Julie Buffalohead Explained

Julie Buffalohead (born 1974) is a contemporary Indigenous artist from the United States and member of Ponca Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma.[1] [2] [3] [4] Her work mainly focuses on themes of racial injustice, indigenous rights, and abuse of power.[5] [6] She creates paintings with stories told by anthropomorphic animal characters who have agency as individuals. Buffalohead conflates the mythical with the ordinary, the imaginary, and the real, and offers a space into which viewers can bring their own experiences.[7]

Early life and education

Born in Minnesota in 1974, Buffalohead grew up around academia, as both of her parents were college professors.[8] Notably, her father, Roger Buffalohead, was one of the first professors of the American Indian Studies department at the University of Minnesota. With a Native American father and white mother, Buffalohead but she explores her mixed-race identity within her art.[9] In 1995, she received her Bachelor in Fine Arts from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design before going on to get her Master of Fine Arts from Cornell University in 2001.[10] Buffalohead has stated that her time working with elementary school students while in graduate school caused her to change the way she looked at her Native heritage, which led her to create art about Indigenous history.[11] She currently resides in St. Paul, Minnesota.[10]

Artistic style and influences

Buffalohead's art focuses on Indigenous experiences and stories, often subverting imagery of Indigenous people used in popular culture, including Disney's Pocahontas.[11] [12] She often uses metaphors and allegorical images in her work to critique social issues including gun violence.[5] Her work may include whimsical imagery like tea parties and cartoon characters, Buffalohead claims that the work is intended to be unsettling.[3] Buffalohead's work also incorporates the use of anthropomorphic animals, mainly coyotes.[3] [13] Buffalohead is a mixed media artist, and works with many different mediums, including oil painting and printmaking, and includes materials like birch bark and porcupine quills in her pieces.[10]

Solo exhibitions

Group exhibitions

Honors and awards

Buffalohead has been the recipient of several awards, including the McKnight Foundation Fellowship for Visual Arts, a Jerome Foundation Travel and Study Grant, and the Minnesota State Arts Board for Visual Artists.[5]

Collections

Her work is included in the collection of the Walker Art Museum[21] and the Muscarelle Museum of Art.[22]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Julie Buffalohead CV Jessica Silverman Gallery . 2024-04-19 . jessicasilvermangallery.com.
  2. Book: Campbell . Suzan . The American West: People, Places, and Ideas . Rockwell Museum of Western Art . 2001 . 9781889921143.
  3. Web site: Combs . Marianne . 15 January 2015 . Artist Julie Buffalohead uses animals to tell unsettling stories . 2019-05-11 . www.mprnews.org.
  4. Web site: 2015-01-08 . St. Paul artist Julie Buffalohead explores Native American themes .
  5. Web site: The Truth About Stories: Julie Buffalohead > Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA). Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA). en-US. 2019-05-11.
  6. News: The Hand of Native American Women, Visible at Last. The New York Times. 2019-05-31. Thackara. Tess.
  7. Web site: Storytelling: Julie Buffalohead Minneapolis Institute of Art . 2024-04-19 . new.artsmia.org.
  8. Web site: Smith . Beverly Hall . July 9, 2020 . Looking at the Masters: Julie Buffalohead . May 7, 2024 . The Talbot Spy.
  9. Web site: Regan . Sheila . February 16, 2015 . Julie Buffalohead’s Theater of Animals . May 7, 2024.
  10. Web site: Bockley Gallery :: Artists :: Julie Buffalohead. bockleygallery.com. 2019-05-11.
  11. Web site: Julie Buffalohead. mcad.edu. en. 2019-05-11.
  12. Web site: Pocahontas Cessation, Julie Buffalohead ^ Minneapolis Institute of Art. collections.artsmia.org. 2019-05-11.
  13. Web site: Personal Narratives and the Eye of the Beholder: Julie Buffalohead at the Denver Art Museum. Fiction Unbound. 7 December 2018 . en-US. 2019-05-11.
  14. Web site: Julie Buffalohead: Let the Show Begin | National Museum of the American Indian.
  15. Web site: 'Julie Buffalohead: Coyote Dreams': First of 3 winter Native American exhibits. 2014-12-18.
  16. Web site: Animal tricksters rule in Julie Buffalohead's narrative artworks. Star Tribune.
  17. Web site: Animal dreams: Julie Buffalohead. 17 August 2018 .
  18. Book: Hearts of Our People: Native Women Artists. Seattle : University of Washington Press. 2019. 1105604814.
  19. Web site: Indelible Ink: Native Women, Printmaking, Collaboration – UNM Art Museum. 2021-03-31. en-US.
  20. Web site: Shared Ideologies .
  21. Web site: Julie Buffalohead. 2021-03-31. walkerart.org. en-US.
  22. Web site: Web Module - Results Page .

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