Jeffrey Gibson
VAULT spoke with co-curator of the American pavilion
at the Venice Biennale, Abigail Winograd, about the work
of Jeffrey Gibson – the first Native American artist to represent the United States at the prestigious event.
Image credit: Jeffrey Gibson, PEOPLE LIKE US, 2019, canvas, glass beads, plastic beads, artificial sinew, dried pear gourds, nickel-plated bells, grosgrain ribbon, tipi po le, 304.8 × 188 × 20.3 cm. Courtesy Sikkema Jenkins & Co. / Roberts Projects / Stephen Friedman Gallery
he first Indigenous solo artist to represent the United States at the Venice Biennale, Jeffrey Gibson is a “more is more kind of guy”, says a curator who knows him well. Gibson owns this reputation for fabulousness by making works festooned with colour and adornment.
The Colorado-born painter, sculptor and video maker, based in Brooklyn, New York, combines his identity as a member of the Mississippi band of Choctaw Indians and his Cherokee descent with a distinctly queer sensibility that revels in performance art, costuming and techno vibrancy.
The 52-year-old artist’s materials across his career have included Native American beadwork and blankets, the skins of deer and elk, decorative camp plastic trinkets as well as an abundance of spray paint and airbrushing, offering up a simultaneous joy and profundity.
Audiences will hopefully come away from the American pavilion at the Venice Biennale with a broader view of Indigeneity, says co-curator Abigail Winograd, who is based in Chicago. “One of the things that’s so powerful about Jeffrey’s work,” she explains, “is that it is accessible on so many levels.”
“There’s so much history that he references, US and global history, art history, fashion, music. But it’s also just beautiful, and making something beautiful is also a form of empowerment.
“Creating a space for joy, which hopefully feels welcoming and safe, is part of what he’s trying to build, which is why it is important to look at every detail, because it feels consuming – like you’re ... Subscribe to read this article in full
