Wendy Red Star: American Progress presents work by the artist, Wendy Red Star, who was raised on the Apsáalooke (Crow) reservation in Montana. Red Star’s work is informed by her cultural heritage and engagement with many forms of creative expression, including photography, sculpture, video, fiber arts, and performance.
This exhibition, installed throughout the first floor of the museum, explores the ideas of Westward Expansion and Manifest Destiny through the lens of John Gast’s 1872 painting, American Progress. Gast’s painting exemplifies the justification of American settlers driving Indigenous communities off their land during the 19th century.
Red Star addresses the racism, displacement, and culture that expanded our country into the Western United States through original immersive installations created specifically for this exhibition, explorations of our shared histories, and colorful lithographs that present her own genealogy. Much of the artwork in American Progress is created specifically for this exhibition and has never been on view before.
Image caption: Wendy Red Star, Dust, 2021. Three-color lithograph on Somerset Satin soft white, with archival pigment printed chine collé on mulberry paper, ed. 13/25 20.25 x 20 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Sargent’s Daughters. Photo: Nika Blasser
LECTURE VIDEO
The Burt and Deedee McMurtry Lecture: Artist Wendy Red Star in conversation with Karen Biestman
Artist Wendy Red Star will deliver the annual Burt and Deedee McMurtry Lecture, a program of the Anderson Collection, and engage in conversation with Karen Biestman, associate dean and director of the Native American Cultural Center and the dean for community engagement and diversity at Stanford. The lecture and conversation will focus on Red Star’s experience as an Apsáalooke (Crow) artist and her exhibition at the Anderson Collection.
