Using images and art spanning from the 13th century to contemporary works, Comic Art Indigène begins with the image of the red, white and blue All American Man, a shield-carrying warrior pictograph of the Pueblo II period (c. 1290), and is contrasted with an image of that other red, white and blue, shield-hurling hero, Captain America. Traditional media such as ceramics, beadwork and painting are represented, however the subject matter may surprise those expecting standard romanticized scenes of Native American life. Just as their ancestors did, Indian artists today use tradition as a foundation mixed with outside influences to comment on their world and lifeways. Inspired by the unique medium of comics, using its icons, tropes and dynamism, this is a new world of American Indian art, full of the brash excitement first seen in newsprint a century ago, sometimes unrefined, even crude at times, but never sterile.

Comic Art Indigène has toured the U.S. and has been exhibited at such prestigious institutions as the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. and the Palm Springs Art Museum in Palm Springs, California. It is the distinct honor of the Rockwell Museum of Western Art to host the exhibition from January 13 through May 29, 2012.

This exhibition has been organized by the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture/Laboratory of Anthropology, Santa Fe, NM. The exhibition curator is Antonio R. Chavarria.  Read Tony's biography here.

Comic Art Indigène examines how American Indian artists articulate identity, reclaim stereotypes, worldview, politics, and culture through the kinetic expression of sequential art. Inspired by this unique medium, using its icons, tropes and dynamism, this is a new world of American Indian art, full of the brash excitement first seen on newsprint a century ago, sometimes unrefined, even crude at times, but never sterile.