Shinnecock Monuments | Another Justice: US is Them
Hank Willis Thomas & For Freedoms

As part of the exhibition, Another Justice: US is Them—Hank Willis Thomas | For Freedoms, on view at the Parrish Art Museum from July 23 to November 6, the Museum has activated the local Shinnecock Monuments throughout July, August, and September with digital billboards by Indigenous artists Jeremy Dennis (Shinnecock), Jeffrey Gibson (Mississippi Choctaw-Cherokee), Koyoltzintli Miranda-Rivadeneira (Ecuadorian, Chi’xi), and Marie Watt (Seneca).

The 62-foot-tall electronic billboards were erected by the Shinnecock along Sunrise Highway in 2019 to generate revenue for the Nation. Presenting the work of these artists on them is an effort to uplift Native voices and to model, on a small scale, the possibility for economic justice through creative investment. The four works on view invite the viewer to consider their own relationship to the land. In general, monuments serve as an extension of public civic spaces, signaling who we celebrate and which histories we collectively value. The activation of the Shinnecock Monuments in the context of this exhibition is an affirmation of these Indigenous voices through artist expression and civic discourse.

 Jeremy Dennis, Jeffrey Gibson, Koyoltzintli Miranda-Rivadeneira, and Marie Watt activate the Shinnecock Monuments. Video by Victor Miranda.

Works on the Shinnecock Monuments by Gibson, Miranda-Rivadeneira, and Watt are part of the recent Landback Public Art Initiative by For Freedoms, who asked over 20 Indigenous artists and allies the question “What does LANDBACK mean to you?”—inspiring reflections on the past and visions for the future. Artist responses, ranging from the literal to the imaginative, imposed this issue of Indigenous stewardship on the very land it addresses. Installed to coincide with Native American Heritage Month, the Landback initiative signified a convergence of Indigenous artists across tribal communities.

On September 30, the Parrish will present a public program with participating artists at the Museum.

Check our Programs or additional information.

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

JEREMY DENNIS is a contemporary fine art photographer and a tribal member of the Shinnecock Indian Nation. In his work, he explores indigenous identity, culture, and assimilation. Dennis received a Dreamstarter Grant from Running Strong for American Indian Youth to pursue On This Site, which uses photography to showcase significant Native American sites on Long Island. His work is in the Parrish Permanent Collection, and he was the 2018 Parrish Road Show artist.

JEFFREY GIBSON is an interdisciplinary artist and a member of the Choctaw and Cherokee nations. His artworks reference various aesthetic and material histories rooted in Indigenous cultures of the Americas, and in modern and contemporary subcultures. In 2019, he was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship. He is a faculty member at Bard College and is based in Hudson, NY.

KOYOLTZINTLI MIRANDA-RIVADENEIRA is an interdisciplinary artist, plant worker and educator living in New York. She grew up in the coast of Ecuador and the Andes, geographies that permeate in her work. She focuses on geopoetics, ancestral technologies, ritual and storytelling through collaborative processes and personal narratives.

MARIE WATT is a citizen of the Seneca Nation with German-Scot ancestry. Her interdisciplinary work draws from history, biography, Iroquois protofeminism, and Indigenous teachings; in it, she explores the intersection of history, community, and storytelling. Through collaborative actions she instigates multigenerational conversations to create a lens for understanding connectedness to place, one another, and the universe.

EXHIBITION SUPPORT

Another Justice: US is Them—Hank Willis Thomas | For Freedoms is organized by Corinne Erni, Senior Curator of ArtsReach and Special Projects, with support from Brianna Hernández, Curatorial Fellow, and is co-curated by Hank Willis Thomas and Carly Fischer.

The exhibition is made possible, in part, thanks to the generous support of Katherine Farley and Jerry Speyer; Alexandra Stanton and Sam Natapoff; Miyoung Lee and Neil Simpkins; Sandy and Stephen Perlbinder; George Wells; Scott and Margot Ziegler; Caroline Hoffman; The Lumpkin-Boccuzzi Family; and Storm Ascher, Superposition Gallery.

We are also grateful to Jack Shainman Gallery, New York; Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, London; and Pace LA for their in-kind support.

The Parrish Art Museum’s programs are made possible, in part, by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, and by the property taxpayers from the Southampton School District and the Tuckahoe Common School District.