Eiteljorg 2021 Contemporary Art Fellowship Exhibition Opens in Indianapolis

Works by Anita Fields, Sonny Assu, Catherine Blackburn, Athena LaTocha, and Steven Yazzie are on view in Shifting Boundaries at the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art.by Eiteljorg Museum22 hours ago

Sonny Assu (Ligwiłda’xw of the Kwakwaka’wakw Nations) “Pay No Attention to that [Band Council] Behind the Curtain!” (2020), digital intervention on an Emily Carr painting (“Indian House Interior with Totems,“ 1912-13), archival pigment print, edition 3/5 (image courtesy the artist and Equinox Gallery, Vancouver)

For 22 years, the Eiteljorg Fellowship has helped bring Native contemporary art to the forefront, casting a spotlight on the works of leading Native American and First Nations artists. Every other year, each Fellowship has centered on a class of five Native artists, supporting their continuing efforts in the contemporary art field.

This year, visitors to the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art will experience compelling, thought-provoking works of contemporary Native art in the new exhibition Shifting Boundaries, open from November 13, 2021, to February 6, 2022. It features work by five Native American and First Nations artists who were selected by a panel of experts for the 2021 Eiteljorg Contemporary Art Fellowship:

• Anita Fields, invited artist (Osage / Muscogee)
• Sonny Assu (Ligwilda’xw of the Kwakwaka’wakw Nations)
• Catherine Blackburn (English River Dene First Nation)
• Athena LaTocha (Húnjkpaphˇa Lakota / Keweenaw Bay Ojibwe)
• Steven Yazzie (Diné / Laguna Pueblo)

Paintings, prints, mixed media, and installations by these fellows are featured in Shifting Boundaries. The boundaries of Native art, particularly contemporary Native art, are shifting, and the artists in the 2021 fellowship epitomize this dynamic change, taking their mediums beyond a 180-degree turn and past any confines.

“The 2021 class of Eiteljorg Fellows is an exceptional group who have created intriguing works across a variety of disciplines — works that museum guests will want to experience,” Eiteljorg President and CEO John Vanausdall said. “The fellows’ work underscores the vitality, imagination, and innovation in today’s Native art, and will encourage dialogue about contemporary art.”

For more information about this year’s fellows, their art, and the Fellowship program, visit contemporaryartfellowship.eiteljorg.org.