NEWS RELEASE                

For Immediate Release 

 
Contact:   
 
   Eric Davis,  Marketing & Communications Director
                505.424.2351, or [email protected]
   Tatiana Lomahaftewa-Singer, Curator of Collections, IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native
     Arts - 505.428.5899, or [email protected]

 

Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA)

Alumnus T.C. Cannon's Works to Tour

 Rarely Seen Works on Display at  

Salem, MA's Peabody Essex Museum 

 
    
SANTA FE: February 15, 2018. IAIA recently loaned key works by seminal artist T.C. Cannon to the Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) for their upcoming exhibition: T.C. Cannon: At the Edge of America. Tommy Wayne ('T.C.') Cannon grew up in a rural farming community in southeastern Oklahoma, raised by his Kiowa father and Caddo mother. America's cultural revolution was ablaze when Cannon left home in 1964 to begin his journey as an artist at the newly minted experimental arts-based school in Santa Fe, the Institute of American Indian Arts, where he began to address and rethink-on the stage of Western art history-the political narratives between Native Americans and the U.S. Government.

Mama and Papa Have the Going Home to Shiprock Blues, oil, acrylic on canvas, 1966, 84 x 60 inches
 
 
The Peabody Essex Museum presents an exhibition celebrating one of the most influential and inventive Native American artists of the 20th-century, T.C. Cannon (1946-1978, Caddo/Kiowa). T.C. Cannon: At the Edge of America ౼ on view at PEM from March 3, 2018 through June 10, 2018 ౼  explores the dynamic creative range and legacy of an artist whose life was cut short at age 31. Through nearly 90 works, including 30 major paintings, works on paper, poetry, and musical recordings, Cannon's distinctive and affecting worldview shines through in this groundbreaking exhibition that is organized by PEM and will tour the country through 2019. After PEM the exhibition will head to the Gilcrease Museum,Tulsa, OK, from July 14 through October 7, 2018; then to the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI), New York, NY, from March 16 - September 16, 2019.

This is the first major traveling exhibition of his work since 1990. Deeply personal yet undeniably political, Cannon's artwork adeptly channels
his cultural heritage, experience as a Vietnam War veteran, and the turbulent social and political climate that defined 1960s and '70s America. Amid ongoing national and global conversations about ethnic identity, social justice, land rights and cultural appropriation, Cannon's work continues to engage issues that are as relevant now as they were 50 years ago. "Never shying from the complexity and nuance of identity politics, Cannon interrogated American history and popular culture through his Native lens and showed us that Native American history and culture are integral to the American experience," says Karen Kramer, exhibition curator and PEM's Curator of Native American and Oceanic Art and Culture.

Indian Man, oil on canvas, ca. 1967,
42 3/8 x 42 3/8 inches
 
 
Throughout his highly-productive but short career, Cannon fostered a deep intellectual curiosity about the human experience and developed a signature painting style that favored bold color combinations and mash-ups between Native and non-Native elements. In an innovative approach, Cannon fused visual elements from his Native American worldview with European and American artistic influences, such as Vincent van Gogh, Henri Matisse, and Robert Rauschenberg. Cannon's hybrid visual vocabulary aimed to restore the identity and agency of his sitters, situating his Native subjects within distinct settings, whether contemporary interiors or timeless landscapes.

It's Alright Ma, I'm Only Signing, oil on canvas, 1966,
46 x 56 inches
 
 
The following eight T.C. Cannon works from IAIA's National Collection of Contemporary Native Arts have been shipped for loan to the Peabody Essex Museum (PEM), Salem, MA for the traveling exhibition T.C. Cannon: At the Edge of America, Jan. 2018 - Dec. 2019:

Indian Man, oil on canvas, ca. 1967, 42 3/8 x 42 3/8 inches
Tale of a Bigfoot Incident in American Vernacular, oil, mixed media on canvas, 1966, 72 x 60 inches
D-Day Blues, oil, collage, mixed media on canvas, 1966, 36 x 36 inches
Mama and Papa Have the Going Home to Shiprock Blues, oil, acrylic on canvas, 1966, 84 x 60 inches
It's Alright Ma, I'm Only Signing, oil on canvas, 1966, 46 x 56 inches
New Mexico Genre, oil, mixed media, collage, paper on canvas, 42 x 48 in.
Revelation of Standing Sun, oil on canvas, 1966, 50 x 68 ½ inches
Untitled, mixed media, ink wash, white chalk on paper, 1965, 29 ¾ x 65 inches
 
Tatiana Lomahaftewa-Singer (Hopi/Choctaw), Curator of Collections for the IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts remarked, " The Institute is fortunate to have his early seminal student works  and we are happy to have some of our most important works in the collection included in this exhibition."  
 
T.C. Cannon: At the Edge of America is organized by the Peabody Essex Museum. The exhibition was made possible in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts. Carolyn and Peter S. Lynch and The Lynch Foundation and Ellen and Steve Hoffman provided generous support. PEM also recognizes the generosity of the East India Marine Associates of the Peabody Essex Museum. Media Partner: Northshore Magazine.
 
Excerpted from the PEM Website
  
For more information, or to interview Tatiana Lomahaftewa-Singer, please contact Eric Davis at 505.424.2351, or [email protected] .
  
 
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Offering undergraduate degrees in Studio Arts, Creative Writing, Cinematic Arts and Technology, Indigenous Liberal Studies, and Museum Studies -- a minor in Performing Arts -- an MFA in Creative Writing -- along with certificates in Business and Entrepreneurship, Museum Studies, and Native American Art History -- IAIA is the only college in the nation dedicated to the study of contemporary Native arts. The school serves 517 full time equivalent (FTE) Native and non-Native American college students from across the globe.  IAIA is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission -- and is the only college in New Mexico accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design. 
 

About IAIA -- For over 50 years, the Institute of American Indian Arts has played a key role in the direction and shape of Native expression. With an internationally acclaimed college, museum, and tribal support resource through the IAIA Land Grant Programs, IAIA is dedicated to the study and advancement of Native arts and cultures -- and committed to student achievement and the preservation and progress of their communities.  Learn more about IAIA and our mission at www.iaia.edu. 

 

 


 
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