CORY REYNOLDS | DATE 7/26/2023

Highly anticipated 'An Indigenous Present'

Featured spreads are from An Indigenous Present, the superb 448-page new release gathering more than 60 Native North American contemporary artists, musicians, poets, choreographers, designers, filmmakers, performance artists, architects, collectives and writers, published by DelMonico Books and Big NDN Press. Edited by American Mississippi Chocktaw/Cherokee painter and sculptor Jeffrey Gibson and designed by Montreal-based Cree/Nêhiýaw graphic design studio OTAMI-, this is one of the most highly anticipated books on our list this season. In his introduction, Gibson writes, “It’s no secret that, at various points in my life, I’ve considered quitting being a professional artist. I’ve spoken about this publicly, and I’ve done so because I wanted to be transparent about the challenges of identifying as a Native/Indigenous artist. The historically pervasive racism of institutions and the market left me feeling like I had to do everything on my own. It was too difficult, too often, for too many reasons, but what really rattled me was the ways I’d come to accept — or perhaps ‘metabolize’ is a better word — the racism in the art world. It has taken me two decades to recognize racism’s edges, the way it feels and looks, its pervasive reach. In the art world, it is typically subtle, superficially well intentioned, and extremely polite in its delivery. In response, I have often felt a responsibility to assume the role of mediator and educator, which I’ve done as gracefully as I could in any given context. An Indigenous Present has emerged as much out of my dissatisfaction with the circumstances I have navigated during my own career as it has from witnessing artists who proudly identify as Indigenous carve out their own creative spaces and, collectively, manifest both local and international contexts for their artworks.”

ABOVE: Spreads featuring work by Dana Claxton, Nicholas Galanin and Beau Dick.