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Artist/Maker
Hock E Aye Vi Edgar Heap of Birds
(Cheyenne and Arapaho Nation, born 1954)
Date1990
MediumPastel on paper
DimensionsSheet: 22 × 30 in. (55.9 × 76.2 cm)
Frame: 25 1/2 × 33 1/4 × 1 5/8 in. (64.8 × 84.5 × 4.1 cm)
Credit LinePurchase, William G. Roehrick '34 Art Acquisition and Preservation Fund
Object number2020.6.1
On view
DescriptionHock E Aye Vi Edgar Heap of Birds’ Taste and Spit is part of a series of the artist’s “Wall Lyrics” that evoke various elements of Native American oppression by the United States government. Heap of Birds has emphasized that the “Lyrics” are open to interpretation, and that they are “mostly personal reflections in a coded language.” However you may interpret it, the language and scratching lines of Taste and Spit evoke both an emotional and tactile response. This work along with No Zone Today—another drawing in the Wellin’s collection—are representative of Heap of Birds’ oeuvre, as they exemplify the artist’s continued use of language in his conceptual art since the 1970s.
Additional Details
Provenance
2020: Hamilton College (Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art), by purchase from Fort Gansevoort.
Markings
Embossed: "UTRECHT 100% RAG HOLLAND" at lower right.
Signature
Signed "E(h?)" at lower right in pastel.
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