Show Preview | Kevin Red Star

Santa Fe, NM
Sorrel Sky Gallery, August 5-31

Kevin Red Star, Dust Storm, acrylic, 60 x 48.

This story was featured in the August 2016 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art August 2016 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.

Whether his portraits depict warriors, healers, or dancers, Montana-based artist Kevin Red Star is renowned for bringing the Crow Indian people to life in bold, colorful paintings. Red Star’s signature works present a fresh, contemporary approach to traditional Native American art, often mixing realism with elements of abstraction. This month Sorrel Sky Gallery features 20 new works by the artist in a show that opens with a reception on Friday, August 5, from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Red Star is also one of the gallery’s featured artists during Santa Fe Indian Market.

Gallery owner Shanan Campbell Wells, who has represented the artist for 14 years, says that Red Star’s obvious devotion to his craft touches many viewers. “His work elicits something almost impossible to articulate,” Wells says. “The paintings stretch back in time, preserving historical detail that we can learn from. At the same time they capture a current moment, preserving it, and granting us continued lessons and enjoyment. I am confident that this show, presenting his new works, will produce a similar response in those people who visit the gallery.”

Born to Crow parents with an appreciation for art and culture, Red Star was one of 150 students chosen to attend the newly established Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe in the 1960s. Over the years he has gained a reputation as a historian, recorder, and ambassador of the Crow culture through his innovative, imaginative works. Red Star believes that Indian culture in the past has largely been ignored, and for him as well as many other Indian artists, it is a rich source of creative expression today.

His works are held in the collections of the major museums across the country, including the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC; the Denver Art Museum; the C.M. Russell Museum in Great Falls, MT; the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art in Indianapolis, IN; and the Heard Museum in Phoenix, AZ. In addition, Red Star’s paintings have been featured in solo shows in Paris, Berlin, Tokyo, and Beijing. —Bonnie Gangelhoff

contact information
505.501.6555
www.sorrelsky.com