Ric Gendron: Rattlebone

MAM is honored to host Spokane artist Ric Gendron’s exhibition entitled Rattlebone. Gendron, a member of the Arrow Lakes Band of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville, has an expressive style elucidating compositions rooted in his culture’s traditions and the stories of his own experiences. The exhibition has been organized by independent Curator Ben Mitchell, and includes a survey of contemporary paintings by Gendron and is supplemented with historic and contemporary cultural objects from the artist’s family. This contrast of new and old illuminates the foundations of the artist’s own creativity. Gendron draws from his own heritage to perpetuate his own personal and individualistic expressions.

Working as a contemporary painter in Spokane, the exhibition offers a survey of Gendron’s current creativity and is the largest ever assembled of the artist’s work. Viewers will gain a renewed appreciation of the ease with which he combines his own mark making with an expressive narrative style. His imaginative source materials are rooted in the conflicts and challenges of living in different worlds, and the themes of contemporary experiences and Indian identity.

A mid-career, full-color publication accompanies the exhibition and is published by the Missoula Art Museum in association with the University of Washington Press.

In June, the exhibition travels to the Tamástslikt Cultural Institute at the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Reservation near Pendleton, OR; and will then go on to the Museum of Northwest Art in La Conner, WA; the Museum of Contemporary Indian Arts at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, NM; and to the Jundt Art Museum in Spokane, WA. The exhibition is hosted in the Lynda M. Frost Contemporary American Indian Art Gallery, a gallery dedicated to honor the creative cultural contributions of American Indian people to contemporary art, and to ensure that Indian artists will always have a place to celebrate that contribution. The exhibition is also generously supported by the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians, and a number of Spokane-area foundations and patrons.

The Missoula Art Museum exhibit is made possible by Timothy Gordon Art Appraisals and Marshall Delano.