Vibrant and immersive installations from the first Indigenous artist to represent the US with a solo exhibition at the Venice Biennale

This lush, comprehensive volume celebrates Jeffrey Gibson’s US Pavilion exhibition at the 60th Venice Biennale. The text and visuals braid together important strands that shaped the installation, public programming and performances, highlighting the themes of inclusivity, community, dignity and tradition.

Framed by the pavilion and its activations, this volume unites innovative scholarship and criticism in original essays and in themes which emerged from the Institute of American Indian Arts’ Venice Indigenous Arts School and the Bard Center for Indigenous Studies convening, all interrogating diverse topics and using Gibson’s art and practice as their point of departure. Leading curators and critics engage with global exchanges and relationships emerging from Indigenous arts, intellectual and aesthetic traditions across Indigenous traditions, formal color study, as well as the complex, varied and rich references in Gibson’s work. Featuring spectacular photography, including behind-the-scenes studio shots, and poetic and performance interventions, this inventive and informative publication is a necessary companion to any collection on Gibson, contemporary art and Indigenous aesthetics.

Jeffrey Gibson (born 1972) is an interdisciplinary artist and a member of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and of Cherokee descent. He attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1995 and received a master of arts in painting at the Royal College of Art, London, in 1998. Gibson conceived and coedited the landmark volume An Indigenous Present (2023), which showcases diverse approaches to Indigenous concepts, forms and mediums. His work is included in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York; National Gallery of Canada; Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian; and Whitney Museum of American Art, among others. Gibson is based in Hudson, NY and is currently an artist-in-residence at Bard College.

This book was published in conjunction with Portland Art Museum; SITE Santa Fe; BIG NDN PRESS; Bard Center for Indigenous Studies