A free art gallery is open to the public on the first floor of the Iowa State Memorial Union. Many students hustle past without even realizing it exists, but until Oct. 6, it is open 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays.
The art on display was created by Henry Payer, a Ho-Chunk artist from the Nebraska Winnebago tribe. His art is mainly collage paintings that are meant to be interpretations and challenges of the Ho-Chunk identity and the modern experience. The exhibit is entitled “Neutral Ground.”
“My interest is the reclamation of Ho-Chunk history and the preservation of our visual culture,” Payer wrote in his artist statement on display at the exhibit. “As an Indigenous artist it is important I bring about useful ways of talking about our experiences and sharing our story. My focus is an accurate representation that challenges our pervasive American identity to interpret the modern Ho-Chunk experience. I create works that address our cultural survivance and visual continuum.”
There are 22 pieces of art on display in the exhibit, most of them being collages, and 18 of the pieces are for sale. The prices of the pieces range from $260 to over $3000.
The names of the pieces match their vibrant canvas images. One art piece, “On The Yellow Brick Road,” shows an Indigenous person on a yellow path with a blue sky, wearing one ruby red slipper: a nod to the famous Wizard of Oz movie.
To see more of the art traveling with the exhibit or to find out more about the artist, visit his Instagram page here.
Payer attended the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He obtained a BFA from the school in 2008 and moved to study at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he received his MFA in 2013. He has spent time traveling throughout the Midwest and in Italy while showing his art.
Payer will give a lecture at 6 p.m. Sept. 19 in the Memorial Union room 2630. The lecture, called “Historical Narratives from a Ho-Chunk Perspective,” is free and open to the public and includes a reception immediately following the lecture in the art gallery. To find out more, click here.
