Edgar Heap of Birds
| Edgar Heap of Birds | |
|---|---|
 Heap of Birds at the 2009 Americans for the Arts convention | |
| Born |
Hock E Aye VI[1] November 22, 1954 Wichita, Kansas, United States |
| Nationality | Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes |
| Education | MFA Tyler School of Art, BFA University of Kansas, Royal College of Art |
| Known for | Painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, installation, conceptual |
| Notable work | In Our Language, Wheel |
| Website | http://heapofbirds.ou.edu/ |
Edgar Heap of Birds (Cheyenne name: Hock E Aye VI) is a multi-disciplinary artist. His art contributions include public art messages, large scale drawings, Neuf Series acrylic paintings, prints, and monumental porcelain enamel on steel outdoor sculpture.[1]
He is Southern Cheyenne and enrolled in the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes.[2]
Early life and Education
Hachivi Edgar Heap of Birds was born on November 22, 1954 in Wichita, Kansas, where his father worked in the aeronautical industry. He attended East High School in Wichita and graduated in 1972. After graduation, Heap of Birds studied at Haskell Indian School in Lawrence, Kansas.[3][1]
In 1976 Heap of Birds earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts from University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas and in 1979 he received his Master of Fine Arts from Temple University's Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In between his undergraduate and graduate studies, Heap of Birds also classes at the Royal College of Art in London, England from 1976-1977.[3][1]
In 2008, Heap of Birds was awarded an Honorary Doctors of Fine Arts from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design in Boston, Massachusetts.
Professional career
Heap of Birds has taught as Visiting Professor at Yale University, Rhode Island School of Design, and Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of Cape Town, South Africa. At the University of Oklahoma, Heap of Birds teaches in Native American Studies and previously taught Fine Arts.
Heap of Birds's critical reputation has been established most by his political and site-specific public signage projects. One example is Building Minnesota (1990), a signage installation mounted on the banks of the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, Minnesota and commissioned by the Walker Art Center.[2] In it, Heap of Birds set forty large, metal, billboard-like signs along Minneapolis's downtown riverfront. The signs honored the forty Dakota men who were sentenced to death by Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Jackson after the US-Dakota Conflict of 1862, in what is the largest mass execution in American history.
Recently Heap of Birds created a fifty-foot signature, outdoor sculpture titled: "Wheel," as a signature entrance piece for the Gio Ponti (North) building of the Denver Art Museum. The circular porcelain enamel on steel work was commissioned by The Denver Art Museum and is inspired by the traditional Medicine Wheel of the Big Horn Mountains of Wyoming.
Awards
Heap of Birds has received grants and awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Rockefeller Foundation, The Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation, The Wallace Foundation, the Bonfil Stanton Foundation, and The Pew Charitable Trusts.
In 2012, Heap of Birds was named a Fellow of United States Artists.[4]
Books
- Blasted Allegories, an Anthology of Artists Writings, New Museum-MIT Press, 1987.
- Makers, Point Riders Press, 1998.
- The Myth of the Primitive, Susan Hiller (Editor), Routledge Press, 1991.
- Completing The Circle: Artists’ Books On The Environment, Minnesota Center for Book Arts, 1992.
- Visit Teepee Town, Native Writing After the Detours, Dianne Glancy and Mark Nowak, Coffee House Press, 1999.
- National Museum of the American Indian (U.S.) (2008). Most Serene Republics: Edgar Heap of Birds. Kathleen E. Ash-Milby, Truman Lowe, Edgar Heap of Birds (eds.). Washington, D.C: National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution. ISBN 9781933565125.
References
- 1 2 3 4 Pecore, Bradley. "Hock E Aye VI". Museum of Contemporary Native Arts. Retrieved 2014.
- 1 2 Reno, Dawn (1995). Contemporary Native American Artists. Brooklyn, NY: Alliance Publishing. p. 72. ISBN 0-9641509-6-4.
- 1 2 Lester, Patrick (1995). The Biographical Directory of Native American Painters. Norman and London: The Oklahoma University Press. p. 227. ISBN 0-8061-9936-9.
- ↑ "United States Artists Official Website". United States Artists. Retrieved 2014.
External links
- Heap of Birds Venice Biennale 2007 exhibit
- Who Stole the Teepee exhibit at the National Museum of the American Indian (see the Beyond Smoke & Mirrors section)
- Continuum 12 exhibit at the National Museum of the American Indian