Date of Award
Spring 1-1-2014
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Art & Art History
First Advisor
Kira van Lil
Second Advisor
Claire Farago
Third Advisor
James Córdova
Abstract
This study aims to address how Fritz Scholder's Indian Series and James Luna's performance pieces- The Artifact Piece , Half Mexican/ Half Mexican , Indian Tails , Take a Picture with a Real Indian and Emendatio - contributed to a larger study of identity and presence that contemporary Native American artists of the twenty-first century strive to recognize. Scholder's radical approach to portraying the Native American figure in painting during the mid-twentieth century altered the expectations reserved for Native American artists. Through this change arose a desire for Native artists to not only utilize painting to express their modern existence, but embrace performance and installation. As a performance and installation artist of the late twentieth-century to present, James Luna has sought to disavow the notion of authenticity and instill identity through his contemporary experiences as a Native American artist. I examine how this radical and abrupt shift in Native American artistry inspired currently practicing contemporary Native American artists to invoke sexuality, colonialism, violence and identity through new mediums.
Recommended Citation
Saracho, Amanda Renee, "Identity and Authenticity: A Study of the Contemporary Native American Experience through the Works of Fritz Scholder and James Luna" (2014). Art History Theses & Dissertations. 23.
https://scholar.colorado.edu/arth_gradetds/23