. . .events
. . .about the exhibition
Comic Art Indigene

This is where comics and the indigenous meet.

As an art form, comics are poorly understood, underanalyzed, and under-utilized. Created to be disposable yet widely read, comics are often dismissed as primitive and juvenile. Nevertheless, a generation of Native artists has embraced comics as an expressive medium. It is only natural that this marginal art appeals to oftmarginalized indigenous people, for both have been regarded as a primitive and malignant presence on the American landscape.

Like American Indian cultures, comic art is amazingly complex and adaptive. As the first widely-accessible mass media, comics were consumed by Indian people as a recognizable form of storytelling; expressing cultural stories through pictures.

On display May 11, 2008 through January 4, 2009, at the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture, Comic Art Indigène is a journey into mystery in which Indian artists articulate identity, politics, and culture using the unique dynamics of comic art. This is a new world of American Indian art, full of the brash excitement first seen on newsprint a century ago — sometimes unrefined, often considered crude, but never sterile.

Tewa Tales of Suspense: Behold. . . Po'pay!, 2008
Jason Garcia (Santa Clara Pueblo)
Mineral and carbon paint on clay
Courtesy of King Galleries, Scottsdale, AZ.