Native Artist Ted Sitting Crow Garner's Sculpture at Gorman

Exhibition Title: Points of View: Sculpture Dates: Feb. 23-March 30 Where: C.N. Gorman Museum 1316 Hart Hall University of California, Davis Hours: Noon-5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and by appointment Artist Reception: 1-3 p.m. Friday, Feb. 23, C.N. Gorman Museum Chicago's Ted Sitting Crow Garner, a Native American artist of the Standing Rock Sioux Indian Tribe, will exhibit his sculpture in the C.N. Gorman Museum. Garner has been a nationally recognized sculptor since 1974, beginning with "Sculpture in the Park," sponsored by the Art Institute of Chicago. Since then, he has installed dozens of major sculptural exhibits across the United States, including such groundbreaking shows as "Sculpture for a New Era" at the Chicago Federal Plaza (1975), and Mark diSuvero's massive 1975-1976 retrospective at the Whitney Museum and in the five boroughs of New York. Garner also has constructed major projects for internationally known artists, including Arman and Vito Acconci, and institutions including the Field Museum of Natural History and Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art. What makes Garner's art cutting edge is his ability to combine the power and aesthetics of his Native American heritage with modern technique and materials. In his early experiments with watercolor, Garner discovered that cubism, for example, posited rules of pictorial depiction similar to those of the Haida and Kwakiutl artists of the Northwest Coast. Similarly, he noted that "color-field" painters of the '50s and '60s accomplished very much the same thing as buffalo robe and parfleche painters of his own Lakota tribe. Realizing this, Garner decided to pursue contemporary art as a career. To that end, he has studied under such large-scale sculptors as John Henry and Mark diSuvero, both at the forefront of contemporary sculpture. More recently, Garner has been building large sculptures, which incorporate seating and play areas for children, to be used as public art. He is also working with smaller wood sculptures, painting them with watercolor, and applying covering coats of lacquer to protect and provide depth. These latest works are influenced mainly by historical modes, such as surrealism and constructivism, and by current events and the jargon attached to them.

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Susanne Rockwell, Web and new media editor, (530) 752-2542, sgrockwell@ucdavis.edu

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