Rafael Francisco Salas curates exhibition in Milwaukee

Rafael Francisco Salas, professor of art and chair of the Department of Art and Art History, is the guest curator for an exhibit for the Museum of Wisconsin Art. “Strange Lands: The work of Tom Antell, Chris T. Cornelius, and Sky Hopinka” opens Friday, Oct. 7, at the MOWA|DTN Gallery, the museum’s satellite location inside Saint Kate — The Arts Hotel in downtown Milwaukee. It runs through Jan. 8, 2023.

The artwork of the three artists “combine to collectively interrogate essential conflicts of the American Landscape,” Salas says. “The violent removal of Native people from their land is a defining element of American agrarian idealism. This original sin haunts the artworks of these Indigenous artists. Hopinka is a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin and the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians. Antell is a member of the Minnesota Chippewa, and Chris T. Cornelius is a member of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin.

“In their work, landscape, memory and legacy combine in open-ended narratives that simultaneously describe personal and collective experience. ‘Strange Lands’ examines the artwork and voices of these artists in the context of contemporary canons of art, but also demonstrates their singular experience as Indigenous Americans.”

The exhibition is open to the public. More information is available here.

Posted October 5, 2022 in Faculty.

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