Art Focus | Summer 2024

SUMMER 2024

A PUBLICATION OF THE OKLAHOMA VISUAL ARTS COALITION

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CONTENTS // Volume 39 No. 3 // Summer 2024

4 LETTER FROM THE EDITOR JOHN SELVIDGE

IN THE STUDIO American Nightmares // 6 An Interview with John Babbitt REVIEW Life Goes On // 10 Lisa Karrer’s SHELTER at Oklahoma Contemporary OLIVIA DAILEY

A Wider Lens of Inclusion // 14 FEATURE In Ponca City with the Sunny Dayz Mural Festival HELEN OPPER

Joy Uncompromising // 18 PREVIEW Benjamin Harjo, Jr. at the OSU Museum of Art MOLLY MURPHY ADAMS

Surreal Horizons // 22 PREVIEW Rachel Ann Kendrick at Positive Space Tulsa SALLIE CARY GARDNER

ON THE COVER // Delia Miller finishing her mural Flight Path in downtown Ponca City, 2024 | Bethany Young, page 14; MIDDLE // Benjamin Harjo, Jr., the light horseman, 2008, gouache on paper, 18 1/2” x 12 1/2” | Phil Shockley, page 18; BOTTOM // Rachel Ann Kendrick, Rainbow Radar 1 (detail), 2024, acrylic on gesso-prepped plastic sign, page 22

Of Celluloid and Fabric // 26 INTERMEDIA An Interview with Catherine Shotick, Curator of

OKCMOA’s Edith Head: Hollywood’s Costume Designer

Support from: Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition PHONE: 405.879.2400 1720 N Shartel Ave, Ste B, Oklahoma City, OK 73103.

Web // ovac-ok.org Executive Director // Rebecca Kinslow, rebecca@ovac-ok.org Editor // John Selvidge, johnmselvidge@outlook.com Art Director // Anne Richardson, speccreative@gmail.com Art Focus is a quarterly publication of the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition dedicated to stimulating insight into and providing current information about the visual arts in Oklahoma. Mission: Growing and developing Oklahoma’s visual arts through education, promotion, connection, and funding. OVAC welcomes article submissions related to artists and art in Oklahoma. Call or email the editor for guidelines. OVAC welcomes comments. Letters addressed to Art Focus are considered for publication unless otherwise specified. Mail or email comments to the editor at the address above.

Letters may be edited for clarity or space reasons. Anonymous letters won’t be published. Please include a phone number.

2023-2024 BOARD OF DIRECTORS // Douglas Sorocco, President, OKC; Jon Fisher, Vice President OKC; Diane Salamon, Treasurer, Tulsa; Matthew Anderson, Secretary, Tahlequah; Jacquelyn Knapp, Parliamentarian, Chickasha; Marjorie Atwood, Tulsa; Barbara Gabel, OKC; Farooq Karim, OKC; Kathryn Kenney, Tulsa; John Marshall, OKC; Kirsten Olds, Tulsa; Russ Teubner, Stillwater; Chris Winland, OKC The Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition is solely responsible for the contents of Art Focus. However, the views expressed in articles do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Board or OVAC staff. Member Agency of Allied Arts and member of the Americans for the Arts. © 2024, Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition. All rights reserved. View the online archive at ArtFocusOklahoma.org.

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LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

I’ve always enjoyed the idea that nurturing the eccentric aspects of our creative lives is good for us. It’s like cultivating eclectic tastes in music, art, reading, or whatever you like, and then discovering that the more you learn, the deeper your fascination, the more intricate and surprising the relationships between you and your favorite things (or your artistic process) turn out to be.

Thinking like that might keep us young, but it also reminds me of the fun part of watching our friends get older: they get weirder, too, as they become more and more themselves, sometimes gloriously so in their idiosyncrasies.

The flipside is we have to assume it’s also happening to us. Time spares no one, so best to remember to laugh.

ROBIN CHASE

In all seriousness, I’m always most impressed by artists who pursue what seem like the most imaginative, original, and singular visions possible—the kind of work that makes us ask how did someone think of that? Rarely understood at first, art like that hardly ever bends to the status quo and often stands apart from political orthodoxy and even common sense. Pointedly resisting assimilation, that kind of art challenges us to stretch our notions of inclusion to embrace the non sequitur and quixotic, the decentered, the irreducibly multivocal and paradoxical along with just the downright strange.

I imagine that artists in this issue like Rachel Ann Kendrick (p. 22) and John Babbitt (p. 6) will make readers want to see more of their vibrant, edgy work as they keep pushing their unique frontiers. Many will agree that Benjamin Harjo, Jr. (p. 18), whose legacy is a state and national treasure, stands as a paragon of the ever-surprising master of a craft that could never be reduced to one thing. In our feature story, the Sunny Dayz Mural Festival (p. 14) shows how rejuvenating public spaces can expand opportunities for often-marginalized artists, and the displaced voices in Lisa Karrer’s SHELTER (p. 10) represent human experiences, far too common these days, that dare us to imagine ourselves well beyond our comfort zones.

In this summer heat, it’s worth remembering an open mind is one way of keeping the air moving. Hope you stay cool!

—John Selvidge

JOHN SELVIDGE is an award-winning screenwriter who works for a humanitarian nonprofit organization in Oklahoma City while maintaining freelance and creative projects on the side. He was selected for OVAC’s Oklahoma Art Writing and Curatorial Fellowship in 2018.

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L E T T E R F RO M T H E E D I TO R

PREVIEW

5

6

IN THE STUDIO

AMERICAN NIGHTMARES // IN THE STUDIO WITH JOHN BABBITT

Several months ago, after traipsing down Main Street for a

First I’ll sketch major figures in light pencil to get the balance

while during one of Norman’s Second Friday Art Walks, I stopped

right, and then I’ll freestyle around them. Thematically, I

into Oscillator Press. The intricate pen and ink works that my

have some sense of what’s going on, but it’s usually a lot

friend pointed out hanging on the walls intrigued me almost

about how I’m feeling at the time and is spontaneous. I’m

immediately. She introduced me to the artist, John Babbitt,

able to correct mistakes as I go and blend. I never throw

who was as lively, thoughtful, and interesting in conversation

anything away.

then as he proved to be during our recent phone interview. I’m privileged to share some of our conversation here. — JS

There’s a lot of dream-like stuff in your work, both funny and nightmarish. What inspires your subject matter?

First of all, how long do these remarkably dense and detailed

I’m sure they’re my inner demons that I’m working out.

pieces take?

I know it’s dark, but it’s funny, too—and I’m told that’s

For ones that measure 11 by 17 inches, about a month and

pretty much my personality. I’m interested in death and

a half. The bigger ones can take about three or four months.

disfigurement, definitely in a surreal frame of mind. I work

Every morning I spend a couple of hours before work on

in retail, so I see every day how shitty people can be, and

them, then a couple more hours after, plus as much as I can

they find their way into these creatures.

on my days off. I have to be regular in my schedule or else I feel guilty and terrible.

I’m probably too sensitive, but I get irritated with people. I see people acting terrible, locked in these boxes, trying to

What kind of materials do you use?

“make it,” and to me they end up looking like this. There’s so

I use Micron pens with archival ink, which lasts forever. I

much negativity in the city, in my opinion. How run-down

use several different tip sizes: bigger pens for outlining and

and plain a city can be…it’s a cold setting. A lot of my stuff

filling, and then down to the finest, which is a .003 tip—

is in the desert, too. Nothing really “lives” there, but it’s

basically the width of a human hair—for the most detailed

teeming with life—sharp and dangerous. The desert can kill

work. I also use a giant magnifying glass with a lamp, but

you, but it’s majestic and beautiful.

I recently got a new prescription for bifocals, so I’m using that magnifier less now.

Owls appear quite a bit in my work. I’ll be honest: they usually represent ex-girlfriends, sometimes in a way to feel

What’s your process like? Do you start with an overall plan?

good about, sometimes not. The owl is like a spirit animal

How much do you improvise as you go?

for me—something majestic, nocturnal, and mysterious

I start with a big idea, often from other pieces, like making

that’s watching very carefully. That might be something

a minor figure a focal point in a new piece. For example,

unconscious, maybe some self-figuring going on, because

there’s a character I call “Pat Mink” who came from another

I’m a people-watcher. People are so interesting and quirky,

piece to become central in Pat Mink Has Tits. In that one I

so weird. I’m no exception—good god, just look at my stuff. I

wanted a demented city scene reminiscent of the weirdness

know there’s something paranoid in there about feeling like

and decadence of Venice Beach with palm trees and L.A. in

I’m being watched myself, too. All these eyes constantly, all

the background.

through my work.

OPPOSITE // John Babbitt, Monsters of retail, 2023, Micron pens on paper, 24” x 19” | All images courtesy of the artist

CONTINUED

IN THE STUDIO

7

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Did you have formal training? How did you get into doing work like this?

I’ve always liked making art since I can remember. My mom and my grandmother were both artists, so I’ve always been around it. No formal training—I took classes, but I usually found the instruction boring because I just wanted to do my own thing. But sure, in drafting classes I learned perspective and vantage points, also cross-hatching techniques. I was about 18 when I realized art was my thing and what I wanted to do.

What about your artistic influences? What artists have been important to you?

I’ve always been obsessed with Goya. His creatures have always intrigued me, also the darkness of his art, especially his later work where he was battling literal darkness due to his eyesight. Saturn Devouring His Children must have been insane when it was first seen. It makes me think he was an anarchist for his time. Goya scared the shit out of me, and I couldn’t stop looking at it.

And then, of course, comic books. You can see that R. Crumb is a big influence on me—his cartoonish lines and his comically disfigured humans. Robert Williams was a very direct influence, also Tim Burton. The Lowbrow movement that started in the 1950s is big for me: artists like Coop, Todd Schorr, Ed “Big Daddy” Roth. I love Lowbrow’s freedom, its larger-than-life aspects, and how everything is just thrown together.

How is your art evolving? Where’s it going next?

I’m working bigger now. Before, I only had the patience for small drawings, but now I’ve pushed a few to be 19 by 24 inches. They’re also getting tighter, with more detail, but the arrangements are more chaotic, so that’s interesting.

I’m also messing around with lithographs now, which is a whole new ballgame, and it’s not easy. I’ve always wanted to do a zine and tell a story through my art. When I look at my pieces in the order they were done, there’s kind of a narrative logic that makes sense, so maybe I’ll try that.

You can see more of John Babbitt’s work on Instagram at @jawnbabbittart.

OPPOSITE TOP // John Babbitt, Pat Mink has tits, 2023, Micron pens on paper, 11” x 17”; OPPOSITE BOTTOM // John Babbitt, Interstate 40 is the eighth wonder of the world, 2024, Micron pens on paper, 19” x 24”; TOP // John Babbitt, Monsters of retail (detail), 2023; RIGHT // John Babbitt, Eleanor owl, 2022, Micron pens on paper, 17” x 11” IN THE STUDIO

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10

PREVIEW

LIFE GOES ON // LISA KARRER’S SHELTER AT OKLAHOMA CONTEMPORARY

by Olivia Dailey

A few weeks after the April 27th tornadoes, my husband and

own poetry out of what they’re seeing. It leaves your brain

I drove to North Texas to visit family for the weekend. We

free to take things in a nonlinear way.”

had read about the devastation in Sulfur and elsewhere, but we were still shocked when we passed the Marietta Dollar Tree distribution center on I-35. The million square-foot warehouse was utterly destroyed, as if it had been bombed.

Nearby billboards were snapped in half, and storage sheds were shredded and strewn across the landscape. Nights like April 27th make you confront the possibility that your home, your possessions, your life, might not be there in the morning. If your community is spared, you can quickly forget the threat and move on with your life…until you see debris across the highway that jolts you back to the reality that humans are vulnerable—that our basic needs like food, water, and shelter could be taken away at any moment.

The scale of the installations is deceiving. A lot of life fits inside the little shelters. Karrer likes to mix digital media with physical media—which she calls “warm technology”— to better highlight the human condition. The ceramic structures also act as audio speakers and video projectors.

Sound is piped in through the tablemounts, designed in collaboration with artist Bill Hochhausen, to tell the oral histories of real-life individuals who have experienced displacement. The audio loops include stories, songs, and poems in different languages. Some of the stories are recent, while others happened many years ago or have been told through generations. The videos, shown via pico projectors, play quietly inside some of the shelters, showing

SHELTER, an installation by multi-disciplinary artist Lisa

ordinary activities like praying, playing, and dancing. The

Karrer at Oklahoma Contemporary in Oklahoma City,

videos operate somewhat like historical fiction, as some

similarly jolts its audience. Comprised of eight “stations”

people in the videos are the same ones narrating, and

of handmade, hand-painted ceramic miniatures of tents

some are performers or else museum or other associated

and other temporary dwellings for those seeking refuge,

nonprofit staff. One standout is a toddler who pushes a

SHELTER brings the concept of displacement into tangible

chair around a scene. Even in moments of unimaginable

form.

stress and terror, life goes on and people find some sense

Station 6, with its White Round Tents, is the most visually

of equilibrium.

striking. It’s a desert scene with ceramics that imitate light,

Originally from Buffalo, New York, Karrer experienced

fabric tents that appear to hover delicately over the sand.

displacement when her childhood home fell under eminent

Although SHELTER represents actual refugee camps across

domain to clear a path for a freeway. SHELTER opened in

the globe, each station’s exact location is unspecified to

Buffalo, a refugee hub, where it explored the relationship

leave things open to interpretation. One station could be

between the city and its refugee communities. At Oklahoma

read as Syria or Ukraine, while another could be Mexico or

Contemporary, SHELTER was recontextualized to include

even right here in Oklahoma. The size of the shelters also

displaced residents in Oklahoma. To prepare the show,

invites interpretation. “It’s like Gulliver’s Travels, these are

Karrer recorded new audio and video during a December

not toys, but it brings the adult into a space where they can

residency at the Contemporary, which partnered with local

use their imaginations,” Karrer said when I spoke with her.

nonprofits who work with refugees—the Asian District

“SHELTER is supposed to allow the spectator to go where

Cultural Association, the Latino Community Development

they wish when they wish. And the idea of the emancipated

Agency, Sooner Hope for Ukraine, and The Spero Project—

spectator is that the person who’s looking will create their

to find people willing to share their stories. Sang Rem, a

OPPOSITE // Lisa Karrer, Bombed Out Buildings (detail), 2020, Ceramic forms with embedded audio narratives and video projection, 62¼” x 60” x 60” | Ann Sherman

CONTINUED

REVIEW

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TOP // Installation view of Lisa Karrer’s SHELTER including White Round Tents, Bombed Out Buildings, and Pup Tents. | Ann Sherman ABOVE // Lisa Karrer, Pup Tents (detail), 2020, Ceramic forms with embedded audio narratives and video projection, 52 ½” x 80” x 60” | Ann Sherman OPPOSITE // Lisa Karrer, Floating Tent Tops, 2020, Ceramic forms with embedded audio narratives, dimensions variable | Olivia Dailey

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refugee from Burma who now works at The Spero Project, is featured in SHELTER’s audio and video and testifies that “no

the hyper-politicization of the American southern border,

one wants to leave their home country.” Understandably, the situation has to be dire enough to give up the life and sense of self one knows.

the forefront of our nation’s psyche, usually as a threat or

Recent events have given new contexts to SHELTER since the show first opened in 2020. The wars in Ukraine and Gaza, notably, the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan,

sympathy. But world conflicts are inevitably created by

REVIEW

and other conflicts around the world have put refugees at problem. Refugees are often viewed from either a place of detachment or outright hostility, rarely with genuine humans. Even many “natural” disasters have been spurred by anthropogenic climate change.

I didn’t see the Buffalo installation of SHELTER, but photos from it—featured on Oklahoma Contemporary’s website at the time of this writing—are much darker and moodier, transforming the art. In particular, Floating Tent Tops looks nearly unrecognizable when compared to how it looks in the Contemporary’s bright lobby. An argument could be made for either setup: Buffalo’s iteration was more dramatic, whereas OKC’s is starker and rawer in the bright, ambient light. In both versions, the audio and visual components are intimate rather than immersive. A lot is packed into these dioramas, and each station has a page on the Contemporary’s website that includes its video and audio elements as well as transcripts. The result is a little overwhelming, especially if viewed on a mobile device. I found myself wondering about ways to guarantee more people could experience these human stories beyond relying on QR codes—like a small theater room, for example—in addition to their ceramic delivery.

SHELTER is part of a larger theme of displacement and immigration explored by Oklahoma Contemporary this

year. By the time of this issue’s publication, there will be a few weeks left to view the also excellent HOME1947, by renowned Pakistani-Canadian filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy. But since SHELTER is on display through the end of the year, there is plenty of time to visit and revisit this moving exhibition, whenever you might feel the need to examine your own sense of security.

SHELTER can be experienced at Oklahoma Contemporary in Oklahoma City through January 6, 2025. Please visit oklahomacontemporary.org/exhibitions/current/shelter to learn more.

OLIVIA DAILEY earned a B.A. in Journalism from the University of Oklahoma. She works as a program manager at a transportation research center in Norman and is a frequent Art Focus contributor.

REVIEW

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A WIDER LENS OF INCLUSION // IN PONCA CITY WITH THE SUNNY DAYZ MURAL FESTIVAL

by Helen Opper

Most people would agree that public art plays a crucial role

performers fair wages for their work; historically, mural

in a community’s well-being. Like many institutions, public

festivals have underpaid or not paid participants at all,

art has historically been dominated—both in managerial

which contributes to unequal access to mural painting

and artistic capacities—by men. With some exceptions,

opportunities. In addition to supporting women and

women and gender minorities have been excluded from

nonbinary artists through paid painting opportunities,

this space through lack of opportunity and lack of fair

Sunny Dayz supports emerging, young, and local artists by

compensation. Simply put, the status quo for public art does

dedicating a set amount of wall space to “newbie” artists,

not accurately reflect the reality of the diverse world in

professional muralists, artists from the host community,

which we live—in Oklahoma and beyond—nor does it allow

and collaborative groups.

for the flourishing of an equity-based artistic ecosystem. In response, several artists and arts workers have dedicated their professional practices to advocating for visual art’s power to make way for more equal representation and to effect cultural and political change.

Sunny Dayz Mural Fest is Oklahoma’s first and only mural festival dedicated to women and non-binary artists.

Oklahoma City-based artist Virginia Sitzes conceptualized Sunny Dayz after years of working as a professional muralist.

To help level the playing field, Sitzes and her team of local artists and community organizers formed Sunny Dayz as a venue for women and nonbinary artists to showcase their

through a teen mentorship program that pairs Oklahoma teens interested in public art with professional, working muralists. Mentees are assigned to professional artists while they paint during the week leading up to the festival and learn painting ideas and techniques from their muralist mentors. During the festival itself, mentees create their own murals for the public to enjoy as live painting events. For many mentees, this is their first chance to contribute to a mural and to see what it can look like to be a professional artist. Many past mentees have gone on to study art in college and pursue mural-making as a career, and a few have

professional talents through murals. Also a 501(c)3 nonprofit,

participated as muralists in later iterations of Sunny Dayz.

Sunny Dayz consists of a weeklong period of mural painting

The festival emphasizes collaboration. If artists are interested

by local, national, and international artists that culminates in a free, family-friendly daylong public festival. In addition to the murals, the festival features performers, an extensive vendor market, kids’ activities, and local food trucks.

The festival travels to a different community in Oklahoma each summer to expand access to public art in both rural and urban areas. Since Sunny Dayz’ first iteration in 2021 in Oklahoma City’s Britton District, it has been held in downtown Edmond, Tulsa’s Pearl District, and most recently, just weeks ago on June 1, in Ponca City.

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Sunny Dayz also features a strong educational component

in collaborating, Sunny Dayz’ selection committee creates teams, but how teams of artists design and work on their murals is entirely up to them. Both practicing artists, Ponca City-based Alena Rae Jennings and Oklahoma City-based Alicia Smith worked together to create their first mural at Sunny Dayz, using a combination of spray paint and wall paint applied with brushes. Their mural Kinship pays homage to their connection to the land and indigenous stewardship of the Oklahoma prairie. Featuring a stunning Oklahoma landscape of native grasses and flora, migratory monarch butterflies, and a brilliant, blazing sky resulting from

As an organization, narrowing gender-based representation

traditional prescribed agricultural burns, Kinship testifies

and wage gaps through creating public murals is Sunny

to the beauty of Oklahoma’s land, its ability to provide

Dayz’ primary focus. Sunny Dayz pays all artists and

sustenance, and the importance of connecting with it.

F E AT U R E

CONTINUED

ABOVE // Alena Jennings and Alicia Smith, Kinship, All murals 2024, downtown Ponca City | Bethany Young BELOW // Nico Cathcart and Valerie Rose, a wider lens…(through which to see the world) | Bethany Young

ABOVE // Delia Miller, Flight Path | Bethany Young; BELOW // Amber Andersen and Sophy Tuttle, Cicada Cadence | Sarah Fish OPPOSITE // Heidi Ghassempour, Emily “Jax” Hoebing, and Iryna Snizhenko, They belong in the garden. | Iryna Snizhenko

Heidi Ghassempour, Emily “Jax” Hoebing, and Iryna Snizhenko, They belong in the garden. | Iryna Snizhenko.

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PROFILE

Based in Orlando, Florida, Delia Miller is currently in

Cathcart and Rose enlightened and opened the minds of all

flight school to become a pilot in addition to working as a

who engaged with them and their art. The two artists met for

professional muralist, showing how she has already pushed

the first time at Sunny Dayz, but they formed a strong bond

past traditional boundaries in her nascent career. Her mural

through their art and plan to work together in the future.

Flight Path features a self-portrait of her younger self holding a model plane and surrounded by colorful, tropical flowers. A can of paint with a brush on top and a vibrantly multicolored bird fill the remainder of the foreground, and an airfield runway dominates the background, symbolizing Miller’s uncommonly paired goals. One of the two youngest professional artists in the festival, Miller painted every inch

Honoring everyone’s experiences while fostering growth, collaboration, and open-mindedness is Sunny Dayz’ ultimate goal. Our festival team is grateful to all our hosts and to all the artists who participated for sharing their work, their stories, and for enriching Ponca City as well as our wider community.

of the mural by hand.

Nico Cathcart and Valerie Rose, deaf artists based

Murals from 2024’s festival will be visible in downtown Ponca

respectively in Richmond, Virginia, and Chico, California,

City for years to come. Sunny Dayz Mural Festival has scheduled

brought the gift of a new dimension of accessibility to

its fifth year to take place in Oklahoma City’s Calle Dos Cincos

Sunny Dayz. Despite very different backgrounds—Cathcart

Historic Capitol Hill District on May 31, 2025. You can learn

grew up in a family that used lipreading to communicate,

more about the festival at sunnydayzmuralfest.com.

whereas Rose’s first language is American Sign Language— they collaborated to create the beautiful and meaningful a wider lens…(in which to see the world). This mural depicts Rose signing the words for “open mind” in ASL against a

HELEN OPPER is an art appraiser, advisor, curator, and

purple and blue background among neon outlines of

educator based in Oklahoma City. She studied art history

begonia blossoms. The artists explained that the begonia

at University of California, Berkeley, and earned her M.A. in

is a symbol of good communication—an apt idea when

Museum Studies from New York University. She specializes

considering the different ways members of the Deaf

in postwar, contemporary, and emerging art with a focus

community and the community at large communicate.

on activist, feminist, and collective art practice, public art

Through pre-festival accessibility training with the Sunny

and murals, and American avant-gardism. Currently vice

Dayz team, sharing basic ASL signs on site, innumerable

president of Sunny Dayz’ board of directors, Opper has been

personal conversations, and ultimately through their mural,

with the organization since its inception.

F E AT U R E

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JOY UNCOMPROMISING // BENJAMIN HARJO, JR. AT THE OSU MUSEUM OF ART

by Molly Murphy Adams

The artworks in the retrospective benjamin harjo, JR.: from

are works on paper, and Harjo’s signature style of precision,

here to there reinforced something I already knew about the

pattern, and expressive movement remains constant

artist. Harjo had a capacity to be very joyful about serious

through media and size. Figures and shapes are comprised

things and deeply serious about joyful things. Ceremony,

of fields of saturated color and complex geometric patterns

preservation of culture, integration into modern society

in motion, often accented in black ink. Harjo’s style is typified

while staying authentic to self, carrying a weighty history,

by works in gouache on paper, executed with such masterful

surviving as an artist in a commercial world—these are

technique that the surface can appear mechanically printed,

serious matters that he approached with an abundance of

rather than laboriously hand painted. Harjo makes it look

joy. Friendship, laughter, celebrating identity and resilience,

easy, even fun, but gouache as a medium is an instructor in

playing with color, pattern, and shape—these are joyful

humility. (If you’re curious about gouache, I suggest you try

endeavors that Harjo approached with gravity.

painting a checkerboard pattern in contrasting colors. If you

Harjo has an enduring reputation as a master artist and a dedicated mentor and activist in the Native art community.

make it past two hours without crying or ripping the paper in two, congratulations.)

The Barbara and Ben Harjo team initially introduced me to

In medicine bundle, one of the larger works on view, a central

the community of artists in Oklahoma, as well as to their

shape dominates the composition: an imperfect oval crossed

philosophy of collaborative work and inclusion that aimed

by lateral wedges and narrow rectangles. The bundle floats,

to increase opportunities for all artists. These introductions

overlapping a ground of checkered blue and white and a sky

led me to relocate to Oklahoma from Montana fifteen years

of negative space with floating stars and celestial objects.

ago and participate in a vibrant arts culture shaped by the

In medicine bundle Harjo renders a spiritual object created

example Harjo embodied.

and cared for by community, a sentient object radiating

A quality of Harjo’s legacy that can be overshadowed by his larger-than-life personality was his artistic commitment to authentic culture, self, and style. Native artists in the last

power. His depiction portrays its function and gravitas not by representing the contents or the appearance of the bundle, but by using patterns that infuse it with dynamic color.

quarter of the 20th century experienced pressure to assimilate

The bundle is more than the parts assembled; it is a

and create artwork satisfying mainstream expectations in

composition in which, in the uniting of many patterns, the

a pan-Native style, one subordinate to romantic western

parts become a whole. The medicine bundle bridges the

narratives. Think headdresses, warriors on horseback, and

ground and sky, the real and imagined, the communal and the

the “End of the Trail” motif. Harjo rejected these tropes and

personal. medicine bundle exemplifies how Harjo used pattern

succeeded in creating art and pursuing an arts career deeply

as a subject, rather than a mere filler behind or around the

rooted in tribal identity and visual traditions. Harjo created

subject. Balancing subject and pattern is an important aspect

works that were deeply Indigenous, modern, and individual all

of Native worldview that Harjo often deploys in his artwork,

at once and proved an enduring example for younger artists.

bringing us an Indigenous perspective where the pattern is

The 86 original works on exhibit at the Oklahoma State

not visual padding, but an integral part of the message.

University Museum of Art range from his early works from

In contrast to the large-scale abstract rendering of medicine

the 1970s to Harjo’s final works in the early 2020s. They

bundle, we can look to miniatures to see the full range of

include printmaking, ink, gouache, and mixed media. All

Harjo’s mastery of medium and narrative. The painting the CONTINUED

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PREVIEW

OPPOSITE // Benjamin Harjo, Jr. (Absentee Shawnee/Seminole, 1945-2023), the moon or the sun, 2005, gouache on paper, 39 5/8” x 26 3/4” | Phil Shockley

PREVIEW

procession is a meager three inches square, yet it contains an

these tiny paintings we have a microcosm of Harjo’s talent

expansive scene. A line of female figures in dance regalia is

where figures, landscape, and abstraction create monumental

set against an imagined space with a landscape inset, as if a

ideas in miniature.

framed painting were hung in an abstract environment. Each

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figure is very much an individual with identifiable beadwork,

dreamcatcher is a lyrical example of Harjo extending an

design, and expression. The collection of miniatures in the

imaginary figure as an invitation to his interior personal

exhibit invites and requires close examination and, I am

world, even a window into his process. The scene is simple:

certain, will leave viewers shaking their heads in wonder. In

a Seminole woman whose body is abstracted as a geometric

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OPPOSITE // Benjamin Harjo, Jr., the procession, 1997, gouache on paper, 3” x 3” | Collection of Melinda and Paul Cox. Photo by Gary Lawson LEFT // Benjamin Harjo, Jr., dream catcher, 2004, pen and ink, colored pencil on paper, 10” x 10” | Loan Courtesy of First American Museum. Photo by Gary Lawson RIGHT // Benjamin Harjo, Jr., medicine bundle, 2015, gouache on paper, 27” x 20” | Collection of Joe and Valerie Couch. Photo by Gary Lawson

shape supports stacked rows of bead necklaces on her elongated neck. Her face in profile is serene but potent, and her oversized hands remind us that she is a figure of dreams, even while the hints of dress, hairstyle, and expression root her within Seminole tradition. An elevated, outstretched hand is raised against the negative space of the paper, and a stream of geometric shapes float from left to right over the figure’s head and into this hand. The figure catches dreams— Harjo’s dreams, dreams of shape and movement.

Benjamin Harjo, Jr. left a legacy of personal relationships and professional accomplishments that can be understood as enmeshed and magnified to create a larger, more authentic whole from their parts. His artwork was deeply rooted in his sense of time and place, and he felt no need to alter, minimize, shift, or diminish it to fit. Harjo took great pride in being from Oklahoma, in his tribal identity as a Shawnee and Seminole citizen, as an Oklahoma State University alumnus, and as an artist. The retrospective at the OSU Museum of Art showcases the range of his talent and humanity over a career that reached far beyond his origins in Oklahoma. The exhibition is a fitting and tender tribute made possible by

loans of work spanning decades and distance from many enthusiastic collectors and fans. Take in from here to there and share in the imagination and legacy of Benjamin Harjo, Jr.—a master artist intimately concerned with the serious business of joy.

benjamin harjo, JR.: from here to there will be on view at the OSU Museum of Art through September 7. Please visit museum. okstate.edu/art/benjamin-harjo-jr for more information.

MOLLY MURPHY ADAMS (Oglala descendent) was born in Montana and earned a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Art from the University of Montana and a Master’s in Art History from Oklahoma State University. She has made Tulsa her home for nearly fifteen years while working as an exhibiting artist, art appraiser, art historian, and beadworker in her indigenous community. Murphy Adams focuses on indigenous beadwork in her many roles as researcher, teacher, and community maker.

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SURREAL HORIZONS // RACHEL ANN KENDRICK AT POSITIVE SPACE TULSA

by Sallie Cary Gardner

While working in a building in downtown Oklahoma City,

It took Kendrick six months to build Makie 1, and she plans to

artist Rachel Ann Kendrick came upon a cache of large,

follow her with more robots. She learned how to build robots

discarded plastic signs intended for use in a grocery store.

by watching YouTube videos and asking for advice from her

Each sign had at least one serious misprint on it, and they

mechanically talented brother. “I must have broken the thing

were headed for the dumpster. Kendrick rescued them,

50 times before I finished it,” Kendrick said. “Creating art has

covered them in gesso, and made a series of paintings in her

really taught me more about myself, and I found that to be an

colorful, surreal, abstract style.

almost spiritual aspect of putting everything together.”

In July, those paintings can be seen by the public for the first

Kendrick based the palettes for her paintings on the colors of

time in Kendrick’s multimedia installation Sacred Alchemy

the rainbow. “The rainbow theme came to me as something

Visions: A Fusion of Art, Sound, and Robotic Realms at Positive

that would show my connection as a lesbian to the gay

Space Tulsa. The installation promises to entertain visitors in

community as expressed in my art,” she said.

a variety of ways.

When we spoke in May, Kendrick told me she will hang her

of humans, animals, and birds, with a wing here and a paw

large abstract paintings from the ceiling with fishing line,

there against a background of moving clouds or a wind

creating the illusion of floating paintings that viewers can

tunnel. Viewers may even find human faces in the natural

stroll through. Kendrick said she weaves universal archetypal

forces whirling around. In some of the paintings. Kendrick

imagery into all her work. “I feel like this arrangement came

said that transformation has been an emergent theme.

to be as a symbol of humanity’s journey into the future,” she said. While walking through her floating paintings, viewers will listen to a soundtrack of electronic music that Kendrick created with AI. Visitors will also be able to watch a suspended robot, similar to a bird, create abstract paintings with its leglike appendages.

Her two Rainbow Radar paintings each measure four by nine feet and serve as doors to the floating installation of equally large paintings. Here, Kendrick uses all the colors of the rainbow in lively patterns reminiscent of Abstract Expressionism that show their brush marks. The word “radar” in the title was inspired by Kendrick’s wife, who is a storm

The robot’s name is Makie 1, and Kendrick put her together

chaser. “She is always showing me the weather radar on her

with found objects collected over several years. If the

phone. It’s stuck in my head,” she said.

stereotype of a robot looks like R2D2, Makie 1 is the exact visual opposite, with her red feathers and gold-colored upper body. She will be suspended from a special stand and move her feather-covered legs to paint a canvas. “It’s art that can create its own art, which is a really interesting concept to think about as an artist,” Kendrick said.

She calls her paintings “a moving dream” and is inspired by the works of Judy Chicago, Clyfford Still, and Salvador Dali— also Agnieszka Pilat, who makes robotic dogs as part of her art practice.

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Kendrick’s paintings depict fantastical renderings of parts

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The painting Blue, Gold, and Black is more typical of Kendrick’s work and is executed in a surrealistic style with a drawing of a woman’s face in the center. Kendrick modeled the face after a self-aware robot she saw on the Internet. Almost hidden beside the central face are two other faces which represent ghosts.

Hiding things in paintings is a habit of Kendrick’s, and gallery goers will likely enjoy finding these hidden treasures. As for CONTINUED OPPOSITE // Rachel Ann Kendrick, Makie 1 (detail), 2024, electric lights, small motors, wires, plastic, silicon, vinyl, metal, acrylic paint with clear finish, plastic mold of the artist’s teeth, rhinestones, 60” x 24” with base and stand | All images courtesy of the artist

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TOP // Rachel Ann Kendrick, Rainbow Radar 1 & 2, 2024, acrylic on gesso-prepped plastic sign, each 60” x 84”; LEFT // Rachel Ann Kendrick, Red, Black, and White (detail), 2024, acrylic on gesso-prepped plastic sign, colored pencil, red transparent break light vinyl, 60” x 84”; ABOVE // Rachel Ann Kendrick, Makie 1

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Rachel Ann Kendrick, Blue, Gold, and Black (detail), 2024, acrylic on gesso-prepped plastic sign, colored pencil, 60” x 84”

those misprinted advertisements, Kendrick didn’t completely cover them when she put gesso on them—she left some of her favorite words hidden in plain view. For example, the word “soup” can be read in one painting as a nod to Andy Warhol.

of floating paintings that together can be understood as creating a giant sculpture. “Creating art is sacred to me, but I also want the installation to create a space that feels special and sacred to viewers who come to see it,” Kendrick said.

Nicole Finley Alexander, owner and gallerist of Positive Space Tulsa, said she and Kendrick have been in conversation for a year about the show. “She blew me away,” Alexander said.

“Her vision is interesting, and it’s been wonderful to see it happening.” In addition to a gallery and event space, Positive Space Tulsa serves as a resource center for women. Alexander partners with the Take Control Initiative to provide Tulsa

Sacred Alchemy Visions: A Fusion of Art, Sound, and Robotic Realms can be seen from July 6 through July 27 at Positive Space Tulsa, located at 1324 E. 3rd Street. Gallery hours are Thursday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Fridays from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., and Saturdays from noon to 5 p.m.

women free birth control resources, including the “morning after” pill. In her representation, Alexander spells women with an “X” as “womxn” to include women who are nonbinary, gender-fluid, gender-queer, or agender.

Kendrick’s intends her installation to let visitors experience a journey away from the tradition of hanging flat paintings on a flat wall and instead lead them through her installation

SALLIE CARY GARDNER is retired from a long career in writing and public relations. She enjoys contributing to the Oklahoma arts scene through her work with the Tulsa Artists’ Coalition Gallery and in collaboration elsewhere. She is a frequent contributor to Art Focus.

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INTERMEDIA – OF CELLULOID AND FABRIC // AN INTERVIEW WITH CURATOR CATHERINE SHOTICK During the last week of May, I was fortunate enough to sit down

On the other hand, she said that working with Cecil B. DeMille

for a conversation with Catherine Shotick, guest curator of the

for the film Samson and Delilah was her “least favorite film

retrospective exhibition Edith Head: Hollywood’s Costume

experience.” This biblical epic film had stunning stars, sex

Designer, visible at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art through

appeal, and drama, but for Head, it lacked the key element of

September 29. It was a privilege to learn more about this accomplished artist in film who, from the 1920s to the 1980s, worked on more than 400 movies and presided over the costume design departments at Paramount and Universal Studios. — JS

stars among five designers, a division she did not appreciate.

Furthermore, DeMille wanted a sexy film, but Head had to battle the Hays Code—strict guidelines for the film industry

What does a designer like Edith Head have to consider when

that determined what could be shown on screen, but also

designing costumes to be filmed?

promoted traditional values. Profanity, graphic or realistic

One of the top considerations for costume designers is how the

violence, suggestive nudity, and sexual explicitness were all

costumes appear on screen. Edith Head started her costume

prohibited. For costume design, that meant no cleavage or

design career at Paramount in the 1920s when films were black and white. She therefore had to create visual interest in the

semi-nudity.

costume designs in other ways besides color, using fabrics that

Can you think of a specific ensemble that contributed to a

shimmered and sparkled, or patterns with highly contrasting

film’s thematic concerns? For me, the dresses in Vertigo come

colors that would display more clearly on a greyscale screen

immediately to mind.

compared to colors similar in value. Interestingly, this is why

We have one costume from Vertigo: the dark navy dress Kim

she wore dark tinted glasses—to see how costumes would

Novak’s character Madeleine Elster wore as she jumped into

look in black and white. Once color film was invented, she had

the cool waters beneath the Golden Gate Bridge, drawing

to consider the colors of the clothing and how they fit into the overall color scheme of the set design.

James Stewart’s Scottie Ferguson to dive in to save the possessed blonde beauty. Edith Head had to design a dress

What kind of working dynamics did Edith Head have with directors?

that would be practical for Novak to wear when soaking

Edith Head collaborated with a lot of directors over her long

wet, and it also had to fit within the overall vision of Alfred

career and had to learn how to work with different Hollywood

Hitchcock, who wanted the disturbed Madeleine Elster to

personalities. She had a strong working relationship with

“look as if she just stepped out of the San Francisco fog – a

Alfred Hitchcock. They worked on eleven films together from

woman of mystery and illusion.”

1946 to 1976, and though she conceded that “Hitch” wasn’t exactly easy to work with, they were both masters of their

Do you have a favorite ensemble in this exhibition? One that

respective crafts, had similar exacting personalities, and

makes a particular film important, remarkable, or special to you?

valued each other’s expertise.

My favorite costume in the exhibition will always be Grace

Edith Head won her first Oscar award in 1949 for her costume designs for The Heiress, a film that held a special place in her career. She said it was “the most perfect picture I have ever done,” and she felt this way because of how much she valued William Wyler’s directorial vision. He was adamant that all

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authenticity. DeMille also divided the costume design for the

Kelly’s black organza dress for Hitchcock’s Rear Window.

Edith Head and Grace Kelly worked on four films together and formed a long-lasting friendship. In fact, Head once said if she had to pick a favorite actress, it would be Grace Kelly. When I watch Rear Window, I imagine Edith Head must

costumes for the 19th century period film be authentic to the

have had such fun designing for that script, with Grace Kelly

time, down to the last detail. Edith Head worked tirelessly on

playing a high-fashion magazine editor. The entire wardrobe

this film, studying historic clothing at museums and archives

for this film is impeccable, timeless, and elegant. If I could

so she could design authentic period costumes.

wear one costume from the exhibition, it would be this dress!

INTERMEDIA

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT // William Wyler, The Heiress, 1949; Grace Kelly, promo shot for Hitchcock’s Rear Window, 1954; Kim Novak in Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo, 1958; Grace Kelly and Edith Head during production of To Catch a Thief, 1955. Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

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PASEO ARTS ASSOCIATION

ANNUAL JURIED EXHIBITS Providing artists opportunities to connect with the community

PASEO ARTS & CREATIVITY CENTER 3024 PASEO

SMALL ART SHOW Apply August - October | Exhibit in November PAA MEMBER'S’ SHOW Apply November - January | Exhibit in February THE MARCH SHOW Apply January - February | Exhibit in March PRINT ON PASEO Apply May - June | Exhibit in July PASEO PHOTOFEST Apply July - August | Exhibit in September

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An eclectic fusion of works by 175 Oklahoma artists and live entertainment for a memorable one-night-only art event.

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SEPTEMBER 20th, 2024

RECEPTION & ARTIST PANEL AUG 1, 2024 | 5PM–8PM

EXHIBITION DATES: JUN 22–SEP 14 GAYLORD-PICKENS MUSEUM OKLAHOMA CITY, OK

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OVAC OVAC MEMBERS MEMBERS SHOW SHOW

Finding new homes, community, and building new lives in unfamiliar places

okcontemp.org | 11 NW 11th St., Oklahoma City Detail view of Slum with Sewer (2020) by Lisa Karrer. Photo by Ann Sherman.

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1720 N Shartel Ave, Suite B Oklahoma City, OK 73103 Visit ovac-ok.org to learn more.

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