Choctaw-Cherokee painter and sculptor Jeffrey Gibson is preparing for his first major museum exhibition in Denver this May. “Like a Hammer” sees over 60 works by the artist created over the last seven years go on display at the Denver Art Museum. This significant milestone in the artist’s career begins on May 13, 2018.
Converging contemporary art practice with his Native American roots, Gibson creates work encompassing a variety of media — figurative works, text-based wall hangings, beaded punching bags, videos and painted works on rawhide and canvas.
“Gibson’s abstract works take inspiration from his Choctaw and Cherokee heritage, pan-Native American visual culture, alternative subcultures, and the artist’s experiences living abroad as well as popular culture,” the museum states. “Gibson draws upon his heritage and remixes his older works to create a visual vocabulary that explores his multifaceted identity and the history of modernism.”
Colonialism and postcolonialism, American-Indian culture and other civil-right movements are recurrent themes of Gibson’s work.
The universal themes of love, community, strength, vulnerability, and survival are also reflected in many of the artist’s works. In 1995, Gibson earned his bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts from the Art Institute of Chicago and Master of Fine Arts degree from the Royal College of Art. His works have previously been shown at National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; National Museum of the American Indian, Washington, D.C., and the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, among others.
The exhibition seeks to show his growth as an artist and aid visitors to gain an enhanced understanding of Gibson’s complex creative practice. After the Denver show, the exhibition will travel to Mississippi Museum of Art, the Seattle Art Museum and the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art.
“Like a Hammer” will be on view from May 13 through August 12, 2018, at the Denver Art Museum, 100 W 14th Ave Pkwy, Denver, CO 80204, USA.
