Jaune Quick–to–See Smith


Jaune Quick–to–See Smith, a self-described cultural arts worker, is a Native American visual artist and curator. An enrolled member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, Smith is also of Métis and Shoshone descent. She is also an art educator, art advocate, and political activist. Prolific in her long career, her work draws from a Native worldview and comments on American Indian identity, histories of oppression, and environmental issues.
In the mid-1970s, Smith began to gain prominence as a painter and printmaker Jaune Quick–to–See Smith#cite note-2|Jaune Quick–to–See Smith#cite note-3|, and later she advanced her style and technique with collage, drawing, and mixed media. Her works have been widely exhibited and many are in the permanent collections of prominent art museums in the United States, including the Museum of Modern Art-New York, the Whitney Museum of American Art,Jaune Quick–to–See Smith#cite note-11| the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Denver Art Museum, and the Walker Art Center as well as the Smithsonian American Art MuseumJaune Quick–to–See Smith#cite note-12| and National Museum of Women in the Arts.Jaune Quick–to–See Smith#cite note-13| Internationally, her work is also included in many private and public collections like The Museum of Mankind, , the Victoria and Albert Museum, the :de:Weltkulturen Museum|Museum for World Cultures, and the . Finally, her work has been collected by New Mexico Museum of Art Jaune Quick–to–See Smith#cite note-14| and Albuquerque Museum,Jaune Quick–to–See Smith#cite note-15| both located in a landscape that has continually served as one of her greatest sources of inspiration. She actively supports the Native arts community by organizing exhibitions and project collaborations, and she has also participated in national commissions for public works.
Smith lives in Corrales, New Mexico, near the Rio Grande and, since 2017, she has been represented by Garth Greenan Gallery in New York.

Biography

Early life

Jaune Quick–to–See Smith was born on January 15, 1940, in St. Ignatius Mission,] a small town on the Flathead Reservation on the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Indian Reservation, Montana. Her first name, Jaune, means "yellow" in French, pointing to her French-Cree ancestry. Her Indian name, "Quick-to-See," was given to her by her Shoshone grandmother as a sign of an ability to grasp things readily.]
As a child, Smith had an itinerant life. Her father, a single parent who traded horses and participated in rodeos, frequently moved between several reservations as a horse trader. As a result, Jaune lived in various places of the Pacific Northwest and California.Jaune Quick–to–See Smith#cite note-Belger 2003-4| Growing up in poverty,Jaune Quick–to–See Smith#cite note-artlines 1985-5| Smith worked alongside migrant workers in a Seattle farming community between the ages of eight and fifteen years old, when school was not in session.
However, Smith knew very early on that she wanted to be an artist. She remembers drawing on the ground with sticks as a four-year old,Jaune Quick–to–See Smith#cite note-Belger 2003-4| and in first grade, she recalls the first time she encountered tempera paints and crayons:
I loved the smell of them. It was a real awakening. I made a painting of children dancing around Mount Rainier. My teacher raved about it. Then with Valentine’s Day approaching, I painted red hearts all over the sky. … I see it as my first abstract painting."

Education

In 1960, Smith began her formal art education in Washington State, earning an Associate of Arts Degree at Olympic College in Bremerton and taking classes at the University of Washington in Seattle. Her education, however, was interrupted because she had to support herself through various jobs as a waitress, Head Start teacher, factory worker, domestic, librarian, janitor, veterinary assistant, and secretary.Jaune Quick–to–See Smith#cite note-Belger 2003-4| In 1976, she completed a bachelor's degree in Art Education from Framingham State College, Massachusetts, and then moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to start graduate school at the University of New Mexico. Her initial attraction to the University was its comprehensive Native American studies program, but after applying three times and being successively turned down, she decided to continue taking classes and making art. After an eventual exhibition at the Kornblee Gallery in New York City and its review in Art in America, she was finally accepted into the Department of Fine Arts at UNM where in 1980 she graduated with a Masters in Art.Jaune Quick–to–See Smith#cite note-6| This liberal arts education formally introduced her to studies on the classical and contemporary arts, focusing on European and American artistic practices throughout the millennia, which served as her most influential point of access to the contemporary global art world.Jaune Quick–to–See Smith#cite note-artiest 1983-9|
From this background of her childhood and formal arts education, Smith has actively negotiated Native and non-Native societies by navigating, merging, and being inspired by diverse cultures. She produces art that "follows the journey of life as through public art projects, collaborations, printmaking, traveling, curating, lecturing and tribal activities." This work serves as a mode of visual communication, which she creatively and consciously composes in layers to bridge gaps between these two worldsJaune Quick–to–See Smith#cite note-artlines 1985-5| and to educate about social, political and environmental issues existing deeper than the surface.

Artistic style

Smith has been creating complicated abstract paintings and lithographs since the 1970s. She employs a wide variety of media, working in painting, printmaking and richly textured mixed media pieces. Such images and collage elements as commercial slogans, sign-like petroglyphs, rough drawing, and the inclusion and layering of text are unusually intersected into a complex vision created out of the artist's personal experience. Her works contain strong, insistent socio-political commentary that speaks to past and present cultural appropriation and abuse, while identifying the continued significance of the Native American peoples. She addresses today's tribal politics, human rights and environmental issues with humor. Smith is known internationally for her philosophically centered work regarding her strong cultural beliefs and political activism.
A guest lecturer at over 185 universities, museums and conferences around the world, Smith has also shown her work in over 100 solo exhibitions. Her work has been reviewed by The New York Times, ArtNews, Art in America, Art Forum, The New Art Examiner and many other notable publications. She also organizes and curates numerous Native American exhibitions and serves as an activist and spokesperson for contemporary Native art.
Smith's collaborative public artworks include the terrazzo floor design in the Great Hall of the Denver Airport; an in-situ sculpture piece in Yerba Buena Gardens, San Francisco; and a mile-long sidewalk history trail in West Seattle.

1980s

Smith's initial mature work consisted of abstract landscapes, begun in the 1970s and carried into the 1980s. Her landscapes often included pictographic symbolism and was considered a form of self-portraiture; Gregory Galligan explains in Arts Magazine in 1986, "each of these works distills decades of personal memory, collective consciousness, and historical awareness into a cogent pictorial synthesis." The landscapes often make use of representations of horses, teepees, humans, antelopes, etc.
These paintings touch on the alienation of the American Indian in modern culture, by acting as a sum of the past and something new altogether. She does this by beginning to saturate her work with the style of Abstract Expressionists. Smith explains, "I look at line, form, color, texture, etc., in contemporary art as well as viewing old Indian artifacts the same way. With this I make parallels from the old world to contemporary art. A Hunkpapa drum become a Rothko painting; ledger-book symbols become Cy Twombly; a Naskaspi bag is Paul Klee; a Blackfoot robe, Agnes Martin; beadwork color is Josef Albers; a parfleche is Frank Stella; design is Vasarely's positive and negative space."

1990s

In the 1990s, Smith began her I See Red series, which she has continued on and off through this day. Paintings in this series were initially exhibited at in 1992, in conjunction with protests regarding the Columbian quincentenary. As Erin Valentino describes in Third Text in 1997, "The paintings in this series employ numerous kinds of imagery from an abundance of sources and in a variety of associations: high, mass, consumer, popular, national, mainstream and vernacular cultures, avant-garde imagery and so-called Indian imagery in the form of found objects, photographs, scientific illustrations, fabric swatches, bumper stickers, maps, cartoon imagery, advertisements, newspaper cut-outs and visual quotations of her own work, to name some." Here, she juxtaposes stereotypical commodification of native American cultures with visual reminders of their colonizer's legacies. The style of these paintings, with their collage, layered, and misty environments, are reminiscent of that of Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns, their subject matter reminiscent of Andy Warhol, too.

2000s

Smith has consistently addressed respect for nature, animals, and human kind. Her interest in these topics lies in her exploration of the adverse socio-cultural circumstances created for Native Americans by the government; this umbrella term refers to the health, sovereignty, and rights of Native Americans. She is able to put her studies into practice by avoiding toxic art supplies and minimizing excessive art storage space.
Today, Smith's paintings still contain contemporary cultural signifiers and collaged elements. References to the Lone Ranger, Tonto, Snow White, Altoids, Krispy Kreme, Fritos, etc., all serve to critique the rampant consumerism of American culture, and how this culture benefits off of the exploitation of Native American cultures. She uses humor in a cartoonish way to bemoan the corruption of nature and mock the shallowness of contemporary culture.

Nomad Art Manifesto

As an active environmentalist, Smith often critiques the pollution created through art-making such as toxic materials, excessive storage space, and extensive shipping. The Nomad Art Manifesto, designed based on the aesthetic of parfleches, consists of squares carrying messages about the environment and Indian life, made entirely from biodegradable materials.
The Nomad Art Manifesto:
Smith has received attention for her work as an artist, educator, art advocate, and political activist throughout her career and she has received multiple honors, awards and fellowships.
Smith has been awarded several honorary degrees. These include doctorates in art granted by the Minneapolis College of Art and Design in 1992, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 1998, Massachusetts College of Art in 2003, and University of New Mexico in 2008;Jaune Quick–to–See Smith#cite note-7| a professorship in art by Washington University in Saint Louis in 1989; and, a degree in Native American Studies by Salish Kootanai College, Pablo, Montana in 2015.Jaune Quick–to–See Smith#cite note-Athena LaTocha-8|
Among lifetime achievement awards acknowledging dedication to her career, she has received the Women's Caucus for Art Award in the Visual Arts in 1997, the College Art Association Committee on Women in the Arts Award in 2002, and the Woodson Foundation Award in 2014 as well as being inducted into the National Academy of Art in 2011. She has also been the recipient of the Women's Vision Award for the National Women's History Project in Women's Art in 2008 and the Visionary Woman Award from Moore College of Art & Design in 2011. Other notable awards throughout the years have been the Wallace Stegner Award for art of the American West in 1995, the Joan Mitchell Foundation Award in 1996 to archive her work through the Painters Grant, the Eiteljorg Museum in its inaugural year of 1999, ArtTable award in 2011, the Switzer Distinguished Artist Award in 2012, and a United States Artists fellowship in 2020.
Her adoptive state of New Mexico has also lauded her contribution to the arts and local community with praise and continuous recognition over the decades. This began early in her state residency when she was named one of "80 Professional Women to Watch in the 1980s" by New Mexico Women's Political Caucus for her local civic engagement in 1979. Subsequent esteemed credits of distinction are: SITE Santa Fe fellowship award in 1995; the New Mexico Governor's Outstanding New Mexico Woman's Award and the both in 2005; the Living Artist of Distinction award by the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum in 2012;Jaune Quick–to–See Smith#cite note-26| the aforementioned doctorate from University of New Mexico and the Woodson Foundation award in Santa Fe. Smith was also admitted to the New Mexico Women's Hall of Fame in 2014.

Exhibitions

Recent solo exhibitions include: 2015: "Art After the Drought" at the Museum of Texas Tech University in Lubbock, TX; 2014: "Water and War" at the Bernstein Gallery in The Woodrow Wilson School of Princeton University; "Artists and Arts Workers" in the Robert E. Elberson Fine Arts Center at Salem College, and an exhibit at the Maudeville Art Gallery at Union College in Schenectady, NY; 2013: "Water and War" at the Accola Griefen Gallery in New York City.

Solo exhibitions

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1979
1980
1983
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1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996–1998
1997
1998
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2003-2009
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2004-2005
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2005-2006
2006
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2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017-2019
2018
1976
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1978
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1979–1980
1980
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1983-1984
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1992–1993
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1994–1996
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2009–
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2011
Tamarind Touchstones: Fabulous at Fifty, Celebrating Excellence in Fine Art Lithography, Portland Art Museum, Oregon
2012
2013
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2015
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2016–18
2017
2017–18
2017–2019
2018
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2020

  • Akron Museum of Art, Ohio
  • Albuquerque Museum, New Mexico
  • Arizona State University Art Museum, Phoenix
  • Art in Embassies, Washington, D.C.
  • Autry Museum of the American West, Los Angeles
  • Baltimore Museum of Art
  • Birmingham Museum of Art, Alabama
  • Buffalo Bill Center of the West, Cody, Wyoming
  • Carleton College, Northfield, Minnesota
  • Chazen Museum of Art, Madison, Wisconsin
  • Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, Virginia
  • Colgate University, Hamilton, New York
  • College of Wooster Art Museum, Ohio
  • Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, California
  • Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas
  • Danforth Museum, Framingham, Massachusetts
  • Denver Art Museum, Colorado
  • DePaul Art Museum, DePaul University, Chicago
  • Des Moines Art Center, Iowa
  • Detroit Institute of Arts
  • Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art, Indianapolis
  • Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University Bloomington
  • Figge Art Museum, Davenport, Iowa
  • Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
  • Fort Wayne Museum, Indiana
  • Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, University of Oklahoma, Norman
  • Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, Santa Fe
  • Goshen College, Indiana
  • Heard Museum, Phoenix
  • Hennepin County Library, Minnesota
  • High Museum of Art, Atlanta
  • Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire
  • Indianapolis Museum of Art
  • Jersey City Museum
  • Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, Nebraska
  • Landschaftsverband Westfalen-Lippe Museum für Naturkunde, Münster, Germany
  • Lauren Rogers Museum of Art, New Orleans
  • MacKenzie Art Gallery, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
  • Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester, New York
  • Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
  • Miami Dade College Museum of Art and Design, Florida
  • Midwest Museum of Art, Elkhart, Indiana
  • Mildred Kemper Art Museum, Washington University, St. Louis
  • Milwaukee Art Museum, Wisconsin
  • Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minnesota
  • Missoula Art Museum, Montana
  • Molloy College Gallery, Rockville Centre, New York
  • Montclair Art Museum, New Jersey
  • Muscarelle Museum of Art, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia
  • Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence
  • Museum für Völkerkunde Hamburg, Germany
  • Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
  • Museum of Modern Art, Cuenca, Ecuador
  • Museum of Modern Art, New York
  • Museum of Modern Art, Quito, Ecuasdor
  • National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
  • National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C.
  • New Mexico Museum of Art, Santa Fe
  • New Orleans Museum of Art
  • Newark Museum, New Jersey
  • Nicolaysen Art Museum, Casper, Wyoming
  • Pensacola Museum of Art, University of West Florida
  • Richard F. Brush Art Gallery, Saint Lawrence University, New York
  • Rockwell Museum, Corning, New York
  • Roswell Museum and Art Center, New Mexico Salish Kootenai College, Pablo, Montana
  • Sheldon Museum of Art, Lincoln, Nebraska
  • Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, Massachusetts
  • Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.
  • Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian.
  • Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas, Lawrence
  • Sweet Briar College Gallery, Virginia
  • University of Arizona Museum of Art, Tucson University of Northern Iowa Gallery of Art, Cedar Falls
  • Victoria and Albert Museum, London
  • Walker Art Center, Minneapolis
  • Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
  • Wichita Art Museum, Kansas
  • Yellowstone Art Center, Billings, Montana

Personal

Smith's son, Neal Ambrose-Smith, is a contemporary painter, printmaker, sculptor and educator.

Works