Artsy

11 Influential Native American Artists
Sandra Hale Schulman
November 9, 2021

Over the past few years, Native Americans have become increasingly visible within the cultural mainstream in the United States. From the appointment of high-ranking government officials like Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, to the centering of Indigenous stewardship in the fight for climate resilience, to the popularity of hit television shows and podcasts like Reservation Dogs and The Red Nation—at long last, Native voices are finally being heard on their own terms.

The same is true within the art world. With major museum exhibitions, gallery shows, institutional leadership, sold-out art fair booths, and new Native-led arts initiatives like Forge Project and Ma’s House, we are currently seeing a wave of recognition for contemporary Native American artists.

From art world veterans who have been using their work to advocate for Native rights for decades to a younger generation of artists who are using traditional techniques to address contemporary issues, here is a list of some of the most influential Native American artists living and working today.

Nicholas Galanin
b. 1979, Sitka, Alaska. Lives and works in Sitka.

Tlingit/Unangax̂ artist and musician Nicholas Galanin made a big statement at this year’s Desert X with his work Never Forget (2021). The 45-foot-tall white letters spelling out the words “INDIAN LAND” were placed in the middle of the Palm Springs desert, referencing the iconic Hollywood sign 122 miles west in Los Angeles. The monumental traveling work was created in order to raise awareness and funds for the Land Back movement, whose mission is to go beyond acknowledgement and raise funds for legal action in the courts to enforce treaties or to purchase land back from postcolonial owners.

In addition to his wide-ranging art practice, Galanin is also a carver and educator, making traditional canoes and passing the knowledge and craft along via extensive online documentation. He also works in sculpture, video, engraving, and taxidermy. As a musician, his band Ya Tseen released their debut album Indian Yard this past spring.

Uniting all these methods of expression is Galanin’s deeply rooted connection to the land and culture he belongs to. The documentary film Love and Fury by Seminole/Creek filmmaker Sterlin Harjo—creator of the hit series Reservation Dogs—is a testament to this. The film follows Galanin around Sitka, Alaska, as he makes wooden canoes and art, and hunts a seal in the harbor and butchers it in his home garage.

Galanin was also one of eight artists to withdraw their work from the 2019 Whitney Biennial in response to the now resigned museum board member Warren Kanders funding weapons that had been used against protestors worldwide. He has been represented by Peter Blum Gallery since 2019.