By Elias Garza Garcia, curatorial assistant

The traveling exhibition Warhol’s West, continuing through Aug. 7, features Andy Warhol’s mid-1980s screenprints of famous historical figures associated with the American West, including Annie Oakley, actor John Wayne and Geronimo.
Image courtesy of Hadley Fruits Photography.

Whether you are visiting the Eiteljorg to attend the 30th annual Indian Market and Festival June 25-26 or to explore the new Native American Galleries, be sure to carve out some additional time to check out the dazzling artwork exhibited inside the museum’s other galleries.

Time is running out to visit Warhol’s West presented by Raymond James; it closes Aug. 7. Behold the American West through one of America’s most iconic artists, Andy Warhol, who had a deep fascination for the mythology of the West. During his career, Warhol created at least two Western films, multiple Western-inspired paintings, and acquired a large collection of Native American and Western art, objects and photographs. The centerpiece of the traveling exhibition is Warhol’s 1986 series Cowboys and Indians. Images selected for this series include several iconic and sometimes controversial figures of the American West.

Take for example Warhol’s screenprint of the 26th U.S. president, Theodore Roosevelt, who earned a reputation as a conservationist by placing more than 230 million acres of land under public protection, systemically marginalizing Native communities and uprooting them from their lands. In many ways, Warhol’s West puts into question our collective memory of the West and the quality of the “heroes” immortalized in history.

Diversity of artworks
After experiencing the newly reinstalled Native American Galleries on the second floor, be sure to check out Contemporary Native Art 101 next door in the Hurt and Harvey Galleries. This exhibition, which continues until early summer 2023, is the follow-up installment to Native American Customary Art 101, curated by Dorene Red Cloud (Oglala Lakota), curator of Native American art. With a diversity of artworks ranging from ledger art to Native Modernists and beyond, Contemporary Native Art 101 features pieces by Allan Houser, Bonnie Devine, Truman Lowe and Helen Hardin, and several artworks by past Eiteljorg Contemporary Art Fellows, who have led the field of contemporary art into new frontiers.

A highlight of this exhibition is T.C. Cannon’s Collector #2 (Self-Portrait). This painting features a dapper Cannon wearing aviators and a red popover placket shirt, standing in front of a gold and pink striped wall where a Vincent Van Gogh painting hangs. Cannon’s artworks juxtaposed Native and non-Native cultures, altering the way Native peoples were perceived and portrayed in art. His unique perspective and signature style of bright hues and bold patterns position him as an important figure in the American art history canon. Learn about the various schools of thought and art movements that are represented in our astounding contemporary Native art collection. Native art history happens here.

The exhibition Contemporary Native Art 101, open through July 3, 2023, features works by T.C. Cannon, Truman Lowe and other artists.
Image courtesy of Hadley Fruits Photography

We hope you have a fantastic time the next time you visit the Eiteljorg to experience the museum’s exhibits and public programs. The museum staff would love to hear from you, so make sure to share your thoughts on one of the comment cards outside the galleries or at the Guest Services desk.

Truman Lowe (Ho-Chunk, 1944-2019)
Orange Canoe on Blue Water, 1998
Chalk and crayon on paper
Collection of the Eiteljorg Museum
Museum purchase from the Eiteljorg Fellowship for Native American Fine Art with funds provided by Stan and Sandy Hurt.
1999.6.3

WARHOL’S WEST
Continuing through AUG 7, 2022
Special Exhibition Gallery

Presented by:
Raymond James & Associates in Indiana

Sponsored by:
Capital Group
Avis Foundation Inc.

With additional support from:
Indiana Arts Commission
Indy Arts Council of the City of Indianapolis

#EJWarhol

CONTEMPORARY NATIVE ART 101
Continuing through JULY 3, 2023
Hurt and Harvey Galleries

Sponsored by:
Faegre Drinker

#NativeArtHistoryHappensHere

Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared in the June 2022 issue of Storyteller magazine.

Read this article about Contemporary Native Art 101 exhibition in the October-November issue of Native American Art magazine:
Native American Art_Contemporary Native Art 101_Oct-Nov 2022