Jeffrey Gibson: They Teach Love

Jeffrey Gibson asks us to co-envision a future and to move toward it. Ceaselessly prioritizing collective imagination as a tool toward manifestation and realization, the artist has stated,“Don’t accept the circumstances you are in; acknowledge that you are in them and then find a future.” Gibson’s form of hard-earned optimism evokes a time frame that unites and collapses past, present, and future into a flowing and responsive mindset, rooted in the belief that a critical engagement with the past can help us shape a brighter horizon. Exclusively curated from the collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation, this major exhibition showcases over 35 captivating objects spanning 15 years of Gibson's prolific career. Gibson’s vibrant interdisciplinary practice combines sculpture and painting, beadwork and video, words and images; incorporating rawhide, tipi poles, sterling silver, wool blankets, jingles, fringe, and sinew—materials that refer to American Indian cultures–toward the adornment of objects such as punching bags, flags, banners, and illuminated signs. Gibson, who is of Mississippi Choctaw and Cherokee heritage, combines aspects of Indigenous art and culture with modernist traditions, navigating and disrupting the expectations placed upon Native artists working within the contemporary art world. At the root of his enterprise lies a core value—objects, and people alike, carry the potential for radical transformation. The exhibition’s centerpiece is an expansive and immersive work titled“ To Name An Other” which is comprised of 51 screen printed elk hide drums and 50 wearable garments.This traveling exhibition is organized by the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at Washington State University and is curated by Ryan Hardesty, Executive Director.