Retelling History Through an Indigenous Lens: David Bradley

Native Americans, Indigenous Peoples, Indians. These terms we've applied to those who connect ancestrally to the Americas since before 1492. These people have been attacked, beaten, killed, forced on to specifically inhospitable land, we stripped of their culture, and yet they persevere. During the 1950s-and 1960s civil rights movements, they fought alongside African, Asian, and Latino American's for recognition as a group of people. 


David Bradley is a Minnesota Chippewa artist who creates paintings and sculptures challenging history. From addressing Wounded Knee and the 1960's Fishing Wars to modern associations with Indigenous cultures, David creates vivid paintings that call history into question. Inspired by art history he includes historical figures in scenes of modern New Mexico, animated and cartoony. Whistler's Mother, Surrealist Rene Magritte, and Georgia O'Keeffe all make appearances in his paintings as he makes jests about their originality or place in South Western art history. 

In this class we will look deeper at some of David Bradley's work including some of his lesser known works of art. We'll look for clues to history and try to understand what they mean. Students will look for easter eggs and details that might challenge what we already know about Indian culture and history.