Art Focus Summer 2022 by Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition

SUMMER 2022

JUNE 3 - JULY 24

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CONTENTS // Volume 37 No. 3 // Summer 2022

BY LIZ BLOOD

IN THE STUDIO Available Light: In the Studio with Lawrence Naff

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

BY JOHN SELVIDGE

SHAUN PERKINS AND KYLE LARSON

FEATURE Pottery Revival: Chase Kahwinhut Earles Keeps Caddo Traditions Alive

EKPHRASIS A Painting and a Poem

BY MASON WHITEHORN POWELL

REVIEW Viewing Nature’s Course: John Newsom’s Mid-Career Retrospective BY OLIVIA DAILEY

REVIEW Absence and Transfiguration: Edgar Heap of Birds, Douglas Miles, and Warren Realrider at OK #1 BY JENNY WU

REGIONAL REVIEW A Call to Heal: Yoko Ono’s Mend Piece at Springfield Art Museum BY ANGELA HODGKINSON

TOP // On the cover: John Newsom, The Bright Side, 2017, oil on canvas, 72" x 60" | Courtesy John Newsom Studio, page 16; MIDDLE // Lawrence Naff, Untitled, 2022, rhinestones, apophyllite, tiger’s eye, and cubic zirconia on wood panel, 20" x 20" x 1" | Courtesy of the artist, page 6; BOTTOM // Chase Kahwinhut Earles, Bird Effigy Bowl, 2021, hand-dug clay | Chase Kahwinhut Earles, page 12

Support from:

OVAC NEWS // NEW AND RENEWING MEMBERS

ART FOCUS WRITERS

Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition PHONE: 405.879.2400 1720 N Shartel Ave, Ste B, Oklahoma City, OK 73103. Web // ovac-ok.org Interim Executive Director // Danielle Ezell, director@ovac-ok.org Editor // Liz Blood, lizblood87@gmail.com Art Director // Anne Richardson, speccreative@gmail.com Art Focus is a quarterly publication of the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition dedicated to stimulating insight into and providing current information about the visual arts in Oklahoma. Mission: Growing and developing Oklahoma’s visual arts through education, promotion, connection, and funding. OVAC welcomes article submissions related to artists and art in Oklahoma. Call or email the editor for guidelines. OVAC welcomes your comments. Letters addressed to Art Focus are considered for publication unless otherwise specified. Mail or email comments to the editor at the address above. Letters may be edited for clarity or space reasons. Anonymous letters will not be published. Please include a phone number.

2021-2022 BOARD OF DIRECTORS // President: Douglas Sorocco, OKC; Vice President: Kirsten Olds, Tulsa; Treasurer: Diane Salamon, Tulsa; Secretary: Kyle Larson, Alva; Parliamentarian: Jon Fisher, OKC; Past President: John Marshall; Matthew Anderson, Tahlequah; Marjorie Atwood, Tulsa; Barbara Gabel, OKC; Farooq Karim, OKC; Kathryn Kenney, Tulsa; Jacquelyn Knapp, Chickasha; Drew Knox; Heather Lunsford, OKC; Russ Teubner, Stillwater; Chris Winland, OKC. The Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition is solely responsible for the contents of Art Focus. However, the views expressed in articles do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Board or OVAC staff. Member Agency of Allied Arts and member of the Americans for the Arts. © 2022, Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition. All rights reserved. View the online archive at ArtFocusOklahoma.org.

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

John Lennon said, “Peace is not something you wish for; It’s something you make, something you do, something you are, and something you give away.” Art falls into those categories: it is made, it is done, it can be how one lives their life, and it almost always is experienced by another person as a gift, whether tangible or not. Artistic practice—both mine and others—is one

Melissa Lukenbaugh, Tulsa Artist Fellowship

of my primary sources of solace and strength. It was a delight to bring this issue to life. When the days feel like a slog, when the news cycle is predictably terrible, turning to art—to consider it, or to make it—feels, to me, like turning towards greater peace. In these pages, I hope you find a similar feeling. I know you’ll find art and writing connecting you to ancient and local histories, as with Mason Whitehorn Powell’s profile of Caddo potter Chase Kahwinhut Earles (pg. 12); to the wild and abstract, as with Olivia Bailey’s review of John Newsom’s paintings (pg. 16); and to the relationship between attention to detail and public discourse, as with John Selvidge’s interview of Lawrence Naff (pg. 6). Perhaps most importantly, these pages will connect you to the individual writers’ and artists’ imaginations, which call out to us to participate with them in community. In Angela Hodgkinson’s review of Yoko Ono’s Mend Piece at Springfield Art Museum (pg. 24), we see how Ono literally coaxes viewers of her work into participating in both her imagination and the larger world. In Jenny Wu’s review of Suffer, Dance, Stand: Native Survival with Edgar Heap of Birds, Douglas Miles, and Warren Realrider (pg. 20), we are invited to consider how many of us participate in settler colonialism and what its legacy means in the here and now. Art will continue to challenge and shape the ways we behave in the world as long as we make space for it. I am grateful as ever to OVAC and its supporters for doing their part. I am also grateful to every Oklahoma artist who makes our state a better place to live. You are some of our finest peacemakers.

L E T T E R F RO M T H E E D I TO R

— Liz Blood

MAKE IT A STUDIO SUMMER

Thread your heddles* — and so much more — at Studio School. Workshops and classes you won’t find anywhere else in OKC, for professional artists and beginners alike. * Though it sounds made up, heddle threading is a real thing. We’ll teach you about it in a weaving class.

STUDIO SCHOOL SUMMER SESSION JULY 5 - AUG. 28

okcontemp.org/StudioSchool Exhibitions | Classes | Camps | Performances 11 NW 11th St., Oklahoma City feature

AVAILABLE LIGHT: IN THE STUDIO WITH LAWRENCE NAFF By John Selvidge

In 2012, after years of decorating mobile phone cases

labradorite. And metal buttons—I never use any plastic

in the painstaking Japanese style of decoden, Lawrence

in my pieces—broken jewelry or antique jewelry that

Naff decided he was an artist. Realizing a desire for less

I’ve found at estate sales, and then a lot of computer

disposable canvases, he transitioned to covering wood

components like processors. I work as an IT professional,

panels and select three-dimensional objects in ambitious

so I come across a lot of computer parts that would

mosaics of rhinestones and other esoteric materials. Over

otherwise be thrown away.

the last decade, Naff has shown his art widely in his hometown of Oklahoma City, producing works like his Pyrite series. These abstract pieces are precise and enigmatic with a dazzling, yet muted, luminosity. Their wow-factor is unavoidable, owing to the obvious commitment of time and labor it takes to achieve them.

Do the stones and computer processors you use have anything in common? Lots of semi-precious stones are used as materials in electronics: rubies, quartz, gold—so it’s only natural for me that they wind up together in art. When you look at the design of some motherboards, with lines running from

Among several other works-in-progress, Naff is currently

chip to processor, they mimic natural patterns like the

working on White Flight, a large rhinestone- and

root systems of a plant. And from an artistic perspective,

semiprecious stone-covered panel—the execution of

the canvas is like a motherboard. If you look at one just

which has been necessarily long-term. Drawing on family

aesthetically, it can become a space to explore formal and

stories and local research documenting the OKC metro’s

functional relationships.

legacy of systematic segregation through racist real estate

Some viewers see something spiritual in your pieces.

practices (like redlining and blockbusting), White Flight

Sometimes they seem like mandalas to me, but also your

visually dramatizes these histories—bright and clear for

method reminds me of the patient, intentional mindfulness

all to see.

of a Tibetan sand painting. How do you account for that

Naff will exhibit White Flight for the first time, along with other pieces, at his show with Jason Wilson at the Oklahoma Hall of Fame Gaylord-Pickens Museum, January 10–March 25, 2023. You can see his other works on display at his solo show at Studio Six in Oklahoma City, August 5–30, 2022.

kind of thing? A lot of the aesthetic in my work is inspired by religious imagery and ancient art, so that perception is natural. I’m interested in belief systems that help people make sense out of life. Artistically, [I’m interested] in things like geometric patterns in churches, synagogues, and

Besides your signature rhinestones, do you have favorite

mosques—and then haloes and starbursts in devotional

materials to work with?

imagery. But there’s no religion to it for me. It’s just an

Since I was a kid, I’ve been interested in semi-precious

aesthetic fascination, although it’s true that making my

stones and gemstones. I particularly like raw, unpolished

works is a meditative process. There may be a spiritual

stones and mineral samples. Aside from rhinestones, my

element to it that I haven’t realized yet. Maybe I’ll find out

favorite materials are pyrite, lapis lazuli, tiger’s eye, and

more about it later in my journey as an artist. CONTINUED

IN THE STUDIO

Lawrence Naff, Pyrite IV, 2021, rhinestones, brass, and pyrite, 24” x 24” x 1” and Grace, 2017, ceramic, rhinestones, glass, brass, and tiger’s Eye, 4” x 5” x 5.5”, as exhibited in the artist’s home. | John Selvidge

Does racial identity have bearing on your work? Speaking more politically, do you consider yourself a Black artist? It doesn’t play a role in my creative process, or my design process at all—but I am Black, and I’m an artist. Those two things don’t always need to intersect. While sometimes they do, I reject the idea of my identity needing to be the focal point of my work. People are fascinated with stories of struggle, but I don’t agree that they are the only stories we should listen to from marginalized groups. How do you hope your work-in-progress White Flight reaches people? I’m hoping it opens a discussion. With lots of activity lately about erasing racial history and scaring people out of talking about the past, it’s important to shed light on this. I believe that, by representing this history visually, it can make people curious if they didn’t know about it before. People who know all about it—especially the generation before us, who lived it—they can relate to it immediately. If you google the term “white flight,” there’s a flood of information—but people have to look for it, and of course some won’t. Art, however, can catch a viewer off guard. Someone who isn’t ready to be defensive, who isn’t expecting to see it—they can get the message and maybe consider it TOP LEFT // Lawrence Naff, Languages (detail), 2018, rhinestones, found computer parts, tiger’s eye, red jasper, and mahogany obsidian, 12” x 12” | Lawrence Naff; TOP RIGHT// Artist Lawrence Naff | defining Image; BOTTOM LEFT // Lawrence Naff collaboration with Jaiye Farrell, Obelisk II, rhinestone and brass, 18" x 5" x 5" | Courtesy of the artist

II N N TTHHEE SST TU U DD I OI O

before automatically rejecting it. At least I hope so.

ABOVE // Lawrence Naff, Majesty, 2020, rhinestones and brass, 4" x 4" x 1" | Lawrence Naff

PREVIEW

Kyle Larson, Lost House, 2021, oil on canvas, 40" x 30"

F E AT U R E

KYLE LARSON received an MFA in Painting from Boston University in 2012 and moved to Oklahoma in 2015 to serve as Director of Visual Arts and Associate Professor of Art at Northwestern Oklahoma State University (NWOSU), where he teaches painting and drawing. Larson also directs the NWOSU Artist-in-Residence (AiR) Program, which invites emerging and established artists to live and create work in the rural community of Alva, OK.

E K P H R A S I S Ekphrasis is an ongoing series joining verse and visual art. In each installment, a poet responds to an artist’s visual work.

I See It Again Shaun Perkins We look at you When we reach the door, Askew like a memory Misplaced. In the photographs in the green suitcase Under my bed, the house Is contained, its frame Replicating the frame we developed in. The rooms molded us, Clay hardening, Marbles under my bed Rolling forward through time To this return path I walk Followed by others to the door That is no longer a door And the way in Is a way through.

SHAUN PERKINS is the director/ founder of the Rural Oklahoma Museum of Poetry in Locust Grove. She is a poet, an Oklahoma Arts Council teaching artist, a reporter, webmaster, rummage store owner, and co-host of the podcast Wacky Poem Life.

I always knew my life Would end in this scattering, Furniture out of place, the sun On top of the dresser, The spirit of the bedspread Uncorrupted by how much It had changed because It looked the same While everything around it Transformed: Another reason we cannot go back. F E AT U R E

POTTERY REVIVAL: CHASE KAHWINHUT EARLES KEEPS CADDO TRADITIONS ALIVE By Mason Whitehorn Powell

The first time I spoke with Chase Kahwinhut Earles

Today, members of the Caddo Nation are the ancestral

(Caddo Nation) he was full of laughter. Perhaps this is

descendants of the Mississippian Caddoan people, a

a generalization, but a convivial mood pops up time

mound-building civilization whose vast network of cities

and time again when I speak with Native artists—joy

and trade routes stretched from present-day Texas and

and humor being just one aspect of our persistence

Florida to the historical sites of Cahokia in St. Louis and

and survival. Later, when speaking about his pottery-

Spiro Mounds in Southeastern Oklahoma. From roughly

making practice, Earles became serious. It’s no small task

700 to 1,500 BC, these city-states were based around

to revive the artistic traditions of his tribe, which the

a complex religious system and vast agriculture and

outside world has been trying to destroy, grave rob, steal,

architectural projects, until they began fractionating into

appropriate, sell, or misuse for centuries.

distinct tribal bands. This civilization created of some of

Colonialism came close. Earles says that the last living Caddo potter stopped working around 1908 when her pots were stolen. In the late 1990s, Jeri Redcorn (Caddo) began to bridge this historical gap by teaching herself

Americas: engraved conch shells, jewelry and clothing, elegant pottery, and other earthenware, both ceremonial and utilitarian in nature.

how to make traditional Caddo pottery. Earles, who was

Thousands of examples of ancient pottery were interred

trained as a visual artist with modest ceramic studio

in burial mounds with their owners and priest-chiefs.

training, turned his full attention to Caddo pottery in 2009.

Undisturbed for centuries, human remains, sacred objects

His guides were Redcorn, instructive voice recordings

of power, and common objects were looted by “pot hunters”

of elders preserved on tape, actual Caddo pottery, and

in the 1930s. Hoping to preserve and study this ancient

research by archeologists and anthropologists. Earles

culture, the Oklahoma Historical Society, WPA, Oklahoma

is taking this project to its furthest reaches by creating

University, the University of Tulsa, and Woolaroc under

historically accurate work, which is often inaccessible to

Frank Phillips finished the job in the late 1930s, further

the general public, and contemporary pieces that reveal a

disturbing the site and institutionalizing what had not

bright future for Caddo artistry.

been destroyed or sold for dollars and cents. These objects

“Starting in 2020 and 2021 [to the present] I have been inundated by museums and institutions … wanting to

the finest surviving examples of precontact artwork in the

and more than 1,000 Caddoan bodies are still the property of museums and archives, rather than the Caddo Nation.

engage,” said Earles, who has been working with the

This history has caused unique issues for the tribe, art

Dallas Museum of Art, Gilcrease Museum, National

historians, and artists similar to Earles. He explained that

Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, and Yale Peabody

all ancient pottery was either fineware with ceremonial

Museum, among others hoping to bolster their Amer-

and ritual purpose, or daily-use vessels with various

ican art collections with contemporary Native work. Earles

functions. Mississippian pots were not crafted specifically

only takes commissions from spaces that are working

for burial, but those buried were never intended to be

to better represent Indigenous artists of the past and

unearthed. The tribe, and Earles, do not believe that pots

present.

from desecrated graves should be displayed. So, early in his

F E AT U R E

CONTINUED

TOP // Chase Kahwinhut Earles, Traditional Caddo Gar Fish Effigy Bottle, 2020, hand-dug clay; BOTTOM LEFT // Kadohadacho, Traditional Caddo Bottle, 2021, hand-dug clay; BOTTOM RIGHT // Deetumbah Kahwish, Traditional Caddo Tripod Bottle, 2014, hand-dug clay | Chase Kahwinhut Earles

F E AT U R E

career, he studied these pieces to “recreate” them so they could be shared with others. Now, his art practice draws from this knowledge and expands the visual language of Caddoan pot-making. “I go and hand-dig my clay from the homeland areas of the Caddo, which is Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas areas—from the rivers,” Earles said. “One of the things I do in processing [the clay]—very traditional to our cultural identity of the Mississippian and Caddo—is to add mussel shell,” he said. “So, I go hand-collect mussel shell at the rivers and lakes. That is crushed up and put into the clay as a temper. That’s something that the southeastern tribes did exclusively.” Earles says that preparing the clay is about half the work. “I hand-coil every pot the way we would’ve hundreds of years ago, using techniques to make our Caddo pottery extremely thin.” Some pots are burnished with river stones and polishing rocks. In keeping with tradition, Earles fires the pots near an open woodfire on the ground until they can handle a direct flame. Finally, designs are engraved post-firing. For Earles to share this knowledge with readers—and students— is significant. Until this revival, much was lost for fear that it would be misused, or because one had to earn the right to carry on the traditions. We did not discuss the beauty or design of the pots themselves, only general shapes and how the engravings reflect either figures from the natural world or tribal cosmology. Now expanding his artwork into Indigenous Futurism, Earles incorporates designs from pop culture such as figures from Star Wars in order to draw a wider interest in Caddo art. But for Earles, everything stems from the foundational methodologies and techniques drawn from his ancestors. “Cultural identity is extremely important to me and that’s what I preach,” Earles said. “If you’re a Native Artist, you need to look at your cultural identity and be faithful to that and be an ambassador for that. Otherwise, just be an artist. You don’t have to be a Native artist. Why claim to be a Native artist if you’re not going to represent your tribe?” TOP // The artist working with a traditional Caddo pitfire in 2019 | Travis C. Caperton BOTTOM // Chase Kahwinhut Earles, The Father, 2021, commercial clay | Chase Kahwinhut Earles

F E AT U R E

VIEWING NATURE’S COURSE: JOHN NEWSOM’S MID-CAREER RETROSPECTIVE By Olivia Dailey

John Newsom: Nature’s Course, a mid-career retrospective

“I paint the backgrounds last so that the entire surface of the

at the Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center, is a welcome

painting is located on a single plane,” Newsom said. “This

home for the Enid-raised, New York-based painter. The

technique enables what would normally seem like negative

exhibition includes 31 large-scale oil paintings spanning

spaces to appear positive, once the background shapes are

the last 20 years of Newsom’s career, as well as two new

carefully and meticulously painted in around the forms in

paintings—Nature’s Course (2021-2022), created for this

the foreground. This helps to lock in the forms and push

show, and Homecoming (2021), which was commissioned by

them further into the foreground. It’s a subtle perceptual

NBC Oklahoma.

shift that makes a big difference in the overall reading of

Newsom’s large-scale paintings are colorful and lively, rich in imagery and texture. A leopard’s bright blue eyes mesmerize in Keep Watch (2020). A snake’s glare hypnotizes in State of the Union (2003-2004) while, above it, salamanders hang suspended in a spider web. In Labor of Love (2001), birds of prey and the prey themselves make up a frenetic feeding frenzy. The paintings’ enormity, texture, and detail are best

the surface. Simply put, it helps the forms to breathe.” He continued, “It’s a personal technique that I acquired over many years of painting and looking at paintings in museums, say Manet or Velázquez in the Prado Museum in Madrid. There are aspects of this foreground/background technique found in their paintings, only used in each of their own individual manners.”

appreciated when viewed in person. Photos flatten their

To kick off the exhibition in March, Oklahoma Contemporary

features and obscure their size.

hosted an artist talk with Newsom, during which he told

The canvases range from five feet by four feet to nine feet by eighteen feet and depict various flora and fauna: big cats, birds, arthropods, and more. The details of the subjects are hyper-realistic, but the composition is abstract. In the wild, you would not see a pair of scorpions brawling inside a lemon tree against a polka-dot background, as you do in

stories of particular pieces (like how he met his wife in front of Summer Swarm (2002)) and showcased his deep understanding of art theory and history, referencing mark making, picture planes, and other Abstract Expressionists. For him, seeing decades of his work side by side gave him a greater understanding of his work as a whole.

Dense Armor (2008-2009).

Because they had been acquired by collectors, Newsom had

The geometric shapes dotting the background of many of

many of them from so many different periods of his career

Newsom’s paintings are painted in after everything else.

at once. As he talked about each piece, he sounded like a

For example, the red dots in Beyond the Horizon (2008-09)

proud father, beaming at his kids—grown up and home for

were painted around the fine-tipped feathers of the falcons.

a visit. When talking about seeing Labor of Love (2001) in

Adding the background last ensures that the painting’s

person after twenty years, Newsom said, “It was fresh as the

colors, originally painted on white, remain vibrant.

day it was painted for me when I saw it… It’s very emotional.“

not seen many of these paintings in years, and never so

CONTINUED

REVIEW

OPPOSITE PAGE: TOP // John Newsom, Dense Armor, 2008-2009, oil on canvas, 84" x 120" | Courtesy John Newsom Studio; BOTTOM // (Left to right) Visitors view State of the Union, 2003-2004, Labor of Love, 2001, Ancient Skin, 2011-2013, and Red Afternoon, 2011-2013 | Alex Marks

Newsom does not use assistants; he covers the entire

while expecting his first child, Newsom was averse to

canvas himself. One standout from the show, Harvest

color during that time. The texture makes up for the lack

(2011-16), was painted over the course of five autumns.

of color with thick gobs and smears of impasto layered

It depicts a fall harvest with a warm color palette and

over and under oil paint, creating feathers that resemble

fairytale-like mice enjoying the bounty while trying to

a shag rug.

avoid becoming a lurking snake’s dinner. Another standout

Often there are Easter eggs within the paintings, which

is Father Figure (2010-11), a closeup of an owl and the

vary from lovely to morbid. Throughout all, there is a

only black-and-white painting in the exhibition. Painted

throughline of nature as muse, inspiring contemplation of

REVIEW

ABOVE // Visitors view Beyond the Horizon, 2008-2009 | Alex Marks; TOP RIGHT // John Newsom, Keep Watch, 2020, oil on canvas, 108" x 84" | Courtesy John Newsom Studio; BOTTOM RIGHT // Artist John Newsom in front of his newest work, Nature’s Course, 2021-22, 108" x 216" | Jonathan Mannion OPPOSITE PAGE // John Newsom, Harvest, 2011-2016, oil on canvas, 120" x 120" | Courtesy John Newsom Studio

life and death. In Love Flies In (2005), a parrot is impaled on a tree surrounded by lovebirds. In Wandering Widow (2003-04) a deadly black widow hides in the shade underneath bright tulips. This don’t-miss show is extremely impressive given it is only a mid-career retrospective. The breadth of work is of full-career caliber and the prospect of twenty more years worth of paintings is exciting. John Newsom: Nature’s Course is on display through August 15 at Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center in Oklahoma City.

ABSENCE AND TRANSFIGURATION: EDGAR HEAP OF BIRDS, DOUGLAS MILES, AND WARREN REALRIDER AT OK #1 By Jenny Wu

On a blanket is the unflinching face of a young man wearing

Opposite from where he was displayed were four skate

a flannel shirt, dark pants, and a fedora. He holds a skateboard

decks designed as a collaboration between Miles and Edgar

and stands in front of a sign, blocking some of its text. That

Heap of Birds (Cheyenne/Arapaho) and printed by Skewed

which is visible reads, “Bureau of Indian / Affair / Offices /

Press. Each say, “ASLUT / TODAY YOUR HOST / IS / MVSKOKE.”

Criminal / in / Social.”

This particular phrasing calls back to Heap of Birds’ famous

The blanket is part of a series titled Time of the Season by the artist Douglas Miles (San Carlos Apache-Akimel O’odham), who contributed a suite of these black-and-white textile portraits to the exhibition Suffer, Dance, Stand: Native Survival with Edgar Heap of Birds, Douglas Miles, and

sovereign tribes, which the artist has been making since the 1990s. At OK #1, the everyday image of a skateboard, like the one presented on Miles’ blanket, was transfigured by the addition of text into a sign and a reminder.

Warren Realrider (April 8–30, 2022), curated by Shanna

The text on the skate decks is overtly confrontational, yet

Ketchum-Heap of Birds with Lucas Wrench and presented at

indirect in its presentation. The rendering of “A SLUT” invites

OK #1 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

the viewer to imagine reading it in the rearview mirror of a

Something about the fragmentation of the text—the act of erasure that occurs in this image—arrested me in my tracks. I wanted to grasp its holistic meaning, but I knew that my efforts would come up short. The placement of the young man in front of the sign suggests that the words refer to him or have a hand in overdetermining his identity, but as for the candid look on the man’s face, it would be presumptuous to try to pinpoint exactly how he felt at the moment the photo was captured. He appears defiant, wounded, and concerned. More than likely, he was just going about his day. This sort of candid indeterminacy seems to be an organizing principle around which the show at OK #1 was conceived. Throughout the spare and capacious exhibition space, the works on view appeared as fragments of the larger, ongoing practices of three deeply invested artists. When encountering the artworks, which included public signage, banners, prints, a drawing, a mural, textiles, and remnants of a performance, viewers also encountered absence.

“Native Hosts” series, site-specific signs honoring the land of

moving car; at the same time, the incongruity of the mirrored words with the rest of the sign raises questions about the interdependencies of language, legibility, and power. While the artist’s hand was better seen in the monoprints that were on view—containing poignant and pointed phrases like “AFTER NATIVE GENOCIDE U.S. PROUD DEMOCRACY”— language printed as mechanically and austerely as it is on the skate decks, parking signs, and banners invites us instead to consider what intimacies and expressions of selfhood artists withhold from audiences and why. Absence threaded through this exhibition like the color red, which appeared in many of the details tying the space together. Red was even present in the artificial sinew binding the dry leaves left behind from Warren Realrider (Pawnee/ Crow)’s performance on the exhibition’s opening night, titled Kicka Data (For Tvlse) (2022). During this performance, the multidisciplinary sound artist from Norman, Oklahoma, allowed sand gathered from the Arkansas River to fall from small holes in the bottom of three red plastic buckets onto

Take, for instance, Miles’ young skateboarder—his son,

piles of brittle leaves, also from the river, while high-pitched

who skates professionally—as a cipher for this exhibition.

noises from a sound mixer enveloped an enraptured audience.

REVIEW

CONTINUED

TOP LEFT // Warren Realrider, blanket from Time of the Season series, 2022; Edgar Heap of Birds and Douglas Miles, untitled skate decks collaboration, 2022, printed by Skewed Press; Installation view of Suffer, Dance, Stand: Native Survival with Edgar Heap of Birds, Douglas Miles, and Warren Realrider, April 8–30, 2022, curated by Shanna Ketchum-Heap of Birds with Lucas Wrench and presented at OK #1 in Tulsa. | Ian Byers-Gamber

REVIEW

ABOVE // Douglas Miles, American Rent is Due, 2022, mural at OK #1; LEFT // Installation with sand, leaves, and buckets from Warren Realrider’s opening night performance, Kicka Data (For Tvlse), 2022 | Ian Byers-Gamber

Realrider’s performance unfolded in a meditative and improvisational manner. Afterwards, the artist rolled up the sand and sticks and left the bundle by the wall. Cascading leaves and a trail of sand formed a monument, not only to the performance and the moments shared between the artist and audience, but also to the waterways in Oklahoma and to the ancestral sounds of Pawnee music from which Realrider draws inspiration. The sonic dimension of the performance made its material components in turn seem like provisional stand-ins for larger ideas and longings. Suffer, Dance, Stand took care to transform the viewer’s

hunger

for

visual

abundance

into

empowered action. Leaving the exhibition, viewers inevitably confronted Miles’ outdoor mural American Rent is Due (2022), now one of the permanent artworks on display on the facade of the strip mall where OK #1 resides. Of the works in the show, this one is the 22

REVIEW

JUN E - A UG UST 2022

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ABOVE // Edgar Head of Birds, untitled monoprint, 2005–2015 | Ian Byers-Gamber

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boldest and most vibrant, featuring an Apache warrior figure wearing a red headband gazing sidelong at the viewer. In large, unambiguous lettering, the mural proclaims that it is time for the settler colonists being hosted on Native land to reckon with their debts. With this highly intentional and self-assuredly rendered work—in some ways the antithesis of Miles’ candid skateboarder—the uneasy feeling of absence that permeated the exhibition snapped into place. Remnants of the past were reconstituted into a call to action. Another way of putting it: the exhibition’s bones were wrapped in flesh and color. OK #1 is an artist-run space in Tulsa located at 8124 E. 21st St., Unit A. Find out about upcoming shows and events at okno.one.

CREATE, COLLABORATE, COMMISERATE Two Art Galleries | Gift Shop | Photography Studio 10 Artists’ Studios | Art Workshops 3024 Paseo, Oklahoma City, OK 73103 Tues-Fri 11am-5pm Sat Noon-5pm

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A CALL TO HEAL:

YOKO ONO’S MEND PIECE AT SPRINGFIELD ART MUSEUM By Angela Hodgkinson

A white room, a simple directive, and an allegory for the

in the art world began long before she met a certain

times are all hallmarks of artist Yoko Ono’s nearly seven-

famous Beatle (which happened, coincidentally, at the

decades-long body of work. It is also a basic description

first exhibition of this very piece) and continued with her

of Mend Piece (Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York City version)

acting as a feminist influence within the early stages of

(1966/2015), now on view at the Springfield Art Museum

the Fluxus movement.

in Springfield, Missouri.

Founded in 1960, Fluxus was a collective of avant-garde

You may be wondering how Yoko—an internationally-

artists who sought to dissolve the imaginary partitions

recognized artist with multiple major solo exhibitions

between high-art elitism and the masses. The group

at the most visible art institutions and a Lifetime

helped democratize and expand the notions of art and

Achievement award from the Venice Biennale—arrived in

artist, holding inclusivity, chance, and a DIY approach as

a modest, city-run museum in the middle of the Midwest.

important values. Collaborations were encouraged not

Yoko Ono: Mend Piece is an exhibition traveling by way

only between artists, but between artist and audience.

of the American Federation of Arts (AFA) Art Room series,

In many of Ono’s works, like the early performance Cut Piece

which makes experiential and immersive art available to

(1964), or her book Grapefruit, she starts a piece and then

museums and cultural institutions. As a member of the

provides a list of instructions asking others to complete it.

AFA, the Springfield Art Museum receives notices of its

These pieces are always political, often including a direct

available exhibitions, and in the fall of 2019, Mend Piece

call to consider the crises of our time and an invitation to

was one of those exhibitions.

mend them through focus, hope, or collective action. The

Springfield Museum Curator of Art Sarah Buhr said of the

call to mend appears throughout her work.

two-year process, “We received a list of what materials

Mend Piece’s earliest iterations include a 1966 version

we should have available. The main components of

presented in London as a smashed white teacup upon

the exhibit are installed the same at each venue and

a round white pedestal with mending supplies and the

include a white Parsons table, white walls, white shelves,

vague instruction, “Mend.” In 1968, she created Mend Piece

broken china, and mending supplies.” (Slight variations

for John with directions to break and repair his favorite

made based on venue and the ever-changing status of

cup “with this glue and this poem.”

Covid-19 were approved by the Yoko Ono Studio with the AFA acting as liaison.)

Today’s version of Mend Piece offers equally simple and poetic directions as a call to healing through collective

We all know Yoko Ono. She has long been a controversial

mending: “Mend with wisdom, mend with love./ It will

figure in the cultural zeitgeist. However, her involvement

mend the earth/at the same time.” Leaning on kintsugi, CONTINUED

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Yoko Ono, Mend Piece (Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York City version), 1966/2015, ceramic, nontoxic glue, tape, scissors, and twine, dimensions variable, Rennie Collection, Vancouver | Angela Hodgkinson

CONTINUED

REGIONAL REVIEW

a 500-hundred-year old Japanese process of restoring

individual accomplishment and more a representation of

damaged ceramics by highlighting cracks with gold

their effort in a collective response, become hope.

lacquer, one is encouraged to accept imperfection and impermanence as part of the repair process. With this in mind, it’s hard not to imagine each mended object as a personal disclosure of the ways in which we hold ourselves together—tightly or messily, some hanging by a thread. On a regular basis, mended works fall off the shelves and clank onto the floor below, breaking the

and communal action serves as particularly relevant to our current era. “The piece has been interacted with in the spirit of Ms. Ono’s instructions as well as in ways that have not been anticipated but are in keeping with the larger Fluxus

museum-reverent silence. Assistants periodically collect

movement of surprise, collaboration, and humor,” Buhr said.

the fallen pieces, detach them from their string or tape,

The success of this traveling artwork in inspiring communal

and replace them onto the tables as new fodder—each falling apart is another chance to practice rebuilding a broken world. With this contemplative exercise, Ono’s audiences become active participants in her imagination. The work extends and expands her ideas by means of what she likens to a wish. True to Ono’s conceptually-driven process, Mend Piece becomes a collective wish, prayer, or meditation. The mending—and the thinking while mending—become the work. The reconstructed objects, less a participant’s 26

Shedding light on world affairs with mindful attention

REGIONAL REVIEW

participation—especially after a pandemic which further distanced us—shows how vital the concept of communal healing remains. We simply will not survive without it. Yoko Ono’s Mend Piece (Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York City version) at Springfield Art Museum runs through July 10, 2022. It will complete its six-city tour at the Neuberger Museum of Art at SUNY Purchase College in Purchase, NY, from August 31–December 23, 2022.

As a senior in the The University of Tulsa’s graphic design program, Cailie Golden has found that with commencement approaching, faculty mentorship, opportunities for hands-on experience, and a well-rounded curriculum made all the difference in preparing her for the future. “Without Third Floor Design... all the opportunities I’ve had at TU,” she explains, “I think my future as a designer would look very different. I have so much more confidence; my time here really prepared me for graduation.” In addition to pursuing her degree, Cailie is an editor with Stylus Student Journal, a member of the Alpha Phi Omega service fraternity in which she was elected fundraising chair, and a recipient of the Kimberly Hanger Award for an essay on Shakespearian Lit. She has also had the opportunity to take two semesters with Third Floor Design (the school’s student-staffed design firm), then interviewed for the D’Arcy paid internship over the summer. This is the experience that she credits with preparing her for life after college. “Real deadlines and client interactions pushed me to learn and grow; now I have a stronger portfolio, featuring work done for real organizations.” The program also connected Cailie with mentors that provide insight and encouragement. In her four years at TU, she has found not only a community but also the perfect place to prepare for, then pursue, her future in graphic design.

OPPOSITE PAGE // Guests participating in Yoko Ono’s Mend Piece at Springfield Art Museum. ABOVE // Details from the exhibition | Angela Hodgkinson

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By proudly supporting arts and cultural education within the boundaries of the Chickasaw Nation and throughout the state of Oklahoma, the Chickasaw Nation plays a critical role in ensuring visual arts will continue to build bridges between cultures and remain something we can all enjoy for generations.

WE THRIVE BILL ANOATUBBY, GOVERNOR

OVAC N E W S One of the most enduring proverbs or sayings is the importance of sowing seeds. Sow and reap. Seed and harvest. For nearly 35 years, OVAC has been planting seeds in our community and Oklahoma has reaped the rewards. Each year, we support artists through various grants and fellowships, knowing that the support provided will positively impact the arts in our state.

Danielle Ezell, Interim Director

Quarterly, OVAC provides grants to help artists at all stages of their careers. Through this program, OVAC offers opportunities to artists and ensures creative communities

up to $500 for the essentials of starting an art career, such

throughout the state thrive. We are pleased to announce

as display/framing, shipping, website, artwork creation,

that the Spring 2022 OVAC grant awardees are as follows:

printing etc.

Marium Rana (Tahlequah, OK), Raasheda Burnett (Oklahoma City, OK), Erin Latham (Oklahoma City, OK), Lauren Rosenfelt (Norman, OK), Kendall Ross (Oklahoma City, OK), Debra Martin Barber (Oklahoma City, OK), Nancy Peterson, (Norman, OK), and Hailey Craighead, (Oklahoma City, OK). The funds awarded will be used in a variety of ways. For example, OVAC Creative Projects grants an award of up to

Although the individual grants may not seem significant financially, the long-term impact is substantial. We’ve carefully chosen what we nourish, and with your help, we will continue to see the plentiful bounty. Congratulations to the Spring Grant Awardees! Best Wishes,

$1,500 to create new work that will culminate in a public event focused on the artist’s work. Education and Assistance grants award up to $500 for conferences, residencies, studio

Danielle Ezell

workshops, or study trips. Lastly, professional grants award

Interim Executive Director

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OVAC NEWS

WRITERS LIZ BLOOD is the 2022 guest editor of Art Focus. In 2014, Blood founded the magazine’s poetry and art column, “Ekphrasis,” which has appeared in every issue since. A writer, editor, and lifelong Oklahoman, her work focuses on place, memory, and contemporary art. She is a four-time recipient of the Tulsa Artist Fellowship and is a former Oklahoma Art Writing & Curatorial Fellow at Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition. She lives in Tulsa with her husband and son.

OLIVIA DAILEY has a BA in Journalism from the University of Oklahoma. She works as a media production coordinator in Norman.

ANGELA HODGKINSON is a lifelong creative whose personal work emerges from a long line of artists, designers, and crafters on both sides of her family tree. A sixth-generation Oklahoman, her Arapaho ancestors were relocated here after surviving the Sand Creek Massacre. She lives in Oklahoma City with her husband and two sons.

MASON WHITEHORN POWELL is an independent journalist and poet from Osage County, Oklahoma. A tribal member of the Osage Nation, his writing often focuses on Indigenous arts and representation.

JOHN SELVIDGE is a screenwriter, poet, and an enthusiastic beneficiary of OVAC’s Oklahoma Art Writing and Curatorial Fellowship. He works in the humanitarian nonprofit sector in Oklahoma City, where he maintains a variety of freelance and creative projects on the side.

JENNY WU is an art historian, critic, fiction writer, and occasional Detail from Yoko Ono, Mend Piece (Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York City version), 1966/2015, ceramic, nontoxic glue, tape, scissors, and twine, dimensions variable, Rennie Collection, Vancouver | Angela Hodgkinson

curator and a recipient of the 2021–23 Tulsa Artist Fellowship.

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Annual Members Meeting Thrive Artists Award Reception Art Crit Night at 21c 12 x 12 Exhibition

Vida Oklahoma exploring identity and experiences of Latinx artists in Oklahoma

artwork by Carlos Barboza

June 25 - September 15

artwork by Isaac Diaz