Nathan Young, Peyote Box
ArtNow: The Soul is a Wanderer
June 22, 2023 to Jan. 15, 2024
Eleanor Kirkpatrick Main Gallery
Opening Celebration and Artist Talk | 6 p.m. June 22
Tickets coming soon
"Crucial to finding the way is this: There is no beginning or end. You must make your own map." — Joy Harjo, A Map to the Next World, 2000
Elspeth Schulze, A trying: of what, of weight
The Soul is a Wanderer is the latest iteration of Oklahoma Contemporary’s biennial ArtNow exhibition, surveying recent art from the region. This version, conceived by Tulsa-based guest curator Lindsay Aveilhé, brings together new and recently made artworks by 13 artists from various generations based across the state.
The Soul is a Wanderer takes its title and inspiration from a line in the poem A Map to the Next World (2000), by former United States Poet Laureate Joy Harjo (b. 1951, Tulsa; Muscogee (Creek) Nation). Harjo’s poem calls for a journey beyond the present, toward imagining alternate and emancipatory futures of our own making. Through distinct perspectives and approaches to media — painting, sculpture, video, performance, photography and ceramics — the works in the exhibition explore past, present, and future moments of passage, reckoning, and renewal.
ArtNow: The Soul is a Wanderer is a collaboration between Oklahoma Contemporary and Aveilhé, a curator and researcher based in Tulsa.
Participating artists
- Ruth Borum-Loveland (b. 1982, Oklahoma City)
- Ashanti Chaplin (b. 1981, Tulsa)
- Isaac Diaz (b. 1999, Oklahoma City)
- Yusuf Etudaiye (b. 1968, Okene, Nigeria)
- Yatika Fields (b. 1980, Stillwater, Okla.; Osage/Cherokee/Muscogee (Creek))
- Sterlin Harjo (b. 1979, Holdenville, Okla.; Seminole Nation of Oklahoma/Muscogee (Creek) descent) in collaboration with Joy Harjo
- Molly Kaderka (b. 1989, Kansas City, Kan.)
- Suzanne Kite (b. 1990, Sylmar, Calif.; Oglála Lakȟóta Nation)
- Robert Peterson (b. 1981, Denver)
- Moira Redcorn, (b. 1966, Pawhuska, Okla.; Osage Nation)
- Joseph Rushmore (b. 1982, Ada, Okla.)
- Elspeth Schulze (b. 1985, Grand Coteau, La.)
- Nathan Young (b. 1975, Tahlequah, Okla.; Delaware Tribe of Lenape Indians)
This exhibition is supported by George Records, Richard and Glenna Tanenbaum, the Kanady Family, the Gaylord Foundation, Annie Bohanon, the Chickasaw Nation, Velocigo, Love’s Travel Stops, Flogistix, BancFirst / BancFirst Trust, Ad Astra, the Merrick Foundation, Merrick Coe Fitzgerald, Delaware Resource Group, the Shirley and Bankhead Families, HSE Architects and B.C. Clark Jewelers.
Images:
Nathan Young, Peyote Box, 2016. Giclee print. Dimensions variable. Image courtesy of the artist.
Elspeth Schulze, A trying: of what, of weight, 2019. Plywood, blue tarp, thread, sand. 90 x 30 x 18 in. Image courtesy of the artist.
