St. Paul based artist Julie Buffalohead has a new exhibit opening at the Minneapolis Institute of Art later this month. Buffalohead is a citizen of the Ponca tribe in Oklahoma.
Transcript
St Paul based artist Julie Buffalohead has a new exhibit opening at the Minneapolis Institute of Art later this month. Buffalohead is a citizen of the Ponca tribe in Oklahoma. This exhibit features 5 new pieces of art - but 3 of them are huge - 12 feet tall and 4 and 1/2 feet long!
AHLBERG YOHE: There is nobody out there doing what Julie does. (:03)
Jill Ahlberg Yohe [YO-hee] co-curated the exhibit with Josephine Lampone, who is Kiowa. Ahlberg says art is a language and Julie Buffalohead is using that language to tell stories about social, political, and personal experiences.
AHLBERG YOHE: Well this incredible work Cages is about being in cages and what that means historically and what that means in contemporary moments (:09)
The work is deep and layered. Animals are often central characters in her work and Buffalohead does not decipher each detail for the viewer.
AHLBERG YOHE: As you know many non-Native people have this urgency to decode it — what does it mean - what does it really mean? What does this symbol mean? [laughs] (:13)
Co-curator Josephine Lampone includes some descriptions of Native animal stories in the exhibit, but viewers are encouraged to do their own thinking. The exhibit opens at MIA in Minneapolis on November 23rd and runs through September 2020. Co-curater Jill Ahlberg Yohe [YO-hee] says she expects Julie Buffalohead will soon be in high demand internationally.