In
Native Voices - contemporary indigenous art at the five myles gallery in Brooklyn, artist Nicholas Galanin, who is of Tlingit/Aleut/Cherokee descent, re-invents a Tlingit mask (from a copy made in Indonesia) by cutting its form from a dense book that shows the source of its blurred features. Galanin is among eight contemporary Native artists whose work is on view from March 8-April 20, 2008. Digital imagery, an anti-terrorist manual and sculpture sewn from walrus gut are among the different forms of art highlighted at five myles, showing the scope of approaches embraced by the Native art community. Meet the artists at the opening reception on Saturday, March 8, 5 - 8 p.m.
The Artists
Jesse Cooday's (Tlingit) ability to distill cultural essences and merge them with personal identity, yields a powerful self-portrait, a grid of nine photographs, that blends his features with a richly colored mask.
Duane Slick (Mesquaki), a monochrome painter of subtlety and nuance, is also a Professor at Rhode Island School of Design. His layered, spectral images have the subliminal power of a shadow play.
Sonya Kelliher-Combs (Inupiaq/Athabaskan) was trained as a child in traditional needlework and gained a rich understanding of her tribal heritage. Her installation in this exhibition mirrors her culture's affinity in terms of aethetics as well as function for animal viscera.
Jason Lujan (Apache), who seamlessly reveals hidden agendas, created a how-to manual on 'homeland security' from an indigenous point of view - where terrorism takes an entirely different form
Tanis Maria S'eiltin (Tlingit) has used a range of media throughout her career to confront social and political issues. Her video in the exhibition, a condemnation of Blood for Oil politics, is presided over by two life-size drawings of her great-grandmother,
Maria Hupfield (Ojibwa), an artist of minimal means and elegant forms, creates surprising visual metaphors. In Flap, Flap, Flap she gathers gentle doves into a demarcated (almost target-like) circle on the floor; with wings outstretched (as if still in flight), their jumbled state implies a disregard for their peaceful path.
Star Wallowing Bull (Chitpewa) is said to have been drawing since he was one year old. Working mostly in jewel-like prismacolor, he builds intricate, often pulsing, worlds - where Pop icons and timeless symbols vie for dominance and clarity.
Native Voices - contemporary indigenous art
Opening reception: Saturday, March 8, 5 - 8 p.m.
five myles
558 St. Johns Place
Brooklyn, NY
718.783.4438
Directions:
Within easy walking distance from the Brooklyn Museum.
Directions by SUBWAY: 2,3,4,or 5 train to Franklin Ave. Walk 2 blocks against traffic on Franklin to St. Johns Place.
Turn left, walk half block to five myles.
www.nicholasgalanin.com
www.homeskilletrecords.com
www.homeskilletfest.com 
