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Bronze statue: Charles Cary Rumsey, The Dying Indian, 1900s. Brooklyn Museum
Moccasins: John Little Sun Murie, I'M GONNA RUN WITH EVERY MINUTE I CAN BORROW, 2019. Brookyn Museum
Flags: Jeffrey Gibson, 2024 |
The Broad is presenting near-duplicate of the U.S. exhibition at the 2024 Venice Biennale, "Jeffrey Gibson: the space in which to place me" (through Sep. 28, 2025). The main omissions are the red pillars that were used for outdoor performances in Venice. All the interior artworks are included in the Los Angeles presentation and, based on photos, the installations are similar. Added to the L.A. showing is a reprise of an element of a 2020 exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum. A bronze sculpture by the largely forgotten Charles Cary Rumsey represents "The Dying Indian." At the time (early 1900s), premature obituaries of the indigenous population were popular with white artists and audiences. Gibson comissioned bead artist John Little Sun Murie to create moccasins for the figure. They quote from Roberta Flack: "I'm gonna run with every minute I can borrow."
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| Entrance to U.S. Pavilion for Venice Biennale, 2024 |
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Jeffrey Gibson, IF YOU WANT TO LIFT YOURSELF UP LIFT UP SOMEBODY ELSE, 2024. George Economou Collection
Many of the paintings are acrylic on canvas or paper, framed in beadwork. Gibson paints words of chosen authors in a cypher against dazzle-tint backgrounds. Above, the quote is from Booker T. Washington. |
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| Installation view at the Broad |
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| Jeffrey Gibson, WE HOLD THESE TRUTHS TO BE SELF-EVIDENT, 2024. National Gallery of Art |
Beaded punching bags are one of Gibson's metaphors for the 21st-century Native American experience.
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| Jeffrey Gibson, She Never Dances Alone (nine-channel video installation), 2020. The Broad Art Foundation |
In the show's one video installation,
She Never Dances Alone, Sarah Ortegon HighWalking performs the century-old jingle dance to Indigenous EDM. The Broad has acquired the video, along with a text painting. As far as I can tell, they are the first pieces by Gibson in any L.A. public collection.
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| Jeffrey Gibson, THE RETURNED MALE STUDENT FAR TOO FREQUENTLY GOES BACK TO THE RESERVATION AND FALLS INTO THE OLD CUSTOM OF LETTING HIS HAIR GROW LONG, 2024. The Broad Art Foundation |
THE RETURNED MALE STUDENT… quotes from a mortifying 1902 letter by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, mentioning "a few customs among the Indians, which, it is believed, should be modified or discontinued." Warning of the perils of long hair, the Commissioner writes, "The wearing of short hair by the males… will certainly hasten their progress towards civilization."
A journalistic rule of thumb says it takes three events to make a trend. America's last two Venice Biennale entries—Simone Leigh (2022) and now Gibson—have made it to Los Angeles in more-or-less complete forms. Unfortunately, that incipient trend now seems to have fallen into the category of Nice Things We Can't Have Anymore Under Trump. Selection of an artist for 2026 is months behind schedule, and the language of the application form suggests to some that non-MAGA artists need not apply. "Dying Indian"?! Gibson may be the last of the long line of gifted American artists in Venice.
Comments
> seems to have fallen into the category
> of Nice Things We Can't Have Anymore
> Under Trump.
It took decades for LA's signature industry to create its own museum next to LACMA, and if the movie/TV industry is a nice thing, LA may not have it much longer either---regardless who is or isn't in the White House.
As for the "provincialism" referred to below, that's sort of the direction of today's LACMA, whose line-up of special exhibits increasingly seem like what's shown at a municipal art gallery---"...might be a de facto museum of contemporary art, but frankly it's not a very good one."
The clock is ticking, people of Los Angeles, including you at LACMA.
The Guardian, Jonathan Freeland, May 11:
"The non-profit group FilmLA found that filming in Los Angeles was down 30% in the last year and 50% compared with the previous five-year average....You want to know what isn’t that fun? Driving to Burbank to shoot a movie. As a proud Angeleno, I won’t say anything unnecessarily mean about Burbank, but I will say I would probably rather spend three months on a beach in Australia.
Filming in Los Angeles can feel like a clock-punching 9-to-5 job where a large percentage of your day is spent on the freeway. Craft services meals are often a tepid piece of chicken and a lightly dressed salad....In LA, those meddling studio executives are bumping into you at Whole Foods.
I love Los Angeles, but at times, it can feel like Alcatraz – an isolating movie prison where the only way to escape is to be kicked out. LA is far more varied and culturally vibrant...but when you work in the movies, it can feel a lot smaller and more provincial.
If we want to revitalize the movie business in Los Angeles, then maybe we should start by improving the quality of life in Los Angeles."
... You keep making the same PROVINCIAL and IGNORANT arguments over and over again. How many more times are you going to say "de facto museum of contemporary art, but frankly it's not a very good one"?
The clock is ticking for YOU. ... Get some help.
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Hear, hear on the "not very good one." Honestly!
> Miss Hilly?
LOL. You're not one of those political freaks who is both pro-gay/women/effeminate and also uses those same qualities as a slur about people you don't like or are arguing against? Or sort of like the headcases into pro-Hamas/pro-Sharia/pro-Jewwish. Seek help.