Existence as Protest

Gregg Deal’s “Existence as Protest.”

Gregg Deal’s exhibition Existence as Protest is a powerful example of how an artist’s voice can be resoundingly heard through the strength of visual images.

Deal’s opening at RedLine Milwaukee coincided with the Spring Gallery night held April 21, and Deal was in residence.

One of the unique things about RedLine, in addition to its slate of workshops and artist studios, is the accommodations for visiting artists. Not only does it become a home away from home, but a studio as well — and it was here that Deal created some of the art that introduces the exhibition.

A four-part painting is the show’s title piece. The canvases join to show a reproduction black-and-white photograph of a Native American man, enlarged and cut to just the figure, which was then painted over in sheer tones of vibrant red, white and black. The figure is turned, his attention firmly directed outside the frame of view at something we cannot see.

This is a sound opening, and a helpful one as well, since much of what we encounter in Deal’s art is about opening our awareness beyond our immediate vision. Behind the figure in the painting — under varying veils of red paint, floral motifs and a strip of nearly unreadable newsprint — “Existence is Protest” is emblazoned in dripping white letters of paint.

Reclamation

Deal shows a variety of works, but one of the recurring motifs is his use of collage. The source for these pieces is historical, but their use is a reclamation, a way of viewing vintage images of Native American people and breaking out of the stereotypical boxes in which they may have been put.

The original source for the photographs is Edward S. Curtis (American, 1868–1952), who is described as a photographer and ethnologist. In 1906, J.P. Morgan commissioned him to produce a book project titled The North American Indian, a series that ended up lasting for more than two decades and consisting of 20 volumes. However, this was not a project that represented the indigenous people, whom Curtis was photographing with undiluted honesty. Instead, Curtis manipulated subjects and played to some popular ideas of what native culture was assumed to look like.

Deal — a Pyramid Lake Paiute —often uses his art to address common stereotypes associated with Native Americans, not only in art and history, but also in contemporary sports.

Change the name

During the past few years, there has been a growing push to change the name of the Washington Redskins football team, as its derogatory nature is more and more recognized.

Deal doesn’t mince works in a poster on which derogatory terms leveled at other ethnicities are listed and crossed out. “Redskins,” however, remains on the list. With poignant economy, the point is made. This isn’t just a harmless team name but a casually institutionalized form of disrespect and insult.

Other posters mirror some of Deal’s murals on this subject. In one, a Native American man in headdress (Chief Joseph, another Curtis portrait) is placed before a dark background, which seems to radiate light around him. In red banners, a caption reads “American Genocide Reconciled Thru Football.”

The poster recalls a similar mural he painted in Washington, D.C., in 2014.

At the time, Deal told Indian Country Today that his mural “very vividly illustrates the inept relationship America as a whole has with Indigenous people. ... American Genocide? Yes. Honor through football? Not so much.”

‘I can be modern, I can be indigenous’

As an artist, Deal concerns himself with several other issues as well. Environmental activism is part of his work, as is advocacy for women’s rights. Another poster reads “Love Water Not Oil … Project Our Mother, Stand with Standing Rock.” A young girl looks over a wide plain filled with grasses, and around her head are radiating beams like light, as seen in other works. It is a beautiful image that speaks with hope for future and calls for connection with the land through love.

The poetic nature of “Love Water Not Oil” is countered by the visual aggression of a wall installation of helmet, bulletproof vest, guns and riot shield. Each is emblazoned with textual connections to protest, especially against the Dakota Access Pipeline. A replica assault rifle painted with the words Free Speech Facilitator smacks of painful irony, not only in light of that protest, but also the ongoing struggles in the face of violence and suppression.

Existence as Protest reaches out, beyond the experience of just one man. As Gregg Deal explains in his exhibition statement, “I can be modern, I can be indigenous, and I can be informed by the same world you live in. My work is the expression of culture, language, image, history, voice and ultimately process. I just speak as an artist who happens to be indigenous.”

Existence as Protest by Gregg Deal continues through June 10 at RedLine Milwaukee, 1422 N. Fourth St.

On exhibit 

UWM Spring 2017 BFA Exhibition and BA Poster Session

Kenilworth Square East, third floor gallery, 1925 E. Kenilworth Place

Exhibition runs through May 21

Exhibition reception 3–5 p.m. May 20

As the semester closes and students reach the moment of graduation, those receiving degrees in art proudly contribute to this exhibition showcasing their work.

Angle of Incidence

Frank Juarez Gallery

207 E. Buffalo St., Suite 600

Exhibition runs through June 17

Artist reception 5–8 p.m. May 20

The Frank Juarez Gallery is one of Milwaukee’s newest art venues, located inside Material Studios in the Third Ward’s Marshall Building. Angle of Incidence features artist Dale Knaak and new paintings that explore effects of light, shadow, and surface with a focus on still-life paintings.

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