Hock E Aye Vi Edgar Heap of Birds

Throughout his long career, artist and educator Edgar Heap of Birds has created art that challenge stereotypical perceptions of Indigenous cultures.

By Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University

Hock E Aye Vi Edgar Heap of Birds (Arapaho and Cheyenne)Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University

In the artist’s words: “If I wanted to really communicate a big long diatribe I’d write a paragraph. I write these three-word phrases. I want people to add in their own lives.”

Meet the artist

Throughout his long career, artist and educator Edgar Heap of Birds has created paintings, drawings and installations that challenge stereotypical perceptions of Indigenous cultures.

Edgar Heap of Birds at the Armory Show, New York, September 8, 2022.

Mother Woman Inspire (1990) by Hock E Aye Vi Edgar Heap of BirdsNasher Museum of Art at Duke University

The museum acquired three drawings by Edgar Heap of Birds in 2020.

Indio Face Down (1990) by Hock E Aye Vi Edgar Heap of BirdsNasher Museum of Art at Duke University

The artist incorporates three-word phrases in his “wall lyrics” to convey both dire and hopeful messages about Indigenous identity.

Drop The Spot (1990) by Hock E Aye Vi Edgar Heap of BirdsNasher Museum of Art at Duke University

The artist’s work was also part of “Art for a New Understanding: Native Voices, 1950s to Now,” the first exhibition to chart the development of contemporary Indigenous art in the United States and Canada.

It was on view at the Nasher Museum and organized by Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.

Fifty Shades of White (2018) by Jaune Quick-to-See SmithNasher Museum of Art at Duke University

The works by Edgar Heap of Birds joined other works the Nasher has been collecting by Indigenous artists over the past six years: Jeffrey Gibson (Choctaw and Cherokee), Jaune Quick-to-See Smith (Salish and Kootenai), Wendy Red Star (Apsáalooke/Crow) and Fritz Scholder (Luiseño).

In “Fifty Shades of White,” Jaune Quick-to-See Smith presents a conventional map of the United States in varying shades of white paint.

Instead of labeling each state with its name, the artist inserts the
descriptive names of various white paints carried by hardware store
brands.

In Relation to PowerNasher Museum of Art at Duke University

All five artists’ works were on view in the exhibition “In Relation to Power: Politically Engaged Works from the Collection” (Fall 2021).

Jeffrey Gibson, “I PUT A SPELL ON YOU,” 2015. Video by Dani Yan.

Meryl McMaster, "From a Still Unquiet Place from the series As Immense as the Sky"Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University

The Nasher Museum will present work by several Indigenous artists within the upcoming contemporary exhibition “Spirit in the Land.”

Monique Verdin, "Burial Grounds"Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University

Opening February 16, 2023, the show examines today’s urgent ecological concerns from a cultural perspective, demonstrating how intricately our identities and natural environments are intertwined.

Marie Watt, “Companion Species: Assembly (Guardian Tree)"Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University

Through their work in “Spirit in the Land,” 30 artists show us how rooted in the earth our most cherished cultural traditions are...

...and how our relationship to land and water shapes us as individuals and communities.

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