Skip to main content Fritz Scholder, (Mission/Luiseno) New Mexico Number 1

Action/Abstraction Redefined

Organized by IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, Santa Fe, NM

July 29, 2022 - January 8, 2023

Action/Abstraction Redefined presents modern Native American art from the 1940s through the 1970s. The exhibition features 55 artworks by leading artists such as Fritz Scholder (Mission/ Luiseño), George Morrison (Chippewa), and T.C. Cannon (Kiowa), organized by influences of major twentieth-century art movements including Abstract Expressionism, Color Field, and Hard-Edge painting.

Innovative artists featured in Action/Abstraction explored new ways of artistic expression and challenged stereotypical expectations of Native art, resulting in the development of contemporary Native art. Their deeply personal paintings, sculptures, and works on paper were created in studios across the nation and at the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) in Santa Fe, where artists were encouraged to experiment and take risks. As part of avant-garde movements at the time, Native artists redefined the concept of abstraction and pushed the boundaries of Native art.

Action/Abstraction Redefined is organized by IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, Santa Fe, NM. Action/Abstraction Redefined was co-curated by Dr. Lara Evans, Professor of Art History, IAIA Research Center for Contemporary Native Arts Director; Tatiana Lomahaftewa-Singer, curator of collections, IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts; and Dr. Manuela Well-Off-Man, chief curator, IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts.

Learn more about Action/Abstraction Redefined

Banner image: Fritz Scholder, (Mission/Luiseño), New Mexico Number 21 (detail), 1965

Watch: Artists’ Interviews

Listen: Artists’ Interviews

Bright color squares art
Lloyd Henri “Kiva” New
(Cherokee, 1916–2002)
Untitled (Squares), 1968
Acrylic on canvas
MoCNA Collection (CHE-23), Gift of the Artist

Abstract art paint splatters
Mike Medicine Horse Zillioux
(Akimel O’odham/Cheyenne/Pawnee,1952–2020)
The Day Jackson Pollack [sic] Became A Christian, 1974
Acrylic, rawhide, salt on canvas
MoCNA Collection (P-22), Gift of the Artist

Phyllis Fife
(Creek, b. 1948)
Life Within, 1965
Oil on canvas
MoCNA Collection (CK-4), Honors Collection

Details

Hours

Wednesday–Sunday 10 a.m.–4 p.m.
Admission includes entrance to all other galleries in the museum.

Tickets

FAC MembersNon-member adultsMilitary & Seniors (55+)Students & Teachers
Free$10$5Free

Support for this exhibition and its national tour is provided by Art Bridges

Support for this exhibition and its national tour is provided by Art Bridges

Sponsors

Art Bridges IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts Colorado Creative Industries