National Museum of the American Indian
New York, NY
212-668-6624
http://www.si.edu/nmai
Instrument of Change: Jim Schoppert Retrospective
Exhibition, 1947-1992
The Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian will host
an exhibition of contemporary Native art from Alaska, titled "Instrument
of Change: Jim Schoppert Retrospective Exhibition, 1947-1992." The
traveling exhibition features more than 50 works--ranging from large carved
panels to sculptures, paintings and poetry by this Tlingit artist. The exhibit
will be on view Oct. 3, 1999 - Feb. 6, 2000 at the museum's George Gustav
Heye Center, One Bowling Green in lower Manhattan in New York City. (left:
Another Feather from Moon's Nest, 1990, carved wood, 15 x 46 inches,
National Museum of the American Indian; right: Teasing Eagle, 1993,
carved wood, 62 x 36 inches, Anonymous Lender)
"As a transitional artist, Jim Schoppert challenged
the conventions of traditional 
Northwest Coast art," said W. Richard West (Southern
Cheyenne), director of the National Museum of the American Indian. "The
museum is proud to celebrate this Tlingit artist, whose unique artistic
expression contributed to the evolution of contemporary Native art."
Schoppert (l947-l992) was an innovator, an instrument of
change, who, as curator Dave Nicholls says, "stretched the boundaries
of Alaska contemporary art and, in so doing, occasionally caused consternation
among the advocates of a more traditional Native arts style."
As Schoppert himself noted, "There is tremendous pressure
for conformity from collectors and scholars, who want work that fits into
the classic definition of Northwest Indian art. When things don't fit their
expectations there's a raised eyebrow, and a sort of suggestion of 'What
do we do with it now?'
The exhibition features several major carved wood panels
produced in the 1980s, including "Where Eagles Talon Salmon from the
Channels," a large muitipaneled 17 by 7-foot One Percent for Art piece,
an example of his larger public commissions; "Blueberries," another
multipaneled 6 x 6-foot favorite from the Anchorage Museum of History and
Art's collection; and "Thunderhead," a 6 by 6 foot multipaneled
piece from a private lender.
These carvings incorporate the strong contoured lines of
traditional Tlingit and Haida "formline" designs, but this traditional
style became a point of departure for Schoppert. His embellishments and
abstractions of formline were, in his view, a part of the natural evolution
of styles inherent in Native arts for millennia. For example, his carved
panels are painted with bright colors in a very loose and expressionistic
manner, the direct opposite of the traditional black and red colors painted
in a formal and controlled manner of formline.
The exhibition also includes numerous carved and painted
masks, works in ivory, and paintings such as "Meditations" and
"Miro and the Midnight Sun," which pay tribute to some of the
European artists who influenced his art. Two pieces from the Museum of the
American Indian's collection will be featured in the exhibition: "Another
Feather from Moon's Nest," acrylic on carved wood, and "Whale
Hunting in America," acrylic on rice paper.
"Instrument of Change: Jim Schoppert Retrospective
Exhibition, 1947-1992" is accompanied by a full-color catalog, available
in the museum shop. "Instrument of Change" was organized by the
Anchorage Museum of History and Art and the Anchorage Museum Association.
The Heye Center venue and associated free programming are made possible,
in part, by a generous gift from Con Edison.
We invite our readers to also see THE AMERICAN INDIAN OBSERVED:
Sketches and Documents From the Collections of the Archives of American
Art.
Read more about the National
Museum of the American Indian in Resource
Library Magazine
Search for more
articles and essays on American art in Resource Library. See America's Distinguished Artists for biographical information on historic artists.
This page was originally published in1999 in Resource
Library Magazine. Please see Resource Library's Overview section for
more information.
Copyright 2012 Traditional
Fine Arts Organization, Inc., an Arizona nonprofit
corporation. All rights reserved.
The Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian will host
an exhibition of contemporary Native art from Alaska, titled "Instrument
of Change: Jim Schoppert Retrospective Exhibition, 1947-1992." The
traveling exhibition features more than 50 works--ranging from large carved
panels to sculptures, paintings and poetry by this Tlingit artist. The exhibit
will be on view Oct. 3, 1999 - Feb. 6, 2000 at the museum's George Gustav
Heye Center, One Bowling Green in lower Manhattan in New York City. (left:
Another Feather from Moon's Nest, 1990, carved wood, 15 x 46 inches,
National Museum of the American Indian; right: Teasing Eagle, 1993,
carved wood, 62 x 36 inches, Anonymous Lender)