides “advertising” the mountains, rivers, and lakes on the Flathead Reservation, underscoring the fact that the land-use policy set in motion by the 1887 General Allotment Act continues today.
“This work refers to the ‘transparent Indian,’ or the Indian’s experience of not being seen or heard within the white culture,” Clairmont notes.
In his ironic Submuloc series (Columbus spelled backwards), Clairmont’s work examines a culture that celebrates a “discoverer” whose arrival meant colonization and genocide for Indians.
Other works that examine acts of aggression against Indians include the Grandfather Rocks series about the defeat of Chief Joseph and the murder of a Piegan man by the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
“History needs to be rewritten,” Clairmont says. “There needs to be more awareness of who Indian people are. By pointing out the inaccuracies in history and trying to give a better interpretation, people will have a better understanding and realize that Indian people lived here for thousands of years.”
Clairmont, who will be the Holter’s Cultural Crossroads artist-in-resident in October 2009, has taught at Salish Kootenai College since 1984. He studied art the University of Montana-Missoula, Montana State University-Bozeman, and received an M.F.A. from California State University in Los Angeles.
A celebrated contemporary artist, Clairmont has exhibited work in museums across the United States and in Europe. At 15, he designed the tribal seal for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.
For information, call 442-6400 or visit holtermuseum.org.
www.helenair.com/articles/2009/07/16/yourtime/101yt_090716_clairmont.txt
By Independent Record - 07/16/09
With humor as stories, and hard-hitting imagery-in collages, monoprints, and mixed media pieces — Corwin “Corky” Clairmont uses his art to reclaim Indian history and to draw attention to the prejudice Indian people experience.
Clairmont’s arresting new exhibition, “Welcome to the Rez,” runs from July 10 until Oct. 24 in the Sherman Gallery of the Holter Museum of Art, with an artist reception on Sept. 11, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
In his mixed-media works, Clairmont, a member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai tribes, challenges viewers to re-examine accepted versions of historical events, whether it’s the story of Columbus or the 1855 Hell Gate Treaty creating the Flathead Reservation.
With irony and humor, his brilliantly-colored monoprints and mixed-media sculptures portray the Indian side of the stories of Christopher Columbus, the Voyage of Discovery, and even the widening of Highway 93. His artwork always pushes the viewer to see the Indian side of the story, by asking us: Who is controlling the telling of history?
Clairmont’s multi-media “Welcome to the Rez” is a searing piece of commentary on the 1910 Homestead Act that opened up the Flathead Reservation to white settlers.
A satirical rendering of lighted doorway and real-estate agents display booth, the piece presents slides “advertising” the mountains, rivers, and lakes on the Flathead Reservation, underscoring the fact that the land-use policy set in motion by the 1887 General Allotment Act continues today.
“This work refers to the ‘transparent Indian,’ or the Indian’s experience of not being seen or heard within the white culture,” Clairmont notes.
In his ironic Submuloc series (Columbus spelled backwards), Clairmont’s work examines a culture that celebrates a “discoverer” whose arrival meant colonization and genocide for Indians.
Other works that examine acts of aggression against Indians include the Grandfather Rocks series about the defeat of Chief Joseph and the murder of a Piegan man by the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
“History needs to be rewritten,” Clairmont says. “There needs to be more awareness of who Indian people are. By pointing out the inaccuracies in history and trying to give a better interpretation, people will have a better understanding and realize that Indian people lived here for thousands of years.”
Clairmont, who will be the Holter’s Cultural Crossroads artist-in-resident in October 2009, has taught at Salish Kootenai College since 1984. He studied art the University of Montana-Missoula, Montana State University-Bozeman, and received an M.F.A. from California State University in Los Angeles.
A celebrated contemporary artist, Clairmont has exhibited work in museums across the United States and in Europe. At 15, he designed the tribal seal for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.
For information, call 442-6400 or visit holtermuseum.org.
www.helenair.com/articles/2009/07/16/yourtime/101yt_090716_clairmont.txt