Truman Lowe
Encyclopedia
Truman Lowe is a Ho-Chunk
sculptor and installation art
ist living in Wisconsin
. A professor of fine art at the University of Wisconsin, Lowe is the former curator of contemporary art at the National Museum of the American Indian
. He is known for large site-specific installation pieces utilizing natural materials.
on the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin reservation to Mabel Davis and Martin Lowe. The youngest of six siblings, Truman was thirteen years younger than his sister, Irene. Mabel worked a variety of positions as a cook at the local Mission School and as a laundress. When at home in Black River Falls, Martin was a farmer as well as traveling as a seasonal worker, picking blueberries and cranberries throughout the state. Surrounded often by close family, Winnebago
was the language spoken at home. As a child Lowe attended school at the Black River Indian Mission until grade 6, switching in 1957 to the non-Native school in Black River Falls proper.
Starting in 1960 he worked during the summer at the Wisconsin Dells
, "playing Indian" amongst other Native performers during an evening performance for tourists. Other summers he worked for the Dells Chamber of Commerce, dressing up in an "Indian costume" to greet tourists as they walked the streets, and serving as a tour guide on the Dell's excursion boats, again in "costume." Lowe's experience as a "stereotype" tour guide would later influence aspects of his work.
in the early 1960s, he applied and was accepted by the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse
. After switching majors, he settled on art education
, studied all aspects of fine art mediums. Mid-way through his college experience he left in 1964 to work in a factory assembly line. In 1966 he married Nancy Knabe who he met when working in the Dells. A non-Native, of Norwegian
descent, they were married at her family's church, Lyster Lutheran in Church Valley, Wisconsin. After their marriage, Nancy taught high school Home Ec while Lowe finished his undergrad.
Upon graduation, the couple moved to Valders, Wisconsin
where while creating artwork on his spare time, he taught elementary and secondary art classes. After teaching for two years, Lowe was accepted to the University of Wisconsin-Madison for fine arts, sponsored by a Ford Foundation
fellowship. That same year, 1970, his daughter Tonia was born.
Lowe on his reasons for returning to obtain his Masters:
where Truman was a visiting art lecturer at Emporia State University
, teaching only for about two years before returning to Madison, serving as assistant dean of Multicultural Programming at University of Wisconsin. In 1975, the family gives birth to their second child, son Martin, and that same year Lowe was given a joint appointment at Madison in the Native American studies
program, as well as assistant professor of sculpture
, which he retained until 1988.
While exhibiting and working on his art work, Lowe becomes tenured at University of Wisconsin-Madison, also being promoted to associate professor of art in 1984. After being promoted to professor of art in 1989, Lowe was elected as chair of the art department from 1992–1995.
In 2000 Lowe was appointed the curator of contemporary art for the National Museum of the American Indian
. Taking a leave of absence from the university, Lowe curated the inaugural exhibition featuring artists George Morrison
(Ojibwe) and Allan Houser
(Chiricahua
), remaining as curator until 2008.
and Vaseline
. Disappointed with this process, he explored nature by creating drawings of "how snow sits on trees," and taking his study hall time in the high school art room.
While growing up, his family created "craft" objects, which provided minor supplemental income to the family. His mother made split-ash baskets
while his father made the wood
en handles for the baskets, and both of his parents created beadwork. Even the children learned the skills to create these family works, Lowe learning beadwork by kerosene lamp in the evening as a young man. These Lowe family creations were made for the tourist trade, delivering the freshly made creations by station wagon to the Wisconsin Dells, providing an offset from the seasonal farming positions the family participated in. During the summer, when the family was involved in seasonal work, they sold their crafts from a roadside stand they traveled with.
Like many other Native artists Lowe was instilled with a degree of comfort regarding the creative practice of creation within the household. He wasn't aware of the Western idea of making a living full-time by art until he attended university. At university he fully delved into the concepts and creations revolving within Western art history
; a social prestige regarding artistic creation, unlike his parents who would be considered "craftspeople."
Lowe's first artist interest was Michelangelo
of whom he spoke:
are seen in paintings like Suzy (1968) and color theory
works such as Yellow Over Green and Yellow Over Red (1969), the latter two which have since been destroyed. Working in clay
, Lowe created egg shaped sculptures that sat on coiled stands, Collection of Eggs and Unmatched Halves (c. 1968), giving a fantasy yet comic feel to his early experiments in art.
Sculpture classes taught him about the power of the line
in artworks and its placement in nature. Lowe studied the works of Brancusi, where he familiarized himself with geometry in sculpture, and Henry Moore
's works regarding scale in sculpture. And with the popularity of plastic
in the 1960s Lowe expanded his mediums to complete 3-D works including a life-size toaster of sheet plastic made from a sandwich sealer, complete with pieces of toast in the slot, recalling the soft sculpture works of Claes Oldenburg
at the time. His first undergraduate installation Laundry Bags (1969), showing a pile of clear plastic trash bags filled with colored rags piled in the corner of an exhibition space. This large scale installation work would be a hallmark for Lowe's work in the future and throughout his career.
Continuing to experiment with plastics, "I looked at all kinds of plastic: clear, different thickness, some milky. I also liked it because it was so big, so flexible, so easy to store, and so cheap." Experimenting with layering Lowe used plastic as his canvas, drawing with black and color markers to create a transparent yet uniformed design upon the plastic. His simple minimalistic works represented the concepts of transparency
, pictorial depth, surface and illusion, reminiscent of works by Dorothea Rockburne
.
His M.F.A. exhibition in spring of 1973 showcased these experimental installations. Long plastic sheets cut into fringe draped around or sandwiched between sheets of Plexiglass which hung from the ceiling with raw fluorescent light behind the plastic. Influenced by Larry Bell
's work to create a space where the work was indistinguishable from its surroundings, Lowe states about the exhibition:
Upon meeting George Morrison Lowe found a role model. Morrison's Midwestern heritage and ability to blend in and out of Native and non-Native art communities provided a unique opportunity to explore involvement and separate from and within Native art worlds.
During his return to obtain his Masters, the University of Wisconsin-Madison was a hotbed of activism regarding the Vietnam War
, while in Indian Country
the Red Power movement
was taking shape. Aware of the energy brewing in Native America Lowe focused on school:
Despite lack of time to focus on protesting and involvement in political movements, Lowe made a six hour trip to hear Native activist and writer Vine Deloria, Jr.
speak. Speaking about the need for Native peoples to take advantage of educational and economic opportunities in order to wide Native opportunities, Lowe chose to make that his mantra for his life choices and career.
This move towards natural materials coincided with the popularity of the back-to-the-land movement. Lowe discovered the Foxfire
books as popular culture discovered the concept of the "ecological Indian".
At the premier of Red Banks Lowe embraced the importance of the artist as a storyteller and archivist of culture:
Other stories told through Lowe's work include the smallpox
epidemic on the Black River Falls Indian Mission in 1901 (Wooden Pole Construction, 1983), serving as what has been described a "contemporary version of the mnemonic device," an idea that flows throughout his entire catalog of work. Personal stories are also reflected on through works like Feather Tree (1990), which honors his grandmother and the land she lived in. Lowe's work has also flowed into two dimensional drawings, where he has chosen to honor his mother's legacy.
Primitive housing and structures served as a way for Lowe to reflect on the disappearance of cultures in time, memory and history by way of an aesthetic. Their naked and simple yet complexly built designs reflect a "ghost like" presence of the past. In 1986 Lowe reflected on his sculpture work: "My real interest is structures, the sculptural aspect of primitive structures...what intrigues me is that something is very primitive yet at the same time, very universal."
Small and large installations began to emerge in Lowe's work depicting higher conceptions influenced by his son's interest in astronomy
. Works such as the Solstice series and Skychart series depict abstract astrological charts and images inspired by the exploration of peoples to new areas and regions with guidance from the sky.
, examined anthropological
theories about human migration and early North American settlement, inspired by ancient burial sites and death rites. Further examinations of his work reveal the ideas of blending cultures, rituals and migration through time.
In 1993 the second installation was placed at the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art in Indianapolis, Indiana. Lowe's work incorporated images of rock art
, examining once again how cultures migration paths crossed by way of unifying natural artistic venues, with rock art serving as communication devices for cultures worldwide. In this work, Lowe invited the public to assist in the construction of the work to ensure the relevance of the piece.
Both expansive installations include the use of natural materials such as saplings, as well as brown paper, providing a rock like or textured look to selected mediums. However, both pieces were dramatically different, with the Eiteljorg work focusing heavily on murals and wall constructs, and the Atlanta work focusing on an exploratory forest-like environment.
A classic symbol of Native America, the canoe
has become a notable object scene throughout Lowe's work. A canoeist by recreation, Lowe attempts to reach beyond stereotypes and classic imagery by using the iconic canoe in his work. He also embraces his fascination with primitive structures, seeing the canoe both as a shelter and as a vehicle. Many of the canoes appear like wigwam
s; constructed wooden skeletons of various shapes and sizes, with curved aspects. The canoe is also represented mnemonically in selected works by way of highly constructed small sculptures.
The canoes are symbolic of journeys—from birth to death. The canoe's vaginal design and transportation characteristics provide it both male and female aspects in Lowe's eyes, "vehicle and vessel".
In 1992 Lowe was commissioned by the Minnesota Arts Commission for Cloquet Community College. The sculpture sits within a large grouping of pine trees, made of polished stainless steel
it hovers a foot and a half above the ground, intertwining through the trees like a stream. Utilized as a bench, large rocks are also placed underneath from nearby riverbeds to be glimpsed at under thin slits cut into the steel to represent flowing of the water.
Other notable works of the series include Ottawa (1992), which represents the steep slopes where water rapidly flows amongst the three rivers near the National Gallery of Canada
in Ottawa, Canada. Rows of unfinished strips of line "flow" in gradation representing a fast moving stream or roller coaster. An open structure which reflects the relationship between the river and it's surroundings, it's been described as a high modernist work.
Shorelines and streambeds are also found in his sculptures. Water Mound (1994), a massive installation of wood, it represents sandbars that form during the changes of river systems. The river's edge is shown in other large installations such as Maumee Reflection (1987), depicting Lowe's vision of when land meets water at the confluence of three rivers near Fort Wayne, Indiana
, where the work was displayed.
Many of the water related works also depict aspects of basketry, with splints of wood which are usually used to form the shape of the basket. Again, Lowe shows another connection to his family and community creations, inspired by his mother's basketry work.
and Eva Hesse
, grids are used as representations of mapping systems—a way to describe environments and landscapes in a two dimensional way. Native American communities were not traditionally map makers, unlike Europeans and the major land-surveying programs that would invade a young America. An important part of the Manifest Destiny
ideal, the grid was used systematically to distribute equal land to colonists. The grid is also symbolic of archeological digs and is seen in major landscape works by Lowe such as Effigy I (1984).
saplings, often the only material used in installations. Lowe collects the saplings from Wisconsin farms in the summertime, gathering a large amount, peeling off the bark, and sanding the resulting sticks to bring out the white in the sapling. Flexibility and strength is the key with the willow, allowing Lowe to easily bend and manipulate the wood to his needs.
Ho-Chunk
The Ho-Chunk, also known as Winnebago, are a tribe of Native Americans, native to what is now Wisconsin and Illinois. There are two federally recognized Ho-Chunk tribes, the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin and Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska....
sculptor and installation art
Installation art
Installation art describes an artistic genre of three-dimensional works that are often site-specific and designed to transform the perception of a space. Generally, the term is applied to interior spaces, whereas exterior interventions are often called Land art; however, the boundaries between...
ist living in Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
. A professor of fine art at the University of Wisconsin, Lowe is the former curator of contemporary art at the National Museum of the American Indian
National Museum of the American Indian
The National Museum of the American Indian is a museum operated under the auspices of the Smithsonian Institution that is dedicated to the life, languages, literature, history, and arts of the native Americans of the Western Hemisphere...
. He is known for large site-specific installation pieces utilizing natural materials.
Early life
Lowe was born in Black River Falls, WisconsinBlack River Falls, Wisconsin
Black River Falls is a city in Jackson County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 3,622 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Jackson County. The Ho-Chunk Nation has its administrative center in Black River Falls.-History:...
on the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin reservation to Mabel Davis and Martin Lowe. The youngest of six siblings, Truman was thirteen years younger than his sister, Irene. Mabel worked a variety of positions as a cook at the local Mission School and as a laundress. When at home in Black River Falls, Martin was a farmer as well as traveling as a seasonal worker, picking blueberries and cranberries throughout the state. Surrounded often by close family, Winnebago
Winnebago language
The Winnebago language is the language of the Ho-Chunk tribe of Native Americans in the United States. The language is part of the Siouan language family, and is closely related to the languages of the Iowa, Missouri, and Oto...
was the language spoken at home. As a child Lowe attended school at the Black River Indian Mission until grade 6, switching in 1957 to the non-Native school in Black River Falls proper.
Starting in 1960 he worked during the summer at the Wisconsin Dells
Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin
Wisconsin Dells is a city in south-central Wisconsin, with a population of 2,418 as of the 2000 census. It straddles four counties: Adams, Columbia, Juneau, and Sauk. The city takes its name from the dells of the Wisconsin River, a scenic, glacially formed gorge that features striking sandstone...
, "playing Indian" amongst other Native performers during an evening performance for tourists. Other summers he worked for the Dells Chamber of Commerce, dressing up in an "Indian costume" to greet tourists as they walked the streets, and serving as a tour guide on the Dell's excursion boats, again in "costume." Lowe's experience as a "stereotype" tour guide would later influence aspects of his work.
Higher Education
Graduating from New Lisbon High SchoolNew Lisbon High School
New Lisbon High School is part of the School District of New Lisbon and is located in New Lisbon, Juneau County, Wisconsin, United States. The district serves students residing in the City of New Lisbon, Village of Hustler, and the towns of Clearfield, Cutler, Fountain, Germantown, Lisbon,...
in the early 1960s, he applied and was accepted by the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse
The University of Wisconsin–La Crosse is a public university located in La Crosse, Wisconsin, USA...
. After switching majors, he settled on art education
Art education
Art education is the area of learning that is based upon the visual, tangible arts—drawing, painting, sculpture, and design in jewelry, pottery, weaving, fabrics, etc. and design applied to more practical fields such as commercial graphics and home furnishings...
, studied all aspects of fine art mediums. Mid-way through his college experience he left in 1964 to work in a factory assembly line. In 1966 he married Nancy Knabe who he met when working in the Dells. A non-Native, of Norwegian
Norwegians
Norwegians constitute both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway. They share a common culture and speak the Norwegian language. Norwegian people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in United States, Canada and Brazil.-History:Towards the end of the 3rd...
descent, they were married at her family's church, Lyster Lutheran in Church Valley, Wisconsin. After their marriage, Nancy taught high school Home Ec while Lowe finished his undergrad.
Upon graduation, the couple moved to Valders, Wisconsin
Valders, Wisconsin
Valders is a village in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 948 at the 2000 census.-Geology:The village is known within the state for its dolomitic limestone quarry, which produces building rock, harbor rock and gravel . Gray Woodfordian Drift soil is also described as...
where while creating artwork on his spare time, he taught elementary and secondary art classes. After teaching for two years, Lowe was accepted to the University of Wisconsin-Madison for fine arts, sponsored by a Ford Foundation
Ford Foundation
The Ford Foundation is a private foundation incorporated in Michigan and based in New York City created to fund programs that were chartered in 1936 by Edsel Ford and Henry Ford....
fellowship. That same year, 1970, his daughter Tonia was born.
Lowe on his reasons for returning to obtain his Masters:
I knew how to teach, but I wanted access to current information, and as much information as I could get my hands on, in order to be able to better help my students.
Teaching career and National Museum of the American Indian
After graduating in 1973, the Lowe's moved to Emporia, KansasEmporia, Kansas
Emporia is a city in and the county seat of Lyon County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 24,916. Emporia lies between Topeka and Wichita at the intersection of U.S. Route 50 with Interstates 335 and 35 on the Kansas Turnpike...
where Truman was a visiting art lecturer at Emporia State University
Emporia State University
Emporia State University is a university in the city of Emporia in Lyon County, Kansas, just east of the Flint Hills.- History :...
, teaching only for about two years before returning to Madison, serving as assistant dean of Multicultural Programming at University of Wisconsin. In 1975, the family gives birth to their second child, son Martin, and that same year Lowe was given a joint appointment at Madison in the Native American studies
Native American Studies
Native American Studies is an interdisciplinary academic field that examines the history, culture, politics, issues and contemporary experience of Native peoples in North America, or, taking a hemispheric approach, the Americas...
program, as well as assistant professor of sculpture
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
, which he retained until 1988.
While exhibiting and working on his art work, Lowe becomes tenured at University of Wisconsin-Madison, also being promoted to associate professor of art in 1984. After being promoted to professor of art in 1989, Lowe was elected as chair of the art department from 1992–1995.
In 2000 Lowe was appointed the curator of contemporary art for the National Museum of the American Indian
National Museum of the American Indian
The National Museum of the American Indian is a museum operated under the auspices of the Smithsonian Institution that is dedicated to the life, languages, literature, history, and arts of the native Americans of the Western Hemisphere...
. Taking a leave of absence from the university, Lowe curated the inaugural exhibition featuring artists George Morrison
George Morrison (artist)
George Morrison was an American landscape painter and sculptor. His Indian name was Wah Wah Teh Go Nay Ga Bo .-Early life and education:...
(Ojibwe) and Allan Houser
Allan Houser
Allan Capron Houser or Haozous a Chiricahua Apache sculptor from Oklahoma. He was one of the most renowned Native American painters and Modernist sculptors of the 20th century....
(Chiricahua
Chiricahua
Chiricahua are a group of Apache Native Americans who live in the Southwest United States. At the time of European encounter, they were living in 15 million acres of territory in southwestern New Mexico and southeastern Arizona in the United States, and in northern Sonora and Chihuahua in Mexico...
), remaining as curator until 2008.
Family and Winnebago influence
As a child, Lowe would collect rocks along the Black River, scratching the river rocks together to create drawings by using the smaller rocks as pastels upon larger rocks. Eventually Lowe experimented with using rocks as pigment with substances such as motor oilMotor oil
Motor oil or engine oil is an oil used for lubrication of various internal combustion engines. The main function is to lubricate moving parts; it also cleans, inhibits corrosion, improves sealing, and cools the engine by carrying heat away from moving parts.Motor oils are derived from...
and Vaseline
Vaseline
Vaseline is a brand of petroleum jelly based products owned by Anglo-Dutch company Unilever. Products include plain petroleum jelly and a selection of skin creams, soaps, lotions, cleansers, deodorants and personal lubricants....
. Disappointed with this process, he explored nature by creating drawings of "how snow sits on trees," and taking his study hall time in the high school art room.
While growing up, his family created "craft" objects, which provided minor supplemental income to the family. His mother made split-ash baskets
Basket weaving
Basket weaving is the process of weaving unspun vegetable fibres into a basket or other similar form. People and artists who weave baskets are called basketmakers and basket weavers.Basketry is made from a variety of fibrous or pliable materials•anything that will bend and form a shape...
while his father made the wood
Wood
Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression...
en handles for the baskets, and both of his parents created beadwork. Even the children learned the skills to create these family works, Lowe learning beadwork by kerosene lamp in the evening as a young man. These Lowe family creations were made for the tourist trade, delivering the freshly made creations by station wagon to the Wisconsin Dells, providing an offset from the seasonal farming positions the family participated in. During the summer, when the family was involved in seasonal work, they sold their crafts from a roadside stand they traveled with.
Like many other Native artists Lowe was instilled with a degree of comfort regarding the creative practice of creation within the household. He wasn't aware of the Western idea of making a living full-time by art until he attended university. At university he fully delved into the concepts and creations revolving within Western art history
Western art history
Western art is the art of the North American and European countries, and art created in the forms accepted by those countries.Written histories of Western art often begin with the art of the Ancient Middle East, Ancient Egypt and the Ancient Aegean civilisations, dating from the 3rd millennium BC...
; a social prestige regarding artistic creation, unlike his parents who would be considered "craftspeople."
Lowe's first artist interest was Michelangelo
Michelangelo
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni , commonly known as Michelangelo, was an Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet, and engineer who exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of Western art...
of whom he spoke:
Although my parents made a partial living weaving baskets, the two concepts of 'profession' and 'art' never came together in my mind until....college...[Then] I read everything I could get my hands on about Michelangelo....He was the first artist I'd met through my studies who went to work everyday and was paid by his patrons [and] employers for making art. Obviously, I learned encyclopedias from the work, but the practical lesson was that art could be a profession as well as a passion.
Early works during college
Lowe's early work was inspired heavily by the education he was receiving. Paintings showing exercises in abstraction and geometric patterns in the style of Frank StellaFrank Stella
Frank Stella is an American painter and printmaker, significant within the art movements of minimalism and post-painterly abstraction.-Biography:...
are seen in paintings like Suzy (1968) and color theory
Color theory
In the visual arts, color theory is a body of practical guidance to color mixing and the visual impacts of specific color combinations. Although color theory principles first appeared in the writings of Leone Battista Alberti and the notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci , a tradition of "colory theory"...
works such as Yellow Over Green and Yellow Over Red (1969), the latter two which have since been destroyed. Working in clay
Clay
Clay is a general term including many combinations of one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Geologic clay deposits are mostly composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure.- Formation :Clay minerals...
, Lowe created egg shaped sculptures that sat on coiled stands, Collection of Eggs and Unmatched Halves (c. 1968), giving a fantasy yet comic feel to his early experiments in art.
Sculpture classes taught him about the power of the line
Line (geometry)
The notion of line or straight line was introduced by the ancient mathematicians to represent straight objects with negligible width and depth. Lines are an idealization of such objects...
in artworks and its placement in nature. Lowe studied the works of Brancusi, where he familiarized himself with geometry in sculpture, and Henry Moore
Henry Moore
Henry Spencer Moore OM CH FBA was an English sculptor and artist. He was best known for his semi-abstract monumental bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art....
's works regarding scale in sculpture. And with the popularity of plastic
Plastic
A plastic material is any of a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic organic solids used in the manufacture of industrial products. Plastics are typically polymers of high molecular mass, and may contain other substances to improve performance and/or reduce production costs...
in the 1960s Lowe expanded his mediums to complete 3-D works including a life-size toaster of sheet plastic made from a sandwich sealer, complete with pieces of toast in the slot, recalling the soft sculpture works of Claes Oldenburg
Claes Oldenburg
Claes Oldenburg is a Swedish sculptor, best known for his public art installations typically featuring very large replicas of everyday objects...
at the time. His first undergraduate installation Laundry Bags (1969), showing a pile of clear plastic trash bags filled with colored rags piled in the corner of an exhibition space. This large scale installation work would be a hallmark for Lowe's work in the future and throughout his career.
Continuing to experiment with plastics, "I looked at all kinds of plastic: clear, different thickness, some milky. I also liked it because it was so big, so flexible, so easy to store, and so cheap." Experimenting with layering Lowe used plastic as his canvas, drawing with black and color markers to create a transparent yet uniformed design upon the plastic. His simple minimalistic works represented the concepts of transparency
Transparency and translucency
In the field of optics, transparency is the physical property of allowing light to pass through a material; translucency only allows light to pass through diffusely. The opposite property is opacity...
, pictorial depth, surface and illusion, reminiscent of works by Dorothea Rockburne
Dorothea Rockburne
Dorothea Rockburne is an abstract painter drawing inspiration primarily from her deep interest in mathematics and astronomy. In 1950 she moved to the United States to attend Black Mountain College, where she studied with mathematician Max Dehn, a lifelong influence on her work...
.
His M.F.A. exhibition in spring of 1973 showcased these experimental installations. Long plastic sheets cut into fringe draped around or sandwiched between sheets of Plexiglass which hung from the ceiling with raw fluorescent light behind the plastic. Influenced by Larry Bell
Larry Bell (artist)
Larry Bell is a contemporary American artist and sculptor. He lives and works in Taos, New Mexico, and maintains a studio in Venice, California. From 1957 to 1959 he studied at the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles as a student of Robert Irwin, Richards Ruben, Robert Chuey, and Emerson Woelfer...
's work to create a space where the work was indistinguishable from its surroundings, Lowe states about the exhibition:
I arranged the pieces haphazardly in that space. I wanted to create an environment where one just moved from piece to piece without having the chance to stand back and think about the piece as a real object. I wanted to eliminate all that.
Upon meeting George Morrison Lowe found a role model. Morrison's Midwestern heritage and ability to blend in and out of Native and non-Native art communities provided a unique opportunity to explore involvement and separate from and within Native art worlds.
Red Power
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
, while in Indian Country
Indian Country
Indian country is a term used to describe the many self-governing Native American communities throughout the United States. This usage is reflected in many places, both legal and colloquial...
the Red Power movement
Red Power movement
The phrase "Red Power", attributed to the author Vine Deloria, Jr., commonly expressed a growing sense of pan-Indian identity in the late 1960s among American Indians in the United States....
was taking shape. Aware of the energy brewing in Native America Lowe focused on school:
I didn't have the luxury - and I consider it a luxury - of being a protester because my focus was concentrated on getting information. I knew I wasn't going to be in that position for very long. I wanted to participate in gathering whatever information I could in the time I had, and I wanted to bring it all together, really to see what would happen. I needed time to work by myself.
Despite lack of time to focus on protesting and involvement in political movements, Lowe made a six hour trip to hear Native activist and writer Vine Deloria, Jr.
Vine Deloria, Jr.
Vine Deloria, Jr. was an American Indian author, theologian, historian, and activist. He was widely known for his book Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto , which helped generate national attention to Native American issues in the same year as the Alcatraz-Red Power Movement...
speak. Speaking about the need for Native peoples to take advantage of educational and economic opportunities in order to wide Native opportunities, Lowe chose to make that his mantra for his life choices and career.
Time in Kansas
Moving to Kansas in 1973 for a teaching position, the Lowe family lived on a farm. During this time Lowe realized "I was really a Woodland Indian," due to the lack of diversity in the landscape - he missed Wisconsin. However, Lowe's time in Kansas would not be without its benefits. Departing from plastics he began to experiment with wood and found natural objects. Creating assemblage pieces, abandoning synthetic materials completely. Living away from Wisconsin allowed Lowe to become aware of his heritage and environment, allowing him to re-embrace the nature of the Upper Midwestern environment and bring his own unique contemporary spin on skills learned within his family - woodworking and basketry.This move towards natural materials coincided with the popularity of the back-to-the-land movement. Lowe discovered the Foxfire
Foxfire (magazine)
The Foxfire magazine began in 1966, written and published as a quarterly American magazine by students at Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School, a private secondary education school located in the U.S. state of Georgia...
books as popular culture discovered the concept of the "ecological Indian".
Return to Wisconsin
Upon returning to Wisconsin and joining faculty at the University, Lowe's work began to become embraced by viewers and critics as contemporary Indian art. Through interviews Lowe connected each work to unique techniques and traditions of Native concepts of craft and fine art. His work in the late 1970s embraced his own "analysis of traditional Indian techniques," depicting war shields heavily decorated with feathers and often simple in their look. Celebrating the Native symbolism behind the feather as a rewarding, powerful object seen within many communities, it became an important part of his works and installations.Storytelling works
Like many contemporary Native American artists, Lowe chooses his medium to explore the stories and experiences of Native peoples, allowing his artwork to serve as a form of cultural survival. The cosmology of the Winnebago people is told through a massive wooden sculpture Red Banks (1991), consisting entirely of wood at 12 × 37 × 8 feet. Red Banks serves as a visual analogy for oral tradition and myth, as well showing the framework upon which survival rests.At the premier of Red Banks Lowe embraced the importance of the artist as a storyteller and archivist of culture:
Since Winnebago history is largely oral, tribal artists have a particularly important role to play in preserving tradition as well as making non-Indians aware of Winnebago culture.
Other stories told through Lowe's work include the smallpox
Smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...
epidemic on the Black River Falls Indian Mission in 1901 (Wooden Pole Construction, 1983), serving as what has been described a "contemporary version of the mnemonic device," an idea that flows throughout his entire catalog of work. Personal stories are also reflected on through works like Feather Tree (1990), which honors his grandmother and the land she lived in. Lowe's work has also flowed into two dimensional drawings, where he has chosen to honor his mother's legacy.
Preserving historical Native aspects
Many of Lowe's works also embrace historically traditional works of Native peoples from the Winnebago, Woodland, and other Native American groups. The Headdress Series formed out of his interest in traditional Plains Indian regalia and a collection of pedestal and large scale sculptures incorporated the architecture of early shelters from the Woodlands communities. Many of his works have also incorporated other traditional Native objects frequently found within museum collections such as the work Cradle Board (1977–78) where Lowe used photographs found in the Wisconsin State Historical Society collections to serve as inspirations and putting his own twist on the concept of a cradle board. Many of the images from the historical society served as inspiration and research for his work, especially with housing and general community living in Winnebago communities and beyond.Primitive housing and structures served as a way for Lowe to reflect on the disappearance of cultures in time, memory and history by way of an aesthetic. Their naked and simple yet complexly built designs reflect a "ghost like" presence of the past. In 1986 Lowe reflected on his sculpture work: "My real interest is structures, the sculptural aspect of primitive structures...what intrigues me is that something is very primitive yet at the same time, very universal."
Small and large installations began to emerge in Lowe's work depicting higher conceptions influenced by his son's interest in astronomy
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
. Works such as the Solstice series and Skychart series depict abstract astrological charts and images inspired by the exploration of peoples to new areas and regions with guidance from the sky.
Red Ochre Series
In 1991 Lowe launched the first of site specific installations in a series called Red Ochre. The first of the series, shown in Atlanta, GeorgiaAtlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
, examined anthropological
Anthropology
Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...
theories about human migration and early North American settlement, inspired by ancient burial sites and death rites. Further examinations of his work reveal the ideas of blending cultures, rituals and migration through time.
In 1993 the second installation was placed at the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art in Indianapolis, Indiana. Lowe's work incorporated images of rock art
Rock art
Rock art is a term used in archaeology for any human-made markings made on natural stone. They can be divided into:*Petroglyphs - carvings into stone surfaces*Pictographs - rock and cave paintings...
, examining once again how cultures migration paths crossed by way of unifying natural artistic venues, with rock art serving as communication devices for cultures worldwide. In this work, Lowe invited the public to assist in the construction of the work to ensure the relevance of the piece.
Both expansive installations include the use of natural materials such as saplings, as well as brown paper, providing a rock like or textured look to selected mediums. However, both pieces were dramatically different, with the Eiteljorg work focusing heavily on murals and wall constructs, and the Atlanta work focusing on an exploratory forest-like environment.
Canoes
If I have a religion, it must be canoeing...I canoe wherever there's water. It puts me in a totally different state of mind and provides all I need to exist. - Truman Lowe
A classic symbol of Native America, the canoe
Canoe
A canoe or Canadian canoe is a small narrow boat, typically human-powered, though it may also be powered by sails or small electric or gas motors. Canoes are usually pointed at both bow and stern and are normally open on top, but can be decked over A canoe (North American English) or Canadian...
has become a notable object scene throughout Lowe's work. A canoeist by recreation, Lowe attempts to reach beyond stereotypes and classic imagery by using the iconic canoe in his work. He also embraces his fascination with primitive structures, seeing the canoe both as a shelter and as a vehicle. Many of the canoes appear like wigwam
Wigwam
A wigwam or wickiup is a domed room dwelling used by certain Native American tribes. The term wickiup is generally used to label these kinds of dwellings in American Southwest and West. Wigwam is usually applied to these structures in the American Northeast...
s; constructed wooden skeletons of various shapes and sizes, with curved aspects. The canoe is also represented mnemonically in selected works by way of highly constructed small sculptures.
The canoes are symbolic of journeys—from birth to death. The canoe's vaginal design and transportation characteristics provide it both male and female aspects in Lowe's eyes, "vehicle and vessel".
Water
Water is seen throughout many of Lowe's works, including the canoes. Again, Lowe works in large scale installations and smaller sculptures. In the Water Spirits, series, Lowe states "the Water Spirits pieces are really an effort to show some respect for natural forces as well as what we would call spiritual forces. Wood and debris combine to reflect seasonal changes, the fragility of these natural environments and the importance of the flow of water.In 1992 Lowe was commissioned by the Minnesota Arts Commission for Cloquet Community College. The sculpture sits within a large grouping of pine trees, made of polished stainless steel
Stainless steel
In metallurgy, stainless steel, also known as inox steel or inox from French "inoxydable", is defined as a steel alloy with a minimum of 10.5 or 11% chromium content by mass....
it hovers a foot and a half above the ground, intertwining through the trees like a stream. Utilized as a bench, large rocks are also placed underneath from nearby riverbeds to be glimpsed at under thin slits cut into the steel to represent flowing of the water.
Other notable works of the series include Ottawa (1992), which represents the steep slopes where water rapidly flows amongst the three rivers near the National Gallery of Canada
National Gallery of Canada
The National Gallery of Canada , located in the capital city Ottawa, Ontario, is one of Canada's premier art galleries.The Gallery is now housed in a glass and granite building on Sussex Drive with a notable view of the Canadian Parliament buildings on Parliament Hill. The acclaimed structure was...
in Ottawa, Canada. Rows of unfinished strips of line "flow" in gradation representing a fast moving stream or roller coaster. An open structure which reflects the relationship between the river and it's surroundings, it's been described as a high modernist work.
Shorelines and streambeds are also found in his sculptures. Water Mound (1994), a massive installation of wood, it represents sandbars that form during the changes of river systems. The river's edge is shown in other large installations such as Maumee Reflection (1987), depicting Lowe's vision of when land meets water at the confluence of three rivers near Fort Wayne, Indiana
Fort Wayne, Indiana
Fort Wayne is a city in the US state of Indiana and the county seat of Allen County. The population was 253,691 at the 2010 Census making it the 74th largest city in the United States and the second largest in Indiana...
, where the work was displayed.
Many of the water related works also depict aspects of basketry, with splints of wood which are usually used to form the shape of the basket. Again, Lowe shows another connection to his family and community creations, inspired by his mother's basketry work.
Grids
In the tradition of modernism, Lowe uses the grid in selected works. Reflective of works by Sol LeWittSol LeWitt
Solomon "Sol" LeWitt was an American artist linked to various movements, including Conceptual art and Minimalism....
and Eva Hesse
Eva Hesse
Eva Hesse , was a German-born American sculptor, known for her pioneering work in materials such as latex, fiberglass, and plastics. -Early life:Hesse was born into a family of observant Jews in Hamburg, Germany...
, grids are used as representations of mapping systems—a way to describe environments and landscapes in a two dimensional way. Native American communities were not traditionally map makers, unlike Europeans and the major land-surveying programs that would invade a young America. An important part of the Manifest Destiny
Manifest Destiny
Manifest Destiny was the 19th century American belief that the United States was destined to expand across the continent. It was used by Democrat-Republicans in the 1840s to justify the war with Mexico; the concept was denounced by Whigs, and fell into disuse after the mid-19th century.Advocates of...
ideal, the grid was used systematically to distribute equal land to colonists. The grid is also symbolic of archeological digs and is seen in major landscape works by Lowe such as Effigy I (1984).
Wood
Many of Lowe's constructions are created from willowWillow
Willows, sallows, and osiers form the genus Salix, around 400 species of deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere...
saplings, often the only material used in installations. Lowe collects the saplings from Wisconsin farms in the summertime, gathering a large amount, peeling off the bark, and sanding the resulting sticks to bring out the white in the sapling. Flexibility and strength is the key with the willow, allowing Lowe to easily bend and manipulate the wood to his needs.
Collections
- Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art, Indianapolis, IN
- Heard MuseumHeard MuseumThe Heard Museum of Native Cultures and Art is a museum located in Phoenix, Arizona, USA. There is also the Heard Museum North Scottsdale branch in Scottsdale and the Heard Museum West branch in Surprise....
, Phoenix, AZ - Indianapolis Art CenterIndianapolis Art CenterThe Indianapolis Art Center is an art center located in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. The Center, founded in 1934 by the Works Project Administration during the Great Depression as the Indianapolis Art League, is located along the White River...
, Indianapolis, IN - Kentucky Museum of Art and CraftKentucky Museum of Art and CraftThe Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft, located in Louisville, Kentucky's "Museum Row" in the West Main District of downtown, is a nonprofit organization founded in 1981 to continue the art and craft heritage of Kentucky through the support and education of craft artists and education of the public...
, Louisville, KY - National Museum of the American Indian, Washington, DC
Major exhibitions
- Upcoming, 2011, Museum of Arts & Design
- Truman Lowe: Limn, 2010, Museum of Wisconsin ArtMuseum of Wisconsin ArtThe Museum of Wisconsin Art is dedicated to showcasing and collecting contemporary and historical art from the state of Wisconsin. Founded by The Pick family of West Bend, Wisconsin in 1961, its initial focus was on the work of Carl von Marr...
- Vantage Point, 2010, National Museum of the American Indian
- Between the Lakes: Artists Respond to Madison, 2006, Madison Museum of Contemporary ArtMadison Museum of Contemporary ArtThe Madison Museum of Contemporary Art — MMoCA, formerly known as the Madison Art Center, is an art museum located in Madison, Wisconsin. A three-story glass facade "icon" on the corner of State and Henry Streets serves as the museum's main staircase, as well as its architectural...
- Honoring Native America, 1998, White HouseWhite HouseThe White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
- Powerful Images: Portrayals of Native America, 1998, National Cowboy & Western Heritage MuseumNational Cowboy & Western Heritage MuseumThe National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum is a museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, with more than 28,000 Western and American Indian art works and artifacts. The facility also has the world's most extensive collection of American rodeo, photographs, barbed wire, saddlery, and early rodeo trophies...
- 8 Native American Artists, 1988, Fort Wayne Museum of ArtFort Wayne Museum of ArtThe Fort Wayne Museum of Art is a Contemporary art museum located in downtown Fort Wayne, Indiana, Allen County, United States, neighboring the Arts United Center...
Awards
- Distinguished Alumni Award, 2008, University of Wisconsin
- Doctoral Fellowship, Ford FoundationFord FoundationThe Ford Foundation is a private foundation incorporated in Michigan and based in New York City created to fund programs that were chartered in 1936 by Edsel Ford and Henry Ford....
- National Endowment for the Arts Individual Fellowship, National Endowment for the ArtsNational Endowment for the ArtsThe National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
- Eiteljorg Fellowship, 1999, Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art
- Wisconsin Visual Art Lifetime Achievement Award, 2007, Wisconsin Arts Board
Further reading
- Allen, Hayward. Truman Lowe: Streams. La Crosse, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, 1991.
- Brody, J.J., Richard Glazer-Danay & Emily Kass. 8 Native American Artists. Fort Wayne, Fort Wayne Museum of Art. 1987.
- Complo-McNutt, Jennifer. Haga (Third Son): An Exhibition of Sculpture, Drawing and Painting by Winnebago Artist Truman Lowe. Indianapolis, Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art., 1993.
- Fleishman, Stephen & Jane Simon. Between the Lakes: Artists Respond to Madison. Madison, WI, Madison Museum of Contemporary Art. ISBN 0913883328
- Rushing, W. Jackson, Critical Issues in Recent Native American Art. Art Journal. College Art Association, Vol. 51, No. 3, 1992.
External links
- Artist Truman Lowe Talks About His Work in Vantage Point from Around the Mall
- Bird Effigy at the White House's sculpture garden during the Clinton Administration
- Eiteljorg Fellowship: Truman Lowe from the Eiteljorg Museum
- Lowe's biography at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
- Museum of Wisconsin Art Recognizes Truman Lowe by Peggy Sue Dunigan, Express Milwaukee
- Vantage Point - Truman Lowe's "Wah-Du-Sheh (Bundle)" a video by the National Museum of American Indian featuring Lowe discussing his work.