Show Preview | Burgess & Greyshoes

Santa Fe, NM
Manitou Galleries, April 10-May 3

This story was featured in the March/April 2020 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art March/April 2020 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.

RECIPROCAL Recognition, the title Manitou Galleries has bestowed upon its two-person show of recent paintings by Nocona Burgess and sculptures by Greyshoes, aptly expresses the complementary nature to be found in the 10 to 15 works on view from each artist. Held at the gallery’s Canyon Road location, the show opens with a reception on Friday, April 10, from 5 to 7:30 p.m. with both men in attendance. “Both of them,” says Manitou associate director Cyndi Hall, “use very bright, vivid colors in their work. Both are contemporary native artists who are very aware of the responsibility that history has placed on their shoulders. And both are pay-it-forward men who are guiding young native people to succeed.”

Burgess has earned widespread recognition for his bold acrylic portraits of historic American Indian figures, including his famous great-great-grandfather, Comanche chief Quanah Parker. “Yes, I’m still going to have that guy in the show,” the artist chuckles. But he plans to include, as well, some surprises for his many avid collectors. His color palette, for one thing, has been moving recently towards a deeper, bolder intensity. He has also begun to paint more images of present-day Indians. “We’re the same people, still kind of fighting the same battles, but just in different clothes,” he observes.

Both Burgess and Hall are particularly enthusiastic about a series of female subjects he refers to collectively as his “women warriors”—strong females such as the young woman in his painting ATLANTA, named for the huntress Atalanta in Greek mythology. Yet he declines to ascribe any particular social or political meaning to these or other works. “I’ve never written a paper about any of them,” he says. “Let people draw their own conclusions.”

In a similar vein, the sleekly curving stone and bronze sculptures by Greyshoes so powerfully abstract the traditional native figures that inspired them that viewers can read into them an almost universal symbolic meaning. Take, for example, one of the artist’s most recent works, ETERNAL EAGLE DANCER, which he originally sculpted from a block of black marble and then cast in a bronze edition of 30 pieces. Inspired by the eagle dance traditionally performed at Santa Clara Pueblo, it depicts a man swirling sinuously in a headdress and wings that transform him into the magnificent bird of prey; the composition forms the reclining-eight symbol for infinity. Unlike most of Greyshoes’ other bronzes, to which he often applies a bright rainbow of different patinas, he chose to finish this one in “a dark, reddish cordovan brown. I didn’t want anything colorful to detract from the form and the movement.”

Both artists are planning to share insights regarding their works with visitors to the Manitou show. “I’ll certainly make some opening statements,” says Burgess, which Hall expects will touch on his history and choice of subject matter. Likewise, Greyshoes hopes to share some photo-graphs as he explains the inspirations behind his sculptures. Based on the generous spirits of both men, guests can expect their own enthusiasm to be wholeheartedly reciprocated. —Norman Kolpas

contact information
505.986.9833
www.manitougalleries.com

This story was featured in the March/April 2020 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art March/April 2020 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.

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