art
Hold to This Earth review
Yorkshire Sculpture Park Neons and videos mix with weaving and beadwork to address subjects as diverse as stolen land, ancestral traditions and queer identity. But the self-made nude steals the show
TL;DR
- The exhibition at Yorkshire Sculpture Park displays the work of 38 Indigenous American artists.
- Artworks explore themes of land, memory, oppression, and freedom using diverse materials like clay, earth, fabric, ceramics, painting, and sculpture.
- Artists incorporate traditional aesthetics into new ideas, addressing personal identity, abstraction, and modern influences.
- Works by Rose B Simpson and her mother Roxanne Swentzell highlight generational artistic practice and connection to the earth.
- The exhibition addresses themes of injustice, anger, and protest against historical persecution and exploitation of Indigenous Americans.
- Specific artworks protest the exploitation of sacred sites, the Dakota Access Pipeline, and call for the return of stolen land.
- The art is presented as a form of aesthetic resistance against colonialism and exploitation.
- The review notes that not all works are of equal quality, and the exhibition is not a complete survey of Indigenous North American art.
- The exhibition is described as a moving and beautiful snapshot of art from a diverse community connected by shared pain and love for the land.