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Point of View
by Giancarlo Biagi
In the 1970s, living next to an Indian reservation near Santa Fe, New Mexico, I met several Indian sculptors, including Michael Naranjo.
It is an immense country—harsh desert contrasted by the shaded river valleys, the sky and earth meet each other, distances are measured in cycles, and nature has a voice that is heard and respected. I understood that with the coming of the Europeans, the people of the land witnessed a transformation of their universe: the stars at night morphed into city lights and the horizon was transformed by concrete and cranes. There is a muted echo of mysticism in the plaza at Santa Fe when the Native people gather to sell their artifacts and in the works by Allan Houser and others. As seen in this issue, the contemporary Native American artists focus on their love of their media, the elements, and myth.
During that period, I witnessed in the Southwest so many of the sculptures and artifacts that characterize the region—the cowboys and Indians genre—and I soon learned that most of the artists were Euroamericans; very few indigenous artists were represented. Back then I could identify the work of the Euroamericans such as H. Jackson, F. Remington and J. E. Fraser. The works of Native Americans seemed less romantic, more focused on the mystical. Throughout the years, the feeling has grown in me that spirituality can indeed become sculpture, in my point of view.
Giancarlo Biagi
Back Issues of POV's Sculpture Review Magazine E - mail GP@SculptureReview.com
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