Multimedia artist Jeffrey Gibson, whose practice integrates indigenous, queer cultures and American histories alongside pop culture tropes to explore questions of identity, will represent the United States at the 60th Venice Biennale, taking place from April 20 to November 24, 2024. Gibson, who is a member of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians of Cherokee heritage, is the first Indian artist to have a solo exhibition at the United States Pavilion since the Biennale's founding in 1895.
Curated by Kathleen Ash-Milby, curator of Native American art at the Portland Art Museum in Oregon, Gibson's pavilion will be titled “the space in which to place me,” in homage to a poem by Layli Long Soldier, a member of the Nation Oglala Lakota. The exhibition will explore the notion of individual and collective identity through new and recent works, including sculptures, paintings, multimedia works and a site-specific installation in the pavilion's courtyard. The pavilion, commissioned by Ash-Milby, Winograd and SITE Santa Fe Executive Director Louis Grachos, will be Gibson's first major exhibition outside the United States.
"Throughout his career, Jeffrey has challenged us to look at the world differently through his innovative and vibrant work," Ash-Milby said in a statement. “His inclusive and collaborative approach is a powerful commentary on the influence and persistence of Native American cultures in the United States and globally, making him the ideal representative for the United States at this time.” Ash-Milby, who is a member of the Navajo Nation, is the first Native American to commission the Biennial's US Pavilion.
Gibson, 51, who lives and works in Germantown, N.Y., following an itinerant youth, has seen his star skyrocket over the last decade, starting with his solo exhibition “Love Song” at the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston in 2013 , through his lauded contribution to the 2019 Whitney Biennale. Gibson's work was acquired last May by the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, and he is currently Artist in Residence at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. York, where his work is on display at the Hessel Museum of Art.
Source: Artforum