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The Arts Intel Report

Native America: In Translation

Martine Gutierrez, Queer Rage, Imagine Life-Size, and I’m Tyra, 2018.

Apr 18 – May 12, 2024
600 S Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60605, United States

The Indigenous artist Wendy Red Star has always felt herself to be “outside.” Raised on a Crow Reservation, she was afraid of telling classmates in Billings, Montana, that she had a set of white grandparents. At Montana State University she suffered from feelings of “otherness.” Working in a variety of media, but primarily photography, Red Star’s art addresses colonialism, and in this exhibition, which she curates, she brings together work by nine Indigenous artists who also explore the legacies of colonialism. “The ultimate form of decolonization is through how Native languages form a view of the world,” Red Star writes. “These artists provide sharp perceptions, rooted in their cultures.” —Elena Clavarino