HUDSON VALLEY REGION, New York – Throughout his celebrated career as an artist, Jeffery Gibson has received numerous accolades and recognition, but he recently exhibited his work in one of the largest cultural exhibitions in the world.

Gibson was invited to participate in the Venice Biennale in Italy. The exhibition, which began in 1895, alternates each year between art and architecture, but also includes theater, cinema and dance. In the United States Pavilion, the colorful, geometricetric and politically-related Works by Gibson, along with his beadwork and even written texts.

“I think the most important thing (for me) is to see the impact it has had on many indigenous people – those who have reached out to me and those who have participated in this project,” said Gibson, who is a citizen of the Mississippi Tribe of Choctaw Indians and of Cherokee descent“I think there is a lot of pressure when you are the first Indigenous artist to have a solo exhibition in the US Pavilion, and I have felt some anxiety about that pressure over the last year. With the opening of the Biennale, I have been able to see how positive and empowering it has been for Indigenous people. IThink about non-locals too The exhibition has really expanded and somehow open “This opens some people’s eyes to the greatness and diversity of Native American culture.”

In the 94-year history of the US Pavilion, Gibson was the first indigenous artist to represent the USA with a solo exhibition. The project was curated by Kathleen Ash-MilbyCurator of Native American Art at the Portland Art Museum; independent curator Abigail Winograd; and Louis GrachosDirector of SITE Santa Fe.

Gibson said he always enjoys being in his studio and never gets tired of testing his creativity.

“I have worked really hard for a long time and am very happy that I have arrived at a place where I have a place, and I have a team of people that I work with that I really respect and trust a lot,” said Gibson. “My team helps me implement ideas that I have, which helps me do what I really enjoy, which is to lose myself in the creative process and be able to experiment with things. The spaces I work in allow me to play with everything from sound to painting to drawing. sculpture and textiles.”

Growing up, Gibson’s family was constantly on the move and he found it “easy” to draw pictures and create them wherever he went. Crayons and paper were affordable and he remembers drawing pictures almost everywhere he went as a child.

“Because I was traveling so much, especially abroad, my parents always took me to museums,” he said. “So I grew up with different kinds of art and architecture, and also Live music – my parents took me to the symphony. When we returned home to Mississippi and Oklahoma, we went to powwows.”

While visiting his extended family in the United States, Gibson came into contact with the Choctaw and Cherokee languages, which were spoken and sung in the churches founded by Gibson’s grandfathers in their respective communities.

“When I was growing up, I started going to clubs when I was about 13, and I was very interested in pop music,” he said SHelp. “As a teenager, I Magazines and I studied the artists of that time in New York. That laid the foundation for what I wanted to do.”

Gibson’s mother, Citizens of the Cherokee Nation Georgia Wilsoncomes from Briggs. His Father, a citizen of the Mississippi tribe of Choctaw Indians, date back to ConejonMiss. The two attended boarding schools and Gibson’s father was drafted to serve in Vietnam. He remained in service as a civil engineereer and is now retired. As part of a military familyGibson lived in Colorado, North Carolina, Germany, New Jersey, Korea and Maryland.

Despite his extensive travels, Gibson says his family has maintained a connection to its indigenous roots. He describes a “cross-tribal aesthetic” he noticed growing up that led him to search specifically for his family’s origins – including the indigenous cultures of the Southeast – and he believes many stories remain hidden. Many of them can be told through art.

“There are many untold storiesit is native to this continent – everything from architecture to social customs to societal roles, languages ​​and beliefs,” he said. “That history influences me. I always try to overcome the kind of facade that many non-Native people have when they think of Native Americans, by which I mean that Southeastern tribes were often not represented. These tribes practiced a lot of pottery, BMythical creatures and weaving. What most people have seen in museums, like large headdresses, feathers and beads, is not necessarily representative of the Southeast.”