Past Exhibitions

The fourth in a series of exhibitions presenting the Hood’s extensive and varied holdings, Native American Art at Dartmouth surveys the breadth and depth of the permanent collection of indigenous art from North America, from the historic to the contemporary. Guest curators George Horse Capture, Joe Horse Capture, and Joseph Sanchez each contribute unique experience and perspective as well as a discerning eye in the presentation of the Hood’s varied holdings of Native art. This exhibition reveals the transformation of traditional iconography and showcases the use of non-Native media in contemporary artistic expression and visual narrative, including the work of former Dartmouth Artists-in-Residence Allan Houser, Fritz Scholder, T. C. Cannon, and Bob Haozous.

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In spring 2009, the Hood Museum of Art commissioned Mateo Romero, Class of 1989, to paint a series of ten portraits of current Native American Dartmouth students as they danced at the college’s annual Pow-Wow. He photographed his subjects in May of that year and completed the almost life-sized portraits in 2010, using his signature technique of overpainting the photographic prints.

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This collection, brought together by Mark Lansburgh, Dartmouth Class of 1949, is considered to have been the largest and most diverse of its type in private hands; it was acquired by Dartmouth College in 2007. Curated by Joe Horse Capture, this exhibition features drawings depicting both the struggle for cultural survival and the Native adaptation to an imposed non-Native lifestyle during a period of profound upheaval among the Plains peoples during the second half of the nineteenth century. It is presented in conjunction with a Leslie Center for the Humanities Institute entitled Multiple Narratives in Plains Ledger Art: The Mark Lansburgh Collection.

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The third in a series of comprehensive exhibitions and catalogues showcasing the permanent collection, this exhibition surveys the breadth and depth of the permanent collection and highlights key works from the holdings, only a tiny fraction of which are on view in the museum's galleries at any one time. Modern and Contemporary Art at Dartmouth focuses on post-1945 painting, sculpture, works on paper, new media, and photography, and includes works by Mark Rothko, Ed Ruscha, Alice Neel, Romare Bearden, Alexander Calder, El Anatsui, Juan Munoz, Alison Saar, Amir Nour, Bob Haozous, Richard Serra, and Bill Viola, among others.

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Despite being stylistically diverse, the works in this exhibition are all linked both conceptually and formally to the tradition of Plains Indian ledger art of the nineteenth century. Created by artists who employ visual narrative as a means of exploring their cultural heritage and issues of present-day Native experience, these works may be read as expressions of solidarity and survival in the twenty-first century.

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Spirit of the Basket Tree: Wabanaki Ash Splint Baskets from Maine, guest curated by Jennifer Sapiel Neptune, focuses on the rich visual dialogue between contemporary Wabanaki basket artists of Maine and the legacy of Native American basket making in northern New England and southeastern Canada. Originally created for indigenous use, baskets emerged as valued items of trade with European settlers during the colonial era. They have remained at the center of cultural exchanges between Wabanaki people and Americans of non-native descent up to the present day, serving to solidify cultural identity, perpetuate intergenerational continuity, and symbolize political sovereignty for Wabanaki tribal members through the centuries.

Jennifer Sapiel Neptune, a basket maker herself and a co-manager of the Maine Indian Basket makers Alliance (MIBA), also has written an essay for the gallery brochure that accompanies the exhibition.

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