Exploring Notions of Cultural Hybridity in Contemporary American Indian Art: Rick Bartow, A Case Study
Loading...
Date
2008-09
Authors
Tibbles, Kelsey Rose, 1980-
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Oregon
Abstract
While the use of Native and non-Native elements in recent American Indian art is
well documented, the work of contemporary Northwest artist Rick Bartow is frequently
discussed almost exclusively in terms of biography. This has led to what is arguably a
one-dimensional view of the artist and his work. My project is an attempt to frame this
acclaimed artist within a new context: that of his purposeful use of cultural hybridity as a
vehicle to explore his own postcolonial identity.
My thesis locates this aspect of Bartow's work within a larger critical examination
of how a mix of Native and non-Native iconography is used by some artists of American
Indian descent to critique the status and reception of indigenous art in the context of
Western art history. Bartow's on-going collaboration with Japanese Master Printer Seiichi
Hiroshima exemplifies how Bartow's innovative use of the signs and symbols of other
cultures endeavors to shift the language used to discuss American Indian art.
Description
x, 89 p. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number.