(Cody, Wyo.) – Intricate beadwork and stunning painted hides fill the Native American artifact collection of the Plains Indian Museum at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody. But in addition to its wealth of historical pieces, the museum has begun showcasing contemporary Native artists’ work in its new gallery space.
On view now is Native Nations Now, the museum’s first contemporary Native artists show. Featuring works by members of the Creative Indigenous Collective, which counters stereotypical and romanticized non-indigenous art portrayals of Native culture with Native artists’ own unique perspectives of their history and of contemporary society, it features seven artists from the Northern Plains: Robert Martinez, John Isaiah Pepion, Holly Young, Lauren Monroe, Louis Still Smoking, Gina Still Smoking, and Ben Pease.
“It’s an honor to show our contemporary art alongside the Plains Indian Museum’s permanent collection of historical artifacts,” said local artist Robert Martinez (Northern Arapaho) of Wind River Indian Reservation, Riverton. “It shows we’re not a dead culture, a deceased civilization.” For the museum’s part, the show and the new gallery demonstrate a commitment to “support contemporary Native artists in telling their own stories from their own perspectives,” said Plains Indian Museum curatorial assistant Hunter Old Elk. To achieve this, the exhibition quotes the artists and featured some of them at the show’s opening.
Native Nations Now: An Exhibition of Contemporary Native Art is on view through October 29 at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, Wyoming. Artworks are offered for sale.
Breaking Expectations by Robert Martinez, courtesy the artist