Native American Drawings in Frieze Viewing Room

The Daily Art Magazine has announced that Donald Ellis Gallery will be exhibiting Native American drawings in Frieze Viewing Room 2020. ‘This online exhibition will offer art fair visitors a window into the fantastic Native artistic traditions of the United States and Canada,’ the article commends. 

The gallery’s presentation consists of a selection of Native American drawings spanning various Indigenous cultures across Canada and the United States. Dating from the late 19th century to the 1960’s, the works range from Navajo memory aids, 19th century Plains Ledger art and modern Inuit drawing. While the term ‘drawing’ is conventionally linked to works on paper, the exhibition also showcases three-dimensional objects that have become the surface for painted designs, such as Northwest Coast chests and rattles. 

As the author notes, Donald Ellis Gallery ‘emphasizes the great importance of Native American drawings, which served as permanent records in cultures without written traditions. The accompanying texts stress the sophistication and the diversity of these drawings, while pointing out the differences between Native American and Euro-American ideas about the art form.’