Our Side

 

Our Side, 2023

A series of archival pigment prints on Satin Photo Rag (Edition of 3); Six unique fabric and archival pigment print collages

Sargent's Daughters is pleased to present Our Side, the third solo exhibition of Wendy Red Star (Apsáalooke (Crow), b.1981, Billings, MT) at the gallery. This exhibition is presented in conjunction with the Spring 2023 release of Red Star's monograph Bíilukaa, published by Radius Books and featuring interviews with the artist, members of her extended family and scholars. The book's title, Bíilukaa, is in reference to what the Apsáalooke (Crow) call themselves: Our Side.

Our Side builds upon Red Star's research into historical photographs of Apsáalooke individuals and objects, with the artist drawing on both her personal collection and works held in museums and archives across the country. Red Star notes, “Since the time I left the Crow reservation I have encountered my tribe’s material culture in every city I have exhibited or occupied. It is incredible that so much of my community’s history and material culture is kept in the vaults of these institutions hundreds of miles away from their source.” In this exhibition, Red Star revives these objects, often rendered inert in institutional collections, by making them accessible to her audience and incorporating them into new narratives.

The exhibition includes two distinct bodies of work; the first are photographic prints originally produced for Bíilukaa, reimagined as a dynamic installation in the gallery. Drawing entirely from images sourced from Red Star’s personal archive, the works in this series layer together images taken by the artist of cultural objects and photographs found in public collections. Images of dresses, moccasins, fans and other items are contextualized with historic black and white images of Apsáalooke people putting similar objects into use. Surrounding them, Red Star’s annotations, and occasionally images of her hands or notes, interpret, contemporize, and comment on these archival traces.

The second body of work consists of large-scale unique collages, which layer photographs on top of fabrics typical of Apsáalooke regalia. Once again drawn from Red Star’s archive, these works feature photographs of intricate Crow beadwork and plateau pictorials, many of which are in the artist’s personal collection. The images are enlarged and repeated, producing abstract compositions.

Both bodies of work serve to expand Red Star’s research-based practice by sharing and recontextualizing archival materials in the form of stylized and serialized compositions. By delving into the artist’s own records, the works depict a snapshot of her research and personal collection, restaging the processes through which Red Star has traced the textual and tangible history of her community into the present.

 
 

Wendy Red Star: Bíilukaa

An artist's book documenting the symbolism and material culture of the Bíilukaa (Apsáalooke)

Artwork and photography by Wendy Red Star
Conversations with Wallace Red Star, Molly Malone, Chelsea Malone, Annika Johnson, and Adriana Greci Green

Wendy Red Star (born 1981) made her first big move off the Crow reservation to attend Montana State University in Bozeman. During one of her study sessions she discovered an image of Medicine Crow, an Apsáalooke chief, in a random book in the university library. Enamored by his image, she made a xerox copy and kept the chief’s image in her sketchbook. A decade later, in 2014, she revisited this image to create an exhibition at the Portland Art Museum titled Medicine Crow & the 1880 Crow Peace Delegation.

Bíilukaa builds upon this theme of researching historical photographs of Apsáalooke individuals and material culture, with the artist drawing on both her personal collection and works held in museums and archives across the country. Red Star notes, “Since the time I left the Crow reservation I have encountered my tribe’s material cultural in every city I have exhibited or occupied. It is incredible that so much of my community’s history and material culture is kept in the vaults of these institutions hundreds of miles away from their source.” The text features interviews with the artist and members of her extended family and scholars, alongside new works of primarily collaged photography.

Red Star has chosen the title Bíilukaa in reference to what the Apsáalooke call themselves: Our Side. Bíilukaa is the book Red Star wishes she could have read when setting out as a young artist, a book that educates the public about collections and archives, while also honoring her family and community.