Jeffrey Gibson’s United States Pavilion opened at the Venice Biennale with a superabundance of color and signs of tradition that bring history into a vital present purview. The first Native American artist to represent the US with a solo show at the Biennale made 11 paintings, nine sculptures, eight flags, two murals, and one video installation for the Pavilion, which bears the title the space in which to place me.
Gibson—a member of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and of Cherokee descent—draws on his heritage but also remixes it in radical fashion in works that include pointed decorative elements (intricate beadwork, vintage pins, found objects like belt buckles and bags) and text drawn from what an exhibition pamphlet describes as sources ranging from Dakota proverbs and the songs of Nina Simone to excerpts from legislative documents. The effect of it all is celebratory and defiant, disquieting and full of righteous rage.
Below, some highlights from the space in which to place me.
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US Pavilion
Image Credit: Andy Battaglia/ARTnews Jeffrey Gibson: WE WANT TO BE FREE, 2024.
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US Pavilion
Image Credit: Andy Battaglia/ARTnews Jeffrey Gibson: WE ARE MADE BY HISTORY, 2024.
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US Pavilion
Image Credit: Andy Battaglia/ARTnews Jeffrey Gibson: if there is no struggle there is no progress, 2024.
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US Pavilion
Image Credit: Andy Battaglia/ARTnews Jeffrey Gibson: GIVE MY LIFE SOMETHING EXTRA, 2024.
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US Pavilion
Image Credit: Andy Battaglia/ARTnews Jeffrey Gibson: THE RIGHT OF PEOPLE PEACEABLY TO ASSEMBLE, 2024.
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US Pavilion
Image Credit: Andy Battaglia/ARTnews Jeffrey Gibson: WE HOLD THESE TRUTHS TO BE SELF-EVIDENT, 2024.
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US Pavilion
Image Credit: Andy Battaglia/ARTnews Jeffrey Gibson: Treat Me Right, 2024.
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US Pavilion
Image Credit: Andy Battaglia/ARTnews Jeffrey Gibson: THE OBLIGATION OF A POWERFUL NATION, 2024.
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US Pavilion
Image Credit: Andy Battaglia/ARTnews Jeffrey Gibson: Be Some Body, 2024.
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US Pavilion
Image Credit: Andy Battaglia/ARTnews Jeffrey Gibson: I’M A NATURAL MAN, 2024.
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US Pavilion
Image Credit: Andy Battaglia/ARTnews Jeffrey Gibson: LIBERTY WHEN IT BEGINS TO TAKE ROOT IS A PLANT OF RAPID GROWTH, 2024.
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US Pavilion
Image Credit: Andy Battaglia/ARTnews Jeffrey Gibson: WHEREAS IT IS ESSENTIAL TO JUST GOVERNMENT WE RECOGNIZE THE EQUALITY OF ALL PEOPLE BEFORE THE LAW, 2024.
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US Pavilion
Image Credit: Andy Battaglia/ARTnews Jeffrey Gibson: She Never Dances Alone (video still), 2024.
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US Pavilion
Image Credit: Andy Battaglia/ARTnews Installation view of Jeffrey Gibson’s US Pavilion.