Exhibition Info
Painting Bays 2020: Horses in the IARC Collection
Horses in the IARC Collection
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Each work within the pedestals and the painting bays provides a closer look at the longstanding relationships between Southwest Native peoples and horses. This portion of the exhibit features a selection of paintings made by Diné and Pueblo artists during the mid-twentieth century and onward.
Within these paintings, horses are often depicted in motion, sometimes in nature, sometimes interacting with humans as they accomplish a particular task, such as transportation, hunting, or ranching. One of the featured artists, Pop Chalee (Taos Pueblo), speaks to this theme of motion within the book The World of Flower Blue: Pop Chalee: An Artistic Biography (see SAR.1989-7-382 Spirit Horse): "My little horses are running and their manes are flying by themselves. Yes, I like motion in them – that’s why I like to paint horses. (…) But I love movement. I love things to move in my painting."
People do not use horses at the same frequency today as they did so in the past due to the increased availability of other types of affordable transportation. Nevertheless, horse-human relationships continue in southwest Native communities and the legacies of past relationships reverberate today.
Curated by Erin Monique Grant (The Colorado River Indian Tribes) and Amanda Sorensen, 2019-2020 Anne Ray Interns
