Arthur Amiotte: Collages 1988-2006 by Janet Catherine Berlo

Click the image for enlarged view

97 pp.,
Retail Price $40, Member Price $36,
56 color plates; 7 figures (4 color; 3 black/white),
10 1/8” X 10”, soft cover,
Item # BA630.

A catalog published in conjunction with an exhibition of the same title at the Wheelwright Museum, November 19, 2006 to April 20, 2007.

Arthur Amiotte, a Lakota born on the Pine Ridge Reservation, is one of the best-known and most distinguished Native artists working today. He has worked in many media and styles, but this book focuses on his collage series, which is the subject of the fall ’06 – spring ’07 exhibition at the Wheelwright Museum.

Amiotte’s collage series illustrates the historical realities of late-nineteenth and early twentieth-century Native life as a hybrid culture. The work encompasses historic drawings, pictographs, and family photographs, as well as imagery from ledger books, receipts, magazines, and advertising circulars. All the collages address in some way the confrontation of old and new – in values, worldview, and technology. Some focus on material culture such as clothing, vehicles, and self-presentation; others emphasize cross-cultural issues of education and spirituality. Taken as a whole, the series provides a penetrating portrait of more than a century of Lakota history, narrated and visualized from a Native point of view.

This catalog of the exhibition includes an introduction and an essay by Janet Catherine Berlo, Professor of Art History and Visual and Cultural Studies at the University of Rochester in New York. Ms. Belo has a long association with Amiotte, beginning with the onset of his collage series in 1988. In her essay, she discusses his art, background, influences, and the genesis of his collage series. A written account of a conversation between Amiotte and Belo on the subject of artistry and heritage is also included. Roughly half the book is comprised of color plates of the 51 collages exhibited in the show. The images are presented without comment, but are illuminated by the preceding text.

“Arthur Amiotte’s collages are unique. Addressing cultural collision and the dignity of the traditional Lakota culture, they are disguised as playful and humorous. The very medium implies something childlike and innocent, yet the collages are beautiful, sophisticated, and serious.” - Jonathan Batkin, Director, Wheelwright Museum