Modern West is thrilled to share Native Impressions, a four-person Online Exclusive Exhibition with works by Indigenous artists Shonto Begay, Sheldon Harvey, Arlo Namingha and Eugene Tapahe. This show is a celebration of each artist’s identity through the traditions, symbols, stories and histories portrayed in their work. Native Impressions will be on exhibition October 9, 2023, through January 9, 2024.
Shonto Begay is a Diné (Navajo) artist from Kletha Valley, Arizona. Born one of sixteen children, Begay grew up herding sheep while attending the Bureau of Indian Affairs boarding school on the Navajo reservation. Begay displays the vast beauty of the Navajo Land through his impressionist brush strokes. He likens his artistic process to a “visual chant,” with each of his strokes being a syllable of a word which contributes to the prayer of the composition.
Sheldon Harvey is a Navajo artist based in Window Rock, Arizona. Reflecting imagery of Navajo folklore, inspiration from the land, Diné stories and personal identity, his work explores spirituality and tradition juxtaposed with contemporary inspiration from modern abstraction and cubism.
Arlo Namingha is a native of Santa Fe and a citizen of the Tewa-Hopi tribe, born into a family of internationally recognized artists. His sculptures, made of bronze, wood and stone are bound to and inspired by the land, beliefs and symbols of his Tewa-Hopi community in New Mexico, but his artistic expression is rooted in modernist minimalism.
Eugene Tapahe is a Diné (Navajo) artist from Window Rock, Arizona now based in Provo, Utah. During Tapahe's first years of life on the Navajo Nation, he and his grandmother lived off the land and practiced the traditional ways of their ancestors – learning the importance of respecting, preserving and protecting the land, water and nature. Tapahe has a multidisciplinary practice largely specializing in photography and land installation. His goal is to create art which heals the past and creates hope for the future.
Native Impressions provides works which honor and exemplify Native identity in our Western landscape. This show features works from spirited oils on canvas to jagged, geometric sculptures. Artists Shonto Begay, Sheldon Harvey, Arlo Namingha and Eugene Tapahe use their work to uniquely display personal histories and challenge viewers to consider their narratives in both historical and contemporary contexts.
