| Nathan Scott Begaye | |
| Birth Date: | 1969 |
| Birth Place: | Phoenix, Arizona |
| Death Date: | December 2010[1] |
| Nationality: | Navajo and Hopi |
| Known For: | ceramics |
| Training: | Institute of American Indian Art (Santa Fe, New Mexico), New York State College for Ceramics at Alfred University. |
| Movement: | Postmodernist Indian Pottery |
Nathan Begaye (1969–2010) was a Native American ceramics artist of Navajo and Hopi descent.
Nathan Begaye was born in Phoenix, Arizona in 1969 to a Navajo father and a Hopi mother.[2] He was raised by his maternal grandparents in the Third Mesa and Tuba City, Arizona. His aunt was noted Hopi potter Otellie Loloma. His upbringing in the Navajo/Hopi communities was steeped in tribal traditions, and he was schooled in the lore, history, religion, symbolism, and customs of the Navajo and Hopi peoples.
Begaye's interest in pottery began early, at age 10, and he had his first public exhibition only one year later.[3] He learned traditional techniques and pigment recipes from people in his tribal community, both Navajo and Hopi. As they were tribal secrets, he kept these to himself even when he became a teacher later in life. After receiving a SWAIA scholarship,[4] he left home at age 14 to study ceramics at the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) in Santa Fe, NM.
Although his upbringing was very conservative, Begaye used unexpected and unorthodox techniques in his work. Said to utilize a "maverick sense of form, texture, color, and design,"[5] Begaye's work was often personal and autobiographical.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
November 20, 2010 – December 31, 2016
Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, NC
July 18, 2009 – October 17, 2009
Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA
June 24, 2006 – November 27, 2011
Stedelijk Museum’s, Hertogenbosch, Netherlands
2006
Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, Santa Fe, NM
May 12, 2006 – June 25, 2006
Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas,Lawrence, KS
September 6, 2003 - October 19, 2003
Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA
November 16, 2001 – March 17, 2002