Blue Rain Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
March 29-April 13
Artist Chris Pappan, who is of Osage, Kaw, Cheyenne River Sioux and mixed European heritage, has been focusing on art that reflects Native American ledger drawings of the mid- to late-19th-century. Pappan gives them his own 21st-century twist in a new exhibit at Blue Rain Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The Motion of Breathing will feature more than 20 captivating pieces of ledger art in his trademark style.
Opening March 29, this new series of large-format works in graphite, charcoal, map pencil, gouache, acrylic, collage and precious metal leaf finds purpose on priceless antique ledgers and gold standard Rives BFK paper. As Pappan explains, “The image takes precedence in my work, but I still attempt to preserve the essence of the ledger. The sections intended to separate and categorize information now work to distort my figures. I am appropriating the ledger’s grid pattern and using it to test the boundaries that define the genre.”
Chris Pappan, Frequency 1 & 2, pencil/graphite and ink on Rives BFK, 44 x 30 each.
Pappan often uses historical photographs of Indigenous people from museum archives, and in one portrait he took note of a blurry peace medal a man was wearing. “It had blurred during exposure from the motion of his breathing,” he explains. “I could see his breath, and I felt a connection with this human being across temporal realms. It was a profound moment of linear time being erased.”
The artist hopes his work will help people move past the idea that Native art can exist only in museums as a history lesson. He says, “I make paintings to bring awareness that Indians are still here. I distort images because people perceive a distorted image of Native Americans in the collective conscience.”
Leroy Garcia, owner and founder of Blue Rain Gallery, agrees. “We’re focusing on the future, the progression,” he says. “We are honoring traditions by moving forward in the present. Pappan’s work is a voice that uses imagery or a style from the past, but presents it in a whole new way, and with a new voice. It’s ledger art, but with a breath of freshness that’s very contemporary.”
Chris Pappan, Howageji Nizhuje Akipé (Where the Rivers Meet) 1, 2 & 3, pencil, graphite and gouache on Rives BFK, 44 x 30 each.
In HOWAGEJI NIZHUJE AKIPÉ (WHERE THE RIVERS MEET) 1, 2 & 3—a pencil and graphite on gouache with a scale of 44 by 30 inches for each image—Pappan describes the “Y” shape as the confluence of the Chicago River as it reaches Wolf Point. “The river is woven into three distorted portraits that signify the abusive alteration of land (a process known as “checkerboarding”) and water, the forced removal of Indigenous people, and the effects of colonialism in our communities,” he explains.
The pieces in The Motion of Breathing serve as a rich metaphor for split selves made whole, showcasing diverse methods of graphic patterning through fragmentation, repetition, and holistic assimilation. By looking through the kaleidoscopic lens that shapes Pappan’s work, viewers are challenged to embrace new perspectives of the past, present and future. —Doreen Manning
contact information
(505) 954-9902
blueraingallery.com
This story appeared in the April/May 2024 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Subscribe today to read every issue in its entirety.