K ART's Opening of Two New Exhibits- Brought to Light and Orenda

K Art, 808 Main St., Buffalo, a Native American-owned commercial gallery that solely showcases the artwork of national-level Native contemporary artists, announces the details for its newest exhibitions. Set to open Friday, April 30, 2021, in K Art's 2,000 square-foot gallery space, Brought to Light: The Epidemic of Violence against Indigenous Women addresses devastating statistics of violence. Compared to any other group, Native American women in the United States are more than twice as likely to experience violence; 84% of Native women have experienced violence in their lifetime. In 2016 alone, there were 5,712 known incidences of murdered or missing Native women. Canada has categorized this human rights crisis as genocide and has undergone a national inquiry into murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls.

Brought to Light brings together five Native artists: Natalie Ball; Luzene Hill; Sonya Kellihercombs; Jodi Lynn Maracle; and Julia Rose Sutherland. In different ways, their works address the trauma, violence and loss of identity that result from systemic racism, sexism, and the ingrained history of colonialism in North America. These artists seek to bring an epidemic out of the shadows and into mainstream consciousness; and, in doing so, create new spaces of discourse and understanding about indigeneity.

New works have been created specifically for Brought to Light. Luzene Hill's new site-specific work presents three numbers: 1492, 574, and 6956. The first identifies the year a massive wave of invasions into the Americas began. The second is the number of federally recognized Native nations currently in the United States. The third focuses on the average number of reported Native American women sexually assaulted each year in the United States, based on data over twelve years.

Category: Arts | Visual Arts | Galleries / Art