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Target, 1992

Jaune Quick-to-See Smith

East Building, Upper Level — Gallery 407-D

In Target, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith draws attention to mainstream America’s appropriation of Native American culture. Collaged across the surface are a pennant celebrating the 1992 Super Bowl football champions (now the Washington Commanders) and a comic book cover for Son of Tomahawk. This imagery contrasts with newspaper clippings from the Flathead Indian Reservation in Montana, which show a vibrant, living culture.

“I reference Indians being the Target of the corporate world of mascots and consumer goods,” Smith explained. The title also points to the target at the top with an array of darts, which resembles a head and feathered headdress. Smith nods to artist Jasper Johns’s iconic target paintings and Andy Warhol’s use of repeated photographic images to assert her place and that of Indigenous artists in the histories of modern art.

Object Data

Medium

mixed media on canvas

Dimensions

overall (three parts): 340.4 × 106.7 cm (134 × 42 in.)

Credit Line

Purchased with funds from Emily and Mitchell Rales

Accession Number

2020.6.1

Artists / Makers

Jaune Quick-to-See Smith (painter) Citizen of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Nation, born 1940

Image Use

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Detail Information

Inscription

reverse: signed and dated

Provenance

The artist; purchased 7 April 2020 through (Garth Greenan Gallery, New York) by NGA.

Associated Names

Garth Greenan Gallery
Smith, Jaune Quick-to-See

Exhibition History

1992: The Quincentennary Non-Celebration, Steinbaum Krauss Gallery, New York, no catalogue.

2019: Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Art Basel, Garth Greenan Gallery booth, Miami Beach, 2019, no catalogue.

2023: Jaune Quick-to-See Smith: Memory Map, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 2023, pl. 44.

Bibliography

1993: McGreevy, Linda. "Jaune Quick-to-See Smith." Art Papers 17, no. 3 (May-June 1993): 62.

1996: Jersey City Museum. Subversions / Affirmations: Jaune Quick-to-See Smith: A Survey. Exh. cat. Jersey City Museum, Jersey City, NJ, 1996: 67.

1997: Valentino, Erin. "Coyote's Ransom: Jaune quick-to-see Smith and the language of appropriation." Third Text 11, no. 38 (Spring 1997): 29, 30, repro.

2020: Condill, Shana. "Denadagohvgee (I Will See You Again)." National Gallery of Art Blog Published June 25, 2020, Accessed July 20, 2023, URL https://www.nga.gov/blog/denadagohvgee-will-see-you-again.html : repro.

2020: Roberts, Kathaleen. "National Gallery of Art Acquires Painting by Corrales Native American." Albuquerque Journal Published July 1, 2020, Accessed July 20, 2023, URL: https://www.abqjournal.com/1471633/corrales-artist-is-first-native-american-painter-on-canvas-in-the-national-gallery-of-art.html : repro.

2020: Valentine, Victoria L. "National Gallery of Art's First Painting by a Native American Artist Speaks to Race, Rage, and Problematic Name of Local NFL Team." Culture Type Online blog post, Published July 15, 2020, Accessed July 20, 2023. URL: https://www.culturetype.com/2020/07/15/national-gallery-of-arts-first-painting-by-a-native-american-artist-speaks-to-race-rage-and-problematic-name-of-local-nfl-team/ : repro.

2023: Reilly, Samuel. "American All-Star." Apollo 197 (May 2023): 64, 65, fig. 2.