When I Remember I See Red | Crocker Art Museum
  • Frank LaPena, History of California Indians. ca. 1990. 8 hand-colored lithographs, 28 x 19 in. (each panel). Collection of the Artist © Frank LaPena.
    When I Remember I See Red
    American Indian Art and Activism in California
    October 20, 2019 — January 26, 2020
Geri Montano, A Is For Apple; I Is NOT For Indian. 2016. Acrylic, ink, graphite, charcoal collage on paper, 51 x 51 in. Crocker Art Museum, gift of Loren G. Lipson, M.D., 2016.89 © Geri Montano
Cara Romero, Naomi. 2018. Photograph, 52 x 44 inches. Collection of the Artist © Cara Romero
L.frank, Even Where The Ancestors Live. n.d. Acrylic on canvas, 17 3/4 x 17 3/4 in. Collection of the artist © L.frank
Diego Romero, Saints And Sinners. n.d. Ceramic with polychrome pigments, 7 1/2 x 15 1/2 in. (diam), Crocker Art Museum, gift of Loren G. Lipson, M.D. © Diego Romero

When I Remember I See Red: American Indian Art and Activism in California features contemporary art by First Californians and other American Indian artists with strong ties to the state. Spanning the past five decades, the exhibition includes more than 65 works in various media from painting, sculpture, prints, and photography, to installation and video. More than 40 artists are represented, among them pioneers such as Rick Bartow, George Blake, Dalbert Castro, Frank Day, Harry Fonseca, Frank LaPena, Jean LaMarr, James Luna, Leatrice Mikkelsen, Karen Noble [Tripp], Fritz Scholder, Brian Tripp, and Franklin Tuttle, as well as emerging and mid-career artists.

Taking cues from their forebears, members of the younger generation often combine art and activism, embracing issues of identity, politics, and injustice to produce innovative — and frequently enlightening — work. The exhibition transcends borders, with some California artists working outside the state, and several artists of non-California tribes living and creating within its boundaries. Diverse cultural influences coupled with the extraordinary dissemination of images made possible by technology have led to new forms of expression, making When I Remember I See Red a richly layered experience.

Read more about the exhibition in our blog, the Oculus, HERE.



This exhibition is one of two shows at the Crocker this fall exploring the art and culture of several distinct Native American communities. Pueblo Dynasties: Master Potters from Matriarchs to Contemporaries, featuring more than 200 pieces by premier potters from the American Southwest, will be on view from September 22, 2019 — January 5, 2020.


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