Neal Keating, visiting assistant professor of religious studies, is the curator of "Native Perspectives," an exhibition of contemporary Native American / First Nations art that opened on Sept. 22 in the Emerson Gallery at Hamilton, and will run through Dec. 30. The exhibit derives in part from Keating's long-term ethnographic research on contemporary and historical Native American art, which he began in 1997. The exhibit features works by two important artists, George Longfish (Seneca / Tuscarora) and Shelley Niro (Mohawk), both of who have received extensive critical acclaim and international recognition for their art. Niro's works include two series of hand-painted photographs, the first of which is called "A Taste of Heaven" and the second, "This Land is Mime Land." Longfish's works include five paintings, two prints, one photo-montage, and an installation. A catalog of the exhibition that includes an interpretative essay by Keating is also available.
Keating's research combines contemporary fieldwork on and off multiple Native American Territories in the United States and Canada, with historical research in museums, archives, and libraries. His particular focus is on Haudenosaunee (or Iroquois) art, but his questions are global in nature. He is interested in the practice and the politics of visual representation, and the active role of media in constituting social relationships both within and between different groups of people. Keating recently completed a book on the history of Haudenosaunee painting that is currently in production with the University of Oklahoma Press, and scheduled to be published in 2007. The book is titled Pictures and Power: Haudenosaunee and Iroquoian Painting, from the Seventeenth Century into the Twenty-First.
Keating's research combines contemporary fieldwork on and off multiple Native American Territories in the United States and Canada, with historical research in museums, archives, and libraries. His particular focus is on Haudenosaunee (or Iroquois) art, but his questions are global in nature. He is interested in the practice and the politics of visual representation, and the active role of media in constituting social relationships both within and between different groups of people. Keating recently completed a book on the history of Haudenosaunee painting that is currently in production with the University of Oklahoma Press, and scheduled to be published in 2007. The book is titled Pictures and Power: Haudenosaunee and Iroquoian Painting, from the Seventeenth Century into the Twenty-First.
