Jim Denomie

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Jim Denomie
Eiteljorg Native American Fine Art Fellowship (2009)
WebsiteOfficial website

Jim Denomie (1955 – March 1, 2022) was an

United States history and Indigenous peoples of the Americas
.

Biography

Early life

A citizen of the

assimilate American Indians into mainstream society by providing job and housing opportunities in major cities for selected families and individuals.[1]

The stress of the relocation contributed to Denomie's parents' divorce. At age five, he went to live with his mother in Minneapolis. During summers and winters, he visited his grandparents on the reservation.[1]

As a youth, Denomie struggled in school and its pressures to conform. While he sought family support in dealing with racism, stereotypes, and peer pressure, they rarely helped, as many of his relatives and friends dealt with their own conflicts regarding assimilation. Denomie began abusing alcohol as a teenager, but stopped drinking in 1990.[1]

College

Denomie pursued a degree in

Western art history, and he began to form his own style and techniques.[1]

Personal life

A husband, father, and grandfather, Denomie lived and worked in Shafer, Minnesota. He was an avid golfer.

Death and legacy

Denomie died of cancer at his home on March 1, 2022, at the age of 67.[2]

Art career

Accepting the 2019 McKnight Distinguished Artist Award

In addition to painting, Denomie also worked in photography, collage, and mixed media. Bockley Gallery represented him.[1][3][4]

He holds his mirror up to Indigenous people as surely as he does to Americans and American culture. Denomie's art addresses everyone with equal rigor and has important lessons for all viewers. - Gail Tremblay[1]

Creation process

Starting with a theme, he then started an initial

chess game", derived from the many decisions he must make when placing, layering and constructing his detailed works.[5]

When asked when he decided a painting was completed, Denomie stated:

...a painting is done when the artist dies. Previously, I felt that a painting was done when I have taken it as far as I could, at that point in time, and signed it. Now, if the painting is still in my possession and I am not impressed with it, I may rework it. A painting is like a motion picture, always evolving. We hit pause when it looks good to us and then we sign it. But we may come back to it sometime later and look at it again with a perspective enhanced by experience and development and say, “this painting needs more work.”[5]

His preferred creation time was in the evening, listening to music by the likes of Bob Dylan, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Dire Straits, among others. Denomie credited his primary instructors at the University of Minnesota as major influences on his painting, as well as his family, dreams, memories, and his own life experiences.[5]

Metaphorical surrealism

pop-culture, art history and Anglo-Indian relations.[1]

Works such as Attack on Fort Snelling Bar and Grill (2007) are a comical examination of 19th century American events and contemporary culture. Inspired by his wife's participation in the

Indian Country yesterday and today.[1]

Edward Curtis, Paparazzi: Chicken Hawks (2008) at the National Gallery of Art in 2023

Edward S. Curtis makes a number of appearances as a voyeur in Denomie's artworks. In Edward Curtis, Paparazzi: Skinny Dip Denomie mocks

skinny dipping and Edward Curtis is shown in the corner, with his camera, prepared to take pictures.[1]

Peking Duck (2008)

Chinese takeout in his hand. Above the taxi is a Denomie's own version of The Creation of Adam, depicting White Buffalo Calf Woman giving a drum to the Lakota people.[1]

Portraits

In 2005 Denomie decided to create a portrait a day for one year as a way to make painting more of a priority in his life. His busy life wasn't allowing him to work in the studio as often as he liked, and upon returning to the studio after a week of not working he felt like a foreigner. This has led to a collection of hundreds of portraits, primarily small scale works (5x7 inches, 6x8 inches) of American Indians that Denomie described as "Rugged Indians". The portraits are generally head and shoulder portraits, with the individual facing forward, taking between 15 and 30 minutes to complete. The concept, similar to Chris Ofili's Afro Muses series, allowed Denomie to get his "head into the oven" of art creation. Succeeding at this project, Denomie was no longer painting a portrait a day.[5][6]

The Afflicted Warriors is a series of portraits depicting male Indian warriors with long hair, a headband a single feather from their head, while some are not adorned. The Wounded Knee series is reminiscent of Picasso's Blue Period, a series of male and female portraits painted in blues, greens and blacks with a touch of white. The portraits are skeletal, representative of the horrors that took place at Wounded Knee. Occasionally they are just general "Rugged Indians" and Denomie signed, dated and perhaps named the portrait after someone it reminded him of.[1][6]

Wabooz

Speaking at the Eiteljorg Museum in front of his painting A Beautiful Hero, Woody Keeble (2009)

Denomie's studio, Wabooz Studio, is named for the Ojibwe word for "rabbit." Wabooz is a common image in Denomie's paintings, as an animal that he identified with, the rabbit is also representative of the Ojibwe trickster figure Nanaboujou. As an alter ego for Denomie, he allowed himself to enter the works of art he created.[1] Wabooz has even made an appearance in Denomie's portraits as Magic Rabbit, a series of three paintings depicting an alert rabbit wearing a vest with intense almost google-eyes.[7]

Minnesota

Minnesotan politics, news and

Indian Country are often found in Denomie's contemporary history paintings. The intense recount between Al Franken and Norm Coleman is shown in Split Decision, where Paul Wellstone is the referee standing between the two politicians, dressed like boxers. Denomie's signature cast of characters sit in the audience: Wabooz, an Indian riding a horse, a coyote, a moose, and plenty of unenthusiastic people.[7]

The landscape Casino Sunrise is Denomie's own remake of the

feather boa; he has a cigar in his mouth, a fishing rod set with a grenade in one hand, and a fist of money in the other. No politician of recent Minnesota history escapes the wrath of Denomie's paintbrush; Norm Coleman sits on a toilet and Al Franken counts ballots behind him. Indian Country is represented as well through images of lynched Indians from Fort Snelling, an Indian funeral pyre, a Christian church, a member of the American Indian Movement riding a horse and more. A Minneapolis police car relating to arrests made of three Indian men and without enough room for them all in the car, one was placed in the trunk, is also depicted. Of this painting Denomie said, "The Minnesota State seal needed to be updated. It's been a while...This is all history, all of it is history of Minnesota."[7]

Major exhibitions

Exhibition, The Lyrical Artwork of Jim Denomie
  • "The Lyrical Artwork of Jim Denomie" July 8, 2023 - March 24, 2024, Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN
  • "Silver River" 2016 Wiesman Art Museum, Minneapolis, MN
  • "Jim Denomie, Paintings" 2015 Projek Traum, Atelier Glidden Wozniak, Friedrichschaffen, Germany
  • "Jim Denomie, Dialogues" 2014 Bockley Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
  • "It's New, It's Now" 2013 Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN
  • "The Crow's Shadow Institute of the Arts Biennial" 2012, Hallie Ford Museum of Art, Willamette Universary, Salem, OR
  • "Counting Coup" Museum of Contemporary Native Art, Santa Fe, NM
  • Now and Then, 2010, Winona State University, Winona, MN
  • Transcending Traditions: Contemporary American Indian Artwork, 2010, Mesa Arts Center, Mesa, AZ[8]
  • Art Quantum, 2009, Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art, Indianapolis, IN
  • Jim Denomie: Recent History, 2009, Bockley Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
  • Common Ground: Paintings by
    Metro State University
    , St. Paul, MN
  • Jim Denomie: Recent Works, 2008, Finlandia University, Hancock, MI
  • New Skins: New Paintings by
    Minneapolis Institute of Arts
    , Minneapolis, MN
  • Reflections of Lewis & Clark, 2005, University of Montana, Missoula, MT
  • Painting by Jim Denomie, 2004, Plains Art Museum, Fargo, ND
  • 8th Native American Fine Arts Invitational, 2002, Heard Museum, Phoenix, AZ
  • Truth, 2002, St. John's University, Collegeville, MN
  • Transitions, 2000, Duluth Art Institute, Duluth, MD
  • Metaphor and Intuition, 1999, Iowa State University, Ames, IA[3]

Notable awards

  • McKnight Distinguished Artist Award, 2019
  • Eiteljorg Fellowship for Native American Fine Arts, 2009
  • Bush Artist Fellowship, 2008[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Tremblay, Gail. Jim Denomie (Ojibwe): Art That Sings and Stings. Art Quantum, pp. 37-55. Eiteljorg Museum, 2009.
  2. St. Paul Pioneer-Press
    . Retrieved March 1, 2022.
  3. ^ a b c Jim Denomie (2009). "Artistic Resume". Bio. Wabooz Studio. Archived from the original on September 17, 2010. Retrieved March 6, 2011.
  4. ^ Ann Klefstad (2008). "Artists of the Year". City Pages. Archived from the original on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 6, 2011.
  5. ^ a b c d Samantha Lee (2010). "CONTEMPORARY NORTH AMERICAN INDIGENOUS ARTISTS". Jim Denomie. Tumblr. Retrieved March 6, 2011.
  6. ^ a b Lightsey Darst (2005). "Jim Denomie: Finding the New Country in the Old". Featured Artist. Minnesota Artists. Retrieved March 6, 2011.
  7. ^ a b c d Mason Riddle (2009). "Painter Jim Denomie puts Pawlenty, Franken, and Coleman at the mercy of his "Indian humor" at the Bockley Gallery". Visual Arts. Daily Planet. Retrieved March 6, 2011.
  8. ^ "Jim Denomie" (PDF). About. Bockley Gallery. 2010. Retrieved March 6, 2011.

External links

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