Walker Art Center Acquires New Works From Minnesota-Based Artists
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Walker Art Center Acquires New Works From Minnesota-Based Artists

Ta-coumba T. Aiken, NO WORDS, 2020 (installation view in the Walker exhibition Five Ways In: Themes from the Collection). Acrylic on canvas. 3 panels: 78 x 96 in. each. Anonymous gift, in memory of George Floyd (10/14/1973-5/25/2020). May the wrongs committed against the Communities of Color and Indigenous peoples of Minnesota never be lost to history, 2020.
 

The Walker Art Center has acquired 39 new works, deepening its commitment to Minnesota artists. Among the most recent works acquired is a three-part painting, made in the summer of 2020, by St. Paul–based artist Ta-coumba T. Aiken (US, b. 1952). Aiken, whose works of public art often center social justice and the building of community, has a long and distinguished career as an artist, educator, and artistic collaborator. During the pandemic, Aiken had returned to an intensive studio practice, re-engaging more fully with painting, drawing, and collage. Following the murder of George Floyd, he began working on a group of large paintings and drawings informed by the events. A group of three paintings entitled NO WORDS recently entered the Walker’s collection and is on display in the collection-based exhibition Five Ways In: Themes from the Collection. The canvases are covered with Aiken’s signature rhythmic abstract marks, but also include groups of human faces gathered into what he has referred to as “thought bubbles.” Aiken considers these works “a call to action,” and in speaking about the title of these works, notes, “’No Words’ is not the inability to talk, but the disbelief that you need to say anything else.”

Since arriving at the Walker in late 2018, Executive Director Mary Ceruti has committed to serving artists from Minnesota, outlining this in her first months as an institutional priority in her interim strategic plan. “I’m interested in the very unique place the Walker sits within the larger arts ecosystem in Minnesota,” Ceruti notes, “In addition to our work with artists nationally and internationally, I see our involvement in and support of the Minnesota artist community as absolutely central to our vitality as an institution, and key to the way we engage with and serve our many audiences.”

Since her arrival, Ceruti and her curatorial team have acquired a significant number of works by Minnesota artists. Thirty-nine works by artists currently or formerly based in Minnesota have entered the collection since her arrival. These works are by a diverse and multigenerational range of practitioners, including Aiken, Siah Armajani, Frank Big Bear, Julie Buffalohead, James Byrne, Andrea Carlson, Rosemary Soyini Vinelle Guyton, Jay Heikes, Pao Hua Her, Seitu Jones, Caroline Kent, Stuart Klipper, Chris Larson, Teo Nguyen, Stuart Neilson, Rowan Pope, Aaron Spangler, Dyani White Hawk, and Tetsuya Yamada.
Julie Buffalohead, The Garden, 2017. Acrylic, ink, graphite, chalk pencil, collage on paper. 30 x 78 1/2 in. Julie and Babe Davis Acquisition Fund, 2018.
 

The works acquired encompass a broad range of media, including paintings, sculptures, prints, photographs, and multimedia installations. These include a grouping of new photographs by Pao Houa Her (US, b. Laos, 1982) that show the interplay between the cultures and landscapes of St. Paul and Laos; Everyday City (2006), a major sculptural installation by Tetsuya Yamada (US, b. Japan, 1968) made from 800 ceramic vessels; Takes Care of Them (Wówahokuŋkiya | Lead, Wókaǧe | Create, Nakíčižiŋ | Protect and Wačháŋtognaka | Nurture; 2019), a suite of recent prints by Dyani White Hawk (Sičangu Lakota, b. 1976) made at Minneapolis-based Highpoint Center for Printmaking and based on ceremonial Lakota dresses; Land Speed Record (2016), a room-scaled installation by Chris Larson (US, b. 1966) inspired by the history of storied Minneapolis music venue First Avenue; and several important early works by Siah Armajani (US, b. Iran, 1939–2020), who passed away this year, and whose retrospective Siah Armajani: Follow This Line was co-organized and presented by the Walker in 2018.

Other new works are commissions for the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. Shadows at the Crossroads, a collaboration between Ta-coumba T. Aiken, Rosemary Soyini Vinelle Guyton, and Seitu Jones, features silhouettes of important figures from Minnesota history and was installed in June 2019. Okciyapi (Help Each Other), an upcoming commission by Twin Cities–based artist Angela Two Stars (Dakota, Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate, b. 1982), is scheduled to be installed in 2021.

The Walker has collected and exhibited Minnesota artists since its beginnings, and Ceruti considers this an important thread in the Walker’s ongoing acquisitions and exhibitions programs. The Walker’s current installation of its permanent collection, for example, includes nine works by Minnesota artists. Ceruti, along with Chief Curator and Director of Cultural Affairs Henriette Huldisch, has articulated the Walker’s engagement with Minnesota-based artists ­­as a renewed priority. “Connecting the artists of Minnesota with peers from around the globe and establishing international context for these artists is central to our mission,” Ceruti notes.

Ceruti recently announced an initiative specifically focused on support of artists from Minnesota in which the Walker has committed to diverting $120,000 of its acquisitions funds this year to support Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) artists working in all disciplines. The initiative came about amid the process of institutional reckoning following the murder of George Floyd and in response to the compounding public health and economic crises due to COVID-19 that continue to disproportionately impact communities of color. The Walker is partnering with 10 Twin Cities–based BIPOC arts organizations, who will each select two artists to receive individual grants in the amount of $5,000. Grant recipients can use the funds to support their artistic practices or for any other financial needs; no post-grant report will be required. Each partner organization will also receive $2,000 as compensation for their expertise, time and labor. “This is one concrete action the Walker can take to support artists in our community in this unprecedented moment,” says Huldisch, “We are committed to creating space for more sustained dialogue and deeper partnerships within the Twin Cities and we see this as one of many steps to further this effort.”
Dyani White Hawk, Wókaǧe | Create from the Takes Care of Them suite, 2019. Screenprint, copper foil on paper. 32 x 55 ½ in. Gift of Jody and Mike Wahlig, 2020.
 

Works by Minnesota Artists Acquired since 2018:

  1. Ta-coumba T. Aiken (US, b. 1952)
    All In; No Words; The Promise from the series NO WORDS!, 2020
    acrylic on canvas
    Anonymous gift, in memory of George Floyd (10/14/1973-5/25/2020). May the wrongs committed against the Communities of Color and Indigenous peoples of Minnesota never be lost to history, 2020
  1. Ta-coumba T. Aiken, Rosemary Soyini Vinelle Guyton, and Seitu Jones (US, b. 1952/US, b. 1957/US, b. 1951)
    Time; Harriet Robinson Scott; Kirk Washington, Jr.; Maḣpiya Wic̣aṡṭa (Cloud Man); Siah Armajani; Untitled (Child); and Eliza Winston from the series Shadows at the Crossroads, 2019
    bronze, etched concrete, water-resistant coating on concrete
    Poetry by Rosemary Soyini Vinelle Guyton and Kirk Washington, Jr. (US, 1975–2016)
    Commissioned with funds from the T. B. Walker Acquisition Fund, 2019
  1. Siah Armajani (US, b. Iran, 1939–2020)
    Chair, 1966
    stainless steel, stamp pad ink, graphite on canvas
    Gift of Irena and Stephen Kahne, 2019
  1. Siah Armajani (US, b. Iran, 1939–2020)
    Follow This Line, 1959
    ink, wax seal on paper
    Gift of Cynthia and Christopher Bake, London, 2019
  1. Siah Armajani (US, b. Iran, 1939–2020)
    Picnic Table (Moveable), 1993
    recycled paper, plastic, glass, dye, concrete, aluminum
    Gift of the artist, in honor of Olga Viso, 2018
  1. Frank Big Bear (US, White Earth Nation, b. 1959)
    The Walker Collage, Multiverse #10, 2016
    mixed-media collage on invitation cards for an exhibition by the artist’s son Star Wallowing Bull
    Commissioned by the Walker Art Center
    T. B. Walker Acquisition Fund, 2018
  2. Julie Buffalohead (US, Ponca Tribe of Oklahoma, b. 1972)
    The Garden, 2017
    acrylic, ink, graphite, chalk pencil, collage on paper
    Julie and Babe Davis Acquisition Fund, 2018
  1. James Byrne (US, b. 1950)
    Scale Drawing, 1975/2019
    CRT monitor, video (black and white, sound), felt-tip pen on wall
    Gift of Carol Engebretson Byrne
  1. Andrea Carlson (US, b. 1979)
    Anti-Retro, 2018
    screenprint on paper
    McKnight Acquisition Fund, 2018
  1. Andrea Carlson (US, b. 1979)
    Exit, 2019
    screenprint on paper
    McKnight Purchase Fund, 2019
  1. Rosemary Soyini Vinelle Guyton (US, b. 1947)
    Shadows at the Crossroads, 2019
    artist’s book with letterpress on handmade paper
    McKnight Acquisition Fund, 2020
  1. Jay Heikes (US, b. 1975)
    Erin Shirreff is Deputy Dunsmuir, 2005
    charcoal, glitter on photocopy
    Gift of Amy Mestel, New York, 2018
  1. Pao Houa Her (US, b. Laos, 1982)
    Untitled, 2019
    inkjet print mounted to aluminum
    McKnight Acquisition Fund, 2020
  1. Pao Houa Her (US, b. Laos, 1982)
    Untitled, 2019
    inkjet print mounted to aluminum
    McKnight Acquisition Fund, 2020
  1. Pao Houa Her (US, b. Laos, 1982)
    Untitled, 2019
    inkjet print mounted to aluminum
    McKnight Acquisition Fund, 2020
  1.  Pao Houa Her (US, b. Laos, 1982)
    Untitled, 2019
    inkjet print mounted to aluminum
    McKnight Acquisition Fund, 2020
  1. Pao Houa Her (US, b. Laos, 1982)
    Untitled, 2019
    inkjet print mounted to aluminum
    McKnight Acquisition Fund, 2020
  1. Pao Houa Her (US, b. Laos, 1982)
    Untitled, 2019
    inkjet print mounted to aluminum
    McKnight Acquisition Fund, 2020
  1. Pao Houa Her (US, b. Laos, 1982)
    Untitled, 2019
    inkjet print, light box
    McKnight Acquisition Fund, 2020
  1. Seitu Jones (US, b. 1951)
    We Shall Never Stop Planting, 2017
    etched cottonwood and aspen wood, compost, clay, cottonwood seeds, paper
    Acquired through Avant Garden Commission, 2020
  1. Caroline Kent (US, b. 1975)
    Players, Shadows, Figments and Forms, 2018
    screenprint on paper
    Acquired through Avant Garden Commission, 2019
  1. Stuart Klipper (US, b. 1941)
    I35 – Rail Trestle – Minneapolis, 1984
    chromogenic print
    Gift of Lise, Ceil and Zoe Friedman in loving memory of Mildred and Martin Friedman, 2018
  1. Stuart Klipper (US, b. 1941)
    Snake River Gorge, Twin Falls, Idaho, 1990
    inkjet print
    Gift of the artist, in memory of Siah Armajani—to bridge the years, 2020
  1. Chris Larson (US, b. 1966)
    Land Speed Record, 2016
    installation with digital video (color, silent); Super 16mm film (black and white, silent); and sculptural replicas of drink rails and back bench (wood, paint, laminate, metal) from the club 7th St. Entry, Minneapolis; accompanied by audio soundtrack of drum track from Hüsker Dü’s Land Speed Record originally performed by Grant Hart and recorded live with Bob Mould and Greg Norton at 7th St. Entry, August 15, 1981, replicated by Yousif Del Valle and recorded at 7th St. Entry, April 14, 2016
    Butler Family Fund, 2018
  1. Teo Nguyen (US, b. Vietnam, 1977)
    Untitled 46, 2019
    acrylic on vellum mounted on aluminum
    Gift of the artist and Burnet Fine Art & Advisory, Wayzata, MN
  1. Stuart Nielsen (US, b. 1947)
    Birthing Yantra, 1974
    paint, ink, plaster on wood, fiberglass.
    Gift of Lise, Ceil and Zoe Friedman in loving memory of Mildred and Martin Friedman, 2018
  1. Rowan Pope (US, b. 1980)
    The Liberation of Buchenwald, 2017–2019
    graphite on paper
    Gift of Miriam and Erwin Kelen, 2019
  1. Rowan Pope (US, b. 1980)
    Study for The Liberation of Buchenwald, 2013–2014
    digital photo-collage on paper
    Gift of Miriam and Erwin Kelen, 2019
  1. Rowan Pope (US, b. 1980)
    Portrait of Skidmore Thorpe, 2008/2019
    graphite on paper
    Gift of Miriam and Erwin Kelen, 2019
  1. Rowan Pope (US, b. 1980)
    The Trial, 2009–2010
    graphite on paper
    Gift of Miriam and Erwin Kelen, 2019
  1. Aaron Spangler (US, b. 1971)
    Sixteen Tons, 2002
    carved maple, praphite
    Gift of Pam and Arnold Lehman, in honor of Mary Ceruti, 2019
  1. Dyani White Hawk (Sičangu Lakota, b. 1976)
    Wówahokuŋkiya | Lead from the Takes Care of Them suite, 2019
    screenprint, gold foil on paper
    Gift of Jody and Mike Wahlig, 2020
  1. Dyani White Hawk (Sičangu Lakota, b. 1976)
    Wókaǧe | Create from the Takes Care of Them suite, 2019
    screenprint, copper foil on paper
    Gift of Jody and Mike Wahlig, 2020
  1. Dyani White Hawk (Sičangu Lakota, b. 1976)
    Nakíčižiŋ | Protect from the Takes Care of Them suite, 2019
    screenprint, bronze foil on paper
    Gift of Jody and Mike Wahlig, 2020
  1. Dyani White Hawk (Sičangu Lakota, b. 1976)
    Wačháŋtognaka | Nurture from the Takes Care of Them suite, 2019
    screenprint, bronze, silver, and pearl foils on paper
    Gift of Jody and Mike Wahlig, 2020
  1. Dyani White Hawk (Sičangu Lakota, b. 1976)
    Carry II, 2019
    buckskin, synthetic sinew, glass beads, brass sequins, copper vessel, copper ladle
    Gift of Russell Cowles, 2020
  1. Tetsuya Yamada (US, b. Japan, 1968)
    Everyday City, 2006
    ceramics, plywood, sawhorses
    Justin Smith Purchase Fund, 2019
  1. Tetsuya Yamada (US, b. Japan, 1968)
    9435E3628094, 2016
    HD video projection
    Justin Smith Purchase Fund, 2019
  1. Tetsuya Yamada  (US, b. Japan, 1968)
    Knots, 2019
    ceramic, metallic glaze
    Acquired through Avant Garden Commission, 2019
Tetsuya Yamada, Everyday City, 2006  (installation view). Ceramics, plywood, sawhorses. 70 x 288 x 80 in. Justin Smith Purchase Fund, 2019.
 

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