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Jaune Quick-to-See Smith : an American modernist PDF

130 Pages·2013·55.63 MB·English
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Art | American Indians the first full-length critical “jaune quick-to-see smith has, over the decades, established herself as an important and analysis of the paintings of Jaune infuential American artist. This beautifully illustrated and marvelously written publication is Jaune Quick-to-See Smith Quick-to-See Smith, this book the frst book-length study of her art. Museum curator and art historian Carolyn Kastner treats focuses on Smith’s role as a mod- Quick-to-See Smith’s work both from a broad perspective that situates it within the history ernist in addition to her status as a of an American modernism and from close inspections of individual pieces. Kastner elegantly an american modernist well-known Native American art- interweaves analyses of the formal qualities of each artwork with its often complex and sub- ist. With close readings of Smith’s tle ideological, political, and historical messages. As I read this book, I was captivated by the work, Carolyn Kastner shows how artist and her works from beginning to end, and impressed by Kastner’s insightful and sensitive Smith simultaneously contributes interpretations.” —Aldona Jonaitis, University of Alaska Fairbanks to and critiques American art and its history. “carolyn kastner’s monograph on Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, a distinguished (Native) Smith has distinguished herself American artist of Sqelix’u, Métis, and Shoshone ancestry, is thoughtful and nuanced. Sen- as a modernist both in her pursuit sitive to Smith’s expressive facture, symbolic color, and cross-cultural iconography, Kastner of abstraction and her expressive demonstrates how she simultaneously contributes to and critiques the history of American art. technique, but too often her iden- Emphasizing Smith’s political will and artistic discipline, Kastner’s close and careful reading of tity as a Native American artist has this major modernist intensifes and clarifes my admiration for her aesthetic achievement.” overshadowed these aspects of her —W. Jackson Rushing III, coauthor and editor of Modern Spirit: work. Addressing specifc themes The Art of George Morrison in Smith’s career, Kastner situates Smith within specifc historical “carolyn kastner’s subtle close reading of a number of important works by Jaune and cultural moments of American Quick-to-See Smith will deepen and enrich every reader’s understanding of this impor- art, comparing her work to the tant American artist.” abstractions of Kandinsky and —Janet Catherine Berlo, professor of visual and cultural studies, Miró, as well as to the pop art of University of Rochester, and coauthor, Native North American Art Rauschenberg and Johns. She dis- cusses Smith’s appropriation of pop “carolyn kastner, in this important and long overdue survey of the work of culture icons like the Barbie doll, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, demonstrates how this artist’s oeuvre actively defes conventional reimagined by the artist as Barbie narratives that isolate the art of Native Americans so that it remains outside of the canon of postwar American art. Kastner’s insightful readings of Quick-to-See Smith’s art reveal how Plenty Horses. As Kastner consid- Carolyn Kastner is curator at the she at once makes use of and critiques both the formal vocabularies and techniques of Ameri- ers how Smith constructs each new Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe. can avant-garde artists ranging from Abstract Expressionist Willem De Kooning through Pop series of art works within the artis- artists Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg to Neo-Expressionist Jean Michel Basquiat. tic, social, and political discourse Jacket illustration: The Court House Steps by Jaune Quick-to-See Smith courtesy of the Albuquerque Through close readings, this book provides an essential monographic appraisal of Quick-to-See of its time, she defnes Smith’s Museum of Art and History Smith’s art while arguing for a more expansive account of the history of American modernism.” contribution to American modern- —Evelyn Hankins, Hirshhorn Museum ism and its history. Discussing the ways in which Smith draws upon her cultural heritage—both Native and non-Native—Kastner demon- ISBN 978-0-8263-5389-4 strates how Smith has expanded the defnitions of “American” and University of New Mexico Press “modernist” art. unmpress.com | 800-249-7737 ËxHSKIMGy353894zv*:+:!:+:! Carolyn Kastner Kastner Jaune Quick-to-See Smith Jaune Quick-to-See Smith Jaune Quick-to-See Smith Jaune Quick-to-See Smith an american modernist Carolyn Kastner University of New Mexico Press | Albuquerque © 2013 by the University of New Mexico Press All rights reserved. Published 2013 Printed in the United States of America 18 17 16 15 14 13 1 2 3 4 5 6 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Kastner, Carolyn. Jaune Quick-to-See Smith : an American modernist / Carolyn Kastner. — First [edition]. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-8263-5389-4 (hardback) — ISBN 978-0-8263-5390-0 (electronic) 1. Smith, Jaune Quick-to-See, 1940– —Criticism and interpretation. 2. Modernism (Art)—United States. I. Title. ND237.S59825K37 2013 759.13—dc23 2013015935 In Memory of John and Pam King Contents Acknowledgments ix Introduction 1 Chapter One Born in the USA 7 Chapter two Seeing Red: Indigenous Identity and Artistic Strategy 17 Chapter three American Modernism and the Politics of Landscape 27 Chapter four Chief Seattle: Visualizing Environmental Disaster 39 Chapter five The Discourse of Modern Art in a Post Columbian World 51 Notes 61 Bibliography 77 Index 83 Plates follow page 60 Acknowledgments ▲▼▲ This project began as a paper for the Native American Art Study Association, where I learned how to be a scholar and a grateful human being. So it is appropriate that I begin with thanks to my colleagues and dearest friends, Bill Anthes and Kate Morris, for their encouragement to submit a paper to their panel on contemporary Native American art. By the time I had fnished the paper on Jaune Quick-to-See Smith’s Chief Seattle series, I knew her artwork deserved a book-length monograph. From that frst study, I realized the great depth of her political will and artistic discipline. I am especially grateful to Kate, who read a draft of that frst paper and encouraged me to think of it as the beginning of the manuscript that has become this book. The research for that frst paper and this project began at Jaune Quick- to-See Smith’s kitchen table as she and her husband, Andy Ambrose, opened boxes of documents and slides and then left a stranger to examine the record of a prolifc career that had been collected, ordered, and stored over the decades. In the years since my frst visit, our time together has included many meals at that kitchen table, where they opened their hearts as well as their precious archive and we became friends and collaborators on this project. My gratitude for their loving generosity is immeasurable. I also thank Neal Ambrose-Smith for his loyal enthusiasm and technical support. My experience as an intern at the Anderson Collection in the San Fran- cisco Bay Area enabled me to recognize the signifcance of Jaune Quick-to-See Smith’s place as an American modernist. My appreciation of modernist art grew ix

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