© Joseph M. Sánchez

Joseph M. Sánchez
Sacred Fire and Water Spirits
Exhibition dates June 7- 28, 2019
Opening and reception, June 7, 5-7PM
 

Historic Santa Fe Foundation (HSFF) is pleased to host Sacred Fire and Water Spirits, an exhibition of Joseph M. Sánchez's paintings, drawings, and scrolls at HSFF’s El Zaguán, 545 Canyon Road, from June 7 - 28, 2019 with the opening on Friday, June 7 from 5-7pm at HSFF's El Zaguán.
 

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION:
Sacred fire the power of women, the nurturing power of the earth; water visualized as woman, evaporating to form clouds raining on the earth and nurturing all that lives on our Mother. Fire it's strength and beauty wrapped around the sacred blue of water, spirits of water rising, freeing the electrons to share with us, flowing freely carrying the blessing of life down mountains and valleys and beautiful drops of crystal, like women nurturing new life and hope for our future. These paintings and drawings act as prayers for the future of water on the earth, which is our future.

ABOUT THE ARTIST:
Joseph M. Sánchez is a founding member of the Professional Native Indian Artists Inc. (PNIAI). This legendary group was integral to Indigenous Art being accepted as mainstream artistic cannon, and included Sánchez, Norval Morrisseau, Daphne Odjig, Alex Janvier, Carl Ray, Jackson Beardy and Eddy Cobiness. The group continues to influence generations of Indigenous Artists, important both in Canadian Art History, and in the overall history of Canada and its First Nations.

Through supporting young artists, demanding representation, and fostering youth programs and community building, including his tenure as Chief Curator of the Museum of Contemporary Native Art, Sánchez has remained known for not only his artwork, but also spirituality, mentoring, and his support of tribal people as a whole. In 2006, his work and career was recognized by the Governor of New Mexico when Sánchez received the Allan Houser Memorial Award for Artistic Excellence and Community Involvement and Activism for Native American and Aboriginal Arts.

Still producing work, and exhibiting across the United States and Canada, Joseph M. Sánchez is a community elder, who has maintained his unique role as an instigator on the front lines of the battle for the creation of art and how we define it as culture, his mission for more than 50 years. .

For more information on the exhibition, contact Melanie McWhorter at 505-983-2567 or melanie@historicsantafe.org.