Salem, MA - A stunning selection of Native American art will be on display at the Peabody Essex Museum beginning June 24, 2006.  Intersections, Native American Art in a New Light is a new exhibition drawn primarily from the museum’s collections and features more than 70 works, including never-before-seen objects, such as a 17^th century bejeweled Incan dance crown and a David Bradley monoprint (2000).  In addition to beadwork, textiles, ceramics, and drawings, the exhibition includes paintings and an installation by Nora Naranjo-Morse (Santa Clara Pueblo).  Diverse cultures––from the Penobscot in the Northeast and Haida of British Columbia, to the Pueblos of the American Southwest and Incas of Peru––are represented.  “Intersections focuses on connections––between the traditional and the personal, the present and the past, the Native and the non-Native, and Indigenous and Western media.  The exhibition, which covers the 1600s to the present, will remain on view indefinitely.

The artworks in Intersections, Native American Art in a New Light are arranged in three major groupings:

Metaphor and Identity presents objects and paintings shaped by narratives of the natural and supernatural worlds, for example, a spectacular 19th century Dakota baby carrier with images of Thunderbirds.  Masks, dolls, and a drum speak to the role of ceremony, prayer, song, and play in the formation of personal and cultural identity.  Contemporary works, such as “Self-Portrait as a Pojoaque Buffalo Dancer” by Mateo Romero (Cochiti Pueblo) and “Crow Dance” by Rick Bartow (Wiyot) reference metaphoric forms and images as explorations of a Native sense of being.

Icons and Politics addresses the question “What does it mean to be Native American?”  The notion of a distinct “sense of being” that can be interpreted in the art of Metaphor and Identity is challenged here.  Objects associated with popular perceptions of “being Indian,” e.g., noble warriors and Indian chiefs, are juxtaposed with pointed, often humorous, works by contemporary Native artists like Judith Lowry and Harry Fonseca.  Outstanding examples of historic art from the PEM collection, including a painted buffalo hide, Plains headdress, Sioux beaded woman’s dress, and Two Grey Hills Navajo textile offer classic symbols of Native American art.

Continuity and Innovation questions the notion of purity or isolation in Native American art.  Works include the museum’s remarkable Aleutian raincoat made of sea lion intestine in the form of a Russian officer’s cloak, and a late 19th century Victorian-style wall sculpture, beaded by an Iroquois woman in the Niagara Falls region.  Two pieces of contemporary jewelry, a gold and coral bracelet with gemstones by Jesse Monongya (Hopi/Navajo) and a silver, gold, and fossil ivory pendant by Denise Wallace (Aleut) beautifully articulate the combining of American jewelry techniques, Native Southwest silversmithing, and storytelling.  Artists in this section draw inspiration from many sources, including Western fine art and material culture, to constantly push their art in new directions.  They show how Native American art reflects both a sense of being and a sense of “becoming.”

Visitors to Intersections will also enjoy All of My Life, Contemporary Works by Native American Artists.  This selection of sculptures and paintings from the museum’s collection embraces the experiences and worldviews of nine contemporary artists who call upon and reinterpret Native American painting and sculpting traditions that are thousands of years old as well as those of modern art. 

About the Peabody Essex Museum

The recently transformed Peabody Essex Museum presents art and culture from New England and around the world.  The museum's collections are among the finest of their kind, showcasing an unrivaled spectrum of American art and architecture (including four National Historic Landmark buildings) and outstanding Asian, Asian Export, Native American, African, Oceanic, Maritime, and Photography collections... visit our Web site at www.pem.org.