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February 3, 2009
Tables Turned on Curator in IAIA Museum Store Exhibit
Contact: Staci Golar, 505.424.2351
sgolar@iaia.edu
-or-
Maggie Ohnesorgen, 505.983.1666
mohnesorgen@iaia.edu
Joseph Sanchez has been a curator at the Institute of American Indian Arts Museum for the past eight years, carefully choosing work and plotting out themes for major exhibits. But what happens when a curator decides to show his own work, instead? The IAIA Museum Store invites viewers to find out at Perversions of the Curator: a minor retrospective February 13 – March 15, 2009 with a public opening reception Friday, February 13, from 4 p.m. - 7 p.m. The exhibit and opening are both free of charge.
Sanchez decided in the fourth grade that he would be an artist. Later at age 12 he imagined he was Jack Kerouac, doing the cafe scene with the artists in Paris, when really he just at home in Whiteriver, Arizona on the White Mountain Apache Reservation. It wasn’t until he met Canadian First Nations artist Daphne Odjig in the ‘70s that Sanchez’ career as an artist actually began. He gives credit to Odjig for being his biggest mentor and encouraging him to work at painting, drawing and sculpting. His connection to Odjig ultimately led him to become one of the founding members of the “Native Group of Seven” (Professional Native Artists, Inc.), where he participated in group exhibits in Canada, Europe and the United States with Odjig and other artists of note including Norval Morrisseau, Alex Janvier, Jackson Beardy, Eddie Cobiness and Carl Ray.
Sanchez returned from Canada during the U.S. bicentennial and joined new artists to form two more collectives in the Phoenix area. He became one of the first staff members of the Scottsdale Center for the Arts, and later went on to work at the Phoenix Art Museum. A combination of fate and good timing led him to the IAIA Museum, a perfect place to land as an arts activist interested in promoting indigenous arts.
Part sketch, part drawing and part watercolor, Sanchez says the work for this show is “…Drawing and painting--no sculpture--but a variety of scale to intrigue the viewer. I love painting large, diving into a canvas as if it were a pool of water; working small and intimate, creating in one stroke the energy and ideas of a thousand strokes. My work is about energy and a mind that wasn’t directed to follow a particular path/style but to explore all the possibilities.”
To request images of artwork or arrange an interview with the artist, please email sgolar@iaia.edu or call 505.424.2351. For more information about the IAIA Museum store, please call 505.983.1666 or email mohnesorgen@iaia.edu
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About the IAIA Museum
Located in downtown Santa Fe, the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) Museum is dedicated to advancing the discourse, knowledge and understanding of contemporary Native arts. Founded in 1971, the Museum’s exhibitions, publications and educational programs challenge pre-conceived notions of contemporary art. The IAIA Museum is home to the largest collection of contemporary Native art in the world. A premier shopping destination, the Museum’s store offers the finest selection of contemporary Native arts and gifts from both emerging and established artists.
IAIA’s Mission:
To empower creativity and leadership in Native arts and cultures through higher education, lifelong learning and outreach
Click here to download full press release in PDF format.
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