Jeffrey Gibson: Like a Hammer

Featuring work from the past decade by Jeffrey Gibson, one of America's most prominent contemporary artists, this monograph shows how he blends American Indian and Western cultural influences and explores issues of identity, alternative sub-cultures, post-colonialism, and marginalization.

A citizen of the Mississippi Choctaw Nation and part Cherokee, Jeffrey Gibson spent time in Germany, England, and Korea in his youth. This mix of cultures informs much of his work, which combines elements from historical and contemporary Native arts and traditions, such as powwow regalia and the use of animal skins, with those from the artistic traditions of Modernism, Geometric Abstraction, and Minimalism. As a gay Native artist, Gibson explores in his work issues of oppression and civil rights in America, as well as universal ideas of love, community, strength, vulnerability, and survival.

This magnificent volume focuses on nearly 60 works completed in the last decade, including culturally adorned punching bags, three-dimensional figurative works, text-based wall hangings, painted works on rawhide and canvas, and light and video works. It accompanies the exhibition at the Denver Art Museum.

Edited by John P. Lukavic. Texts by John P. Lukavic, Glenn Adamson, Anne Ellegood, Jen Mergel, and Sara Raza.