Current News
Edgar Heap of Birds’ Exhibit “Beyond the Chief” Comes to Illinois
For Immediate Release -- February 10, 2009
The influential work of HOCK E AYE VI Edgar Heap of Birds, a Cheyenne-Arapaho artist, challenges viewers to re-imagine public spaces as American Indian.
In his exhibit "Beyond the Chief" on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, signs and language remind the campus community whose land they occupy: this includes the Peoria-Piankesaw-Kaskaskia-Wea Homelands. The signs are now installed along West Nevada Street.
By using media that resembles official city and state signage, Heap of Birds creates a conceptual space in a given environment that reinforces the historic and political presence of American Indian communities that live within these lands.
In this exhibit, the words "Fighting Illini" are printed backwards on each sign to provoke the viewer to reflect upon the past and to recognize a more complex history to this land. Read more about the "Beyond the Chief" exhibit, including the Artist’s Statement, on the "Features" page.
Heap of Birds’ other public interventions have included "Building Minnesota," "Day and Night" in Seattle, "Reclaim" in New York, and "Wheel" in Denver, Colorado. More of his work is available online.
Heap of Birds’ art includes multi-disciplinary forms of public art messages, large scale drawings, acrylic paintings, prints and monumental porcelain enamel on steel outdoor sculpture. He currently lives in Oklahoma City and is Professor of painting and Native American Studies at the University of Oklahoma in Norman.
An artist’s talk and opening reception is planned for Wednesday, February 18, 2009 at the Asian American Cultural Center, 1210 West Nevada Street, Urbana, at 5:30pm; a campus lecture is scheduled on Thursday, February 19 at School of Art and Design, Room 229 408 E. Peabody Drive, Champaign, at 12 noon. These events are free and open to the public. We especially encourage media to attend the opening reception Wednesday where the artist will be made available to speak about the exhibit.
The exhibit is Paid for by the Student Cultural Programming Fee and sponsored by the Native American House, American Indian Studies, African American Studies, La Casa Cultural Latina, Asian American Studies, and Asian American Cultural Center.
The exhibit will run to December 2009.
More News About American Indian Studies
:: Job Announcement--Native American House Director
::
Native American House Moves to Office of Inclusion and Intercultural Relations
:: Hate Crimes at UIUC: Native American Art Vandalized for Fifth Time
:: Artist of Vandalized Exhibit Returns to Campus; Open Forum on Bias Announced
:: Norman Akers Prints at Alice Campbell Alumni Center
:: Billy Mills: Honor Each Other Through Service and Action
:: Wounded Knee is an Official Selection of the 2009 Sundance Film Festival
:: Native American House / American Indian Studies Statement on November 15 Event
:: American Indian Studies, Native American House Welcomes New Director