Anderson Ranch Arts Center celebrates Indigenious artists in new exhibition

Anderson Ranch Arts Center will kickoff its holiday season Thursday with an opening reception for Indigenous artists Terrance Guardipee and Terran Last Gun’s exhibition “Last Eagle / Last Gun: Modern Recordings of Ancient Blackfoot Symbolisms.”

“At Anderson Ranch, we are honored to amplify the Indigenous voices shown in this exhibition, celebrating the vibrant heritage that shapes tradition and innovation in art. The work of these extraordinary artists exemplifies this commitment by weaving together ancient Blackfoot symbolism with fresh, contemporary expressions,” said Andrea Jenkins Wallace, vice president of Artistic Affairs at Anderson Ranch, in a prepared statement.

This exhibition is the first time the father-and-son duo have shown work together. “Last Eagle / Last Gun: Modern Recordings of Ancient Blackfoot Symbolisms” celebrates Piikani (Blackfeet) heritage through the infusion of historical ledger art with a unique paper collage technique utilizing historical documents such as maps, stock records, inventory dockets, and war ration tickets. As a lineage of renowned lodge painters, the Piikani blend antique documents with vibrant colors and striking geometric patterns, illuminating Indigenous narratives and offering fresh, contemporary interpretations of time-honored symbols.

“As a past participant of the Visiting Artist program at the Ranch, Terran Last Gun will be returning to campus with his father to show his work in this exhibition, some of which was created here at the Ranch at this time last year, Jenkins Wallace said. “Through their dynamic blend of historical ledger art and modern collage, these Piikani artists invite us to see Indigenous stories as enduring and evolving, resonating powerfully in today’s artistic landscape.” 

For Terran Last Gun, growing up with his father Terrance Guardipee, an internationally acclaimed Blackfeet painter and ledger artist, influenced his creative trajectory. Guardipee was one of the first Native artists to revive the historical ledger art tradition, and the first ledger artist to transform the style from the single-page custom into his signature map collage concept. The map collage concept is based on the ledger art style, but in addition to single-page ledgers, he incorporates various antique documents such as maps, war rations, and checks. In all his artwork, Guardipee uses antique documents dating from the mid-19th century typically originating from the historical and present Blackfeet homeland of Montana. 

“My father has been an artist his whole life. And so growing up, I saw he was working with these old antique documents and records and focused a lot on our cultural and oral history. And there was a lot of spiritual elements to it,” Last Gun said. “He was focused a lot on representational and figurative work, but there were a lot of geometric symbols in there too, and I was always curious as to where he was getting those.”

Last Gun said he began to research the geometric symbols depicted in his father’s work, which led him to the way the Blackfeet Nation, which belongs to the Blackfoot Confederacy, which includes three First Nations in Canada. This is why they have a common way of painting their lodges.

“Most of them (lodges) can be looked at in three tiers. The bottom is the land, the middle is the helper, some sort of animal, bird, weather elements, or different beings. And then the top is the cosmos. And so I realized that’s where he was getting some of those geometric symbols from,” he explained.

His work focuses on color and shape exploration, and the visual documentation of nature, cosmos,  narratives, and recollections. Often employing geometric aesthetics, he contributes to an ancient yet continuum of Indigenous North American narrative through various media,  including ledger drawing, printmaking, painting, and photography. 

“I really like the idea of pursuing or looking at art in a manner of having more purpose, not so much in the Western sense, but in the Piikani, indigenous sense,” he said. “For us, those painted lodges had to be transferred, they’re very ceremonial. There was this deeper meaning and purpose involved. As an artist, I think of art from that lens, of it being alive in a sense.”

The Patton-Malott Gallery is located on the Anderson Ranch campus. The gallery reception will be from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 12, during the Anderson Ranch Holiday Open House.The artists will be present and will give a small presentation in the Gallery at 5:30 p.m. Free and open to the public, registration is appreciated.

Sarah Girgis is the Publisher for The Aspen Times. She can be reached at 970-429-9151 or sgirgis@aspentimes.com.