Finally, here's two paintings by the anishinaabe artist, Jim Denomie. The first is called, "Edward Curtis, Paparazzi" (painted 2006).
The second is called "Indian Angel" and it invokes one of Jim's totemic images: rabbits, while also dealing with matters clearly spiritual. How does the explicit evocation of spiritual elements in this painting differ from other pictures we've examined?
What does this painting mean to you? What is this painting doing right that the video with children re-enacting the "First Thanksgiving" is doing so very wrong? How can we carefully educate others so that they too will understand this painting?
(I think it'd be interesting to ask people on the streets what this painting means. I think 99% would have absolutely no clue.)
These questions are in response to the first painting
One thing I notice straight away are the objects, which kind of resemble the letter "I," floating in the background. The artist, Denomie, uses a cubist technique to create surreal-like atmosphere in which the most Impressionistic subject is the white man. What might be the artist's intent with such a contrast?
The mouths of the horses are similar to the mouths of the Indians, why would this be effective?
What sorts of emotions, or thoughts are provoked in a piece like this? The colors are quite fascinating, other-worldly for the native subjects in the painting, but typical for the white man.
Is this painting questioning how one looks at/represents an Indian in art? I don't know if it is that simple.
I find it interesting that the white guy/photographer remains faceless in the first photograph. Why is that? Was it intentional? What objects are present other than the humans and the horses? Is there any signinficance to these?
Something that is really interesting in the first photograph is the apparent juxtaposition of white/colonial images with native images. For example, even though the scene is a forest by a lake with mountains in the backdrop, there is also a water tower, railroad tracks, and a motorcyclist. What does this mean? What are the representational problems with the feathers and the teepee?
The second painting is also quite interesting. What is the significance of the rabbit having humanoid features? Was a combination of Native symbol with an angel, something Christian, a goal of the painting? What are the implications of such a combination?
Something that is really interesting in the first photograph is the apparent juxtaposition of white/colonial images with native images. For example, even though the scene is a forest by a lake with mountains in the backdrop, there is also a water tower, railroad tracks, and a motorcyclist. What does this mean? What are the representational problems with the feathers and the teepee?
The second painting is also quite interesting. What is the significance of the rabbit having humanoid features? Was a combination of Native symbol with an angel, something Christian, a goal of the painting? What are the implications of such a combination?