Artist Purdy Corcoran 'Unmasks' Historical Truth to Top Anthropologists

You may be most familiar with Dolores Purdy Corcoran for her ledger art. As a matter of fact, she was the featured artist (the “poster child") for last weekend’s 2010 Eiteljorg Museum Indian Market and Festival in Indianapolis. While her ledger is very popular and highly sought by contemporary Native American art collectors, so are the masks that she creates from gourds. They are contemporary representations of masks found in burial mounds in the American Southeast, in particular Louisiana, East Texas and the Southern Plains. The Caddo were traders and obtained turquoise from the American Southwest as well as feathers from South America. Both of these elements appear in her work.

Purdy Corcoran, of Caddo and Winnebago descent, is extremely knowledgeable on the subject of the Mound Builder masks, but it came as a huge surprise and honor that she was recently asked to make a trip to Washington, D.C. to speak on the subject of Mound Builder masks, specifically about the so called “Crying Eye” motif found on many of them. For years, it has been believed that these were funerary masks with anguish as a focus, but Purdy Corcoran had the opportunity to set National Museum of the American Indian visitors and a prestigious group of anthropologists straight on the subject. It is now known that these masks actually depicted the “Falcon Eye” motif, which the artist discovered by studying ancient relief art and conferring with tribal elders. The Falcon Eye motif was more highly associated with tribal warriors and less with funerals.

At this year’s Native Treasures Indian Arts Festival in Sante Fe, New Mexico, I had the opportunity to talk to Dolores Purdy Corcoran about her masks and what it was like to dispel an anthropological myth in front of these experts. Watch the video HERE.

For more information on the artist visit http://www.dolorespurdycorcoran.com/.

Collection of Significant Navajo and Pueblo Jewelry Arrives at Albuquerque Museum of Art and History

If you know Albuquerque artist Eason Eige, you know that when it comes to Native American art and jewelry, his eye is as good as any of the experts in the field.

For four decades, Eige has been collecting the finest examples of Navajo and Pueblo silver and lapidary work.  Every time I run into him at Albuquerque's Old Town Plaza, I inevitably drool over the fantastic jewelry that he wears on a regular basis--whether it's a 1940s green turquoise cuff or a Cody Sanderson contemporary piece

Now, Eige, has graciously donated his collection of 301 important pieces to the Albuquerque Museum of Art and History to use in its long-term and changing exhibits, as well as research and scholarly study.  The pieces will help the museum "better interpret the cultural and artistic history of the Southwest."

Eige's collection contains wonderful pieces from living and passed Navajo, Zuni and Kewa (Santo Domingo) artisans.  Much of the jewelry was purchased directly from the living artists and commissioned expressly for this exhibit, which opens on Sunday, June 27 and remains on view to the public through October 2010.

The Albuquerque Museum of Art and History is located at 2000 Mountain Road N.W..  For more information about schedules and admission visit www.cabq.gov/museum or call 505-243-7255.

One Night Only: Award-Winning Director & Choreographer Faison Stages Michael Jackson Tribute in Harlem

If you’re a Michael Jackson fan and are in Manhattan this coming Friday night, June 25, don’t forget to check out Leaving Neverland, a one night only tribute to the so-called "King of Pop" who died exactly a year ago. The show, which will take place at 8 p.m. at the Faison Firehouse Theatre, is the inspiration of Tony Award-winning director and choreographer George Faison, who worked with Jackson regularly as part of his theatre and music career.


Leaving Neverland is written by Quincy Troupe with Faison as Director. Musical direction is by Brian Whitted and stars Toni Seawright, Deborah Gregory, Daniel Carlton, Russell Ferguson, Kevin Hunte, Angel Morales and Mike Hammond.


The Faison Firehouse Theatre is located at 6 Hancock Place, West 124th Street, between St. Nicholas and Morningside Avenues in Harlem. Admission is $20. Visit http://www.faisonfirehouse.org/.

Marcus Wall: Chained to the Future/Unchained from the Past

It could be argued that Jemez Pueblo potter Marcus Wall comes from one of the most talented families working in Native American arts today.  The son of Fannie Loretto (Jemez/Laguna) and Stephen Wall (Chippewa/Seneca), the stepson of Laura Fragua-Cota, and the brother of Kathleen Wall and Adrian Wall, creating pottery comes as no surprise to him. After all, he learned pottery from his mother, and his sister taught him most of what he knows about style and technique. With all these mentors helping to shape a young potter, it's no wonder that Marcus wants to find his own niche and make a name for himself apart from a family full of already super-successful artists.While Marcus, who has been making pottery since his single digit years, started with smaller pieces such as figurines and koshares, he is taking his work to a whole new level that commercially is beginning to serve him very well. 

Enter the micaceous wedding vase.  Traditionally a symbol of engagement and formal marriage, Wall has turned that symbol into what his sister Kathleen refers to as a "mutual understanding vase."  This vase can function as a symbol of commitment for anyone in any kind of connected relationship, whether it be legal marriage or otherwise.  

His work is as delicate and beautiful as pottery found in the Taos tradition.  The artist says that he finds the clay and the work very masculine, but clearly he brings a warmth and thoughtfulness that makes the pieces appealing to all collectors.  Marcus, who learned how to work with micaceous clay from Kathleen, has added hand-crafted clay chain links to the vases, which give them a unique look that ineveitably sparks conversation about their meaning.

At the 2010 Native Treasures show in Santa Fe, Marcus took the time to chat about his work that is gaining him status as one of the up-and-coming new artists on the Native American pottery scene.  Check out my interview with him HERE: