Action/Abstraction Redefined: Modern Native Art, 1945-1975

Comprising 52 paintings, sculptures, and works on paper by 32 artists, Action/Abstraction Redefined: Modern Native Art, 1945–1975 is the first major traveling exhibition to explore the innovation and experimentation of modern Native American art. It features work across media from advanced artists such as T. C. Cannon, George Morrison, and Fritz Scholder, and illustrates how their careers overlapped movements such as Abstract Expressionism, Pattern and Decoration, Color Field, and Hard-Edge Painting. These artists explored new forms of artistic expression by challenging stereotypical expectations of American Indians.

Artist Interviews

Watch and listen to Native American artists who redefined the concept of abstraction by creating works informed by their own traditional aesthetics combined with art influences coming out of New York and California.

Educational Resources

Action/Abstraction Redefined is accompanied by IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts’s (MoCNA) educational resources for students and adults to provide an art historical and historical context for the artworks in this exhibition. To access these resources visit: abstraction.iaia.edu/resources.

Action/Abstraction Redefined is organized by IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, Santa Fe, NM.

Support for Action/Abstraction Redefined: Modern Native Art, 1945-1975 is provided by Art Bridges, the Hillman Exhibition Fund of The Westmoreland Museum of American Art and The Heinz Endowments.