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Woodland
Reflections
The Art of Truman Lowe
Jo Ortel
Foreword by Lucy R. Lippard
"Jo Ortel offers an account and analysis of Truman Lowe's
work, and she uses Lowe as a lens to examine larger issues, ideas,
and theories within the field of contemporary Native American
art."—Jean Robertson, Herron School of Art/IUPUI
Woodland Reflections: The Art of Truman Lowe explores
the art and influences of Truman Lowe, a sculptor whose large
abstract works in wood and metal are inspired by many elements
of Lowe's world, among them river eddies, willows, waterfalls,
bluffs and dunes, and the architecture of the
handmade canoe. An internationally acclaimed artist whose works
are displayed in major museums, Lowe grew up on the banks of
Wisconsin's Black River, where his parents were skilled makers
of splint-plait baskets and other crafts from their Ho-Chunk
tradition.
There are relatively few books on contemporary fine art made
by Native Americans, and many of these reproduce old stereotypes.
This amply illustrated book is a specific and respectful treatment
of a Native artist as an artist. It examines Lowe's work in multiple
contexts, including his personal history and the social, political,
intellectual, and cultural spheres in which he lives and works.
The artist's voice throughout the book is clear and constant:
the text is based on extensive interviews with Truman Lowe and
on the recent history of the Wisconsin Ho-Chunk. Equally important,
the book relates Lowe's art both to mainstream modernist art
theory and to contemporary cultural theories of Native critics
and scholars.
Truman Lowe is a professor in the art department at the
University of Wisconsin–Madison and curator of contemporary
art for the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of the
American Indian, which will open in Washington, D.C. in 2004.
He has exhibited at such venues as the Heard Museum in Phoenix,
the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art in Indianapolis,
the National Gallery of Art in Ottawa, Ontario, and the Wright
Museum of Art at Beloit College in Wisconsin. One of his large
outdoor sculptures was included in an exhibit at the White House
in 1998.
Jo Ortel
is associate professor of art history at Beloit College. Her
articles and reviews have appeared in such publications as New
Art Examiner and SPOT. She is the 2003 recipient of
the James R. Underkofler Award for excellence in undergraduate
teaching.
For more information contact our publicity manager,
phone: (608) 263-0734, email: publicity@uwpress.wisc.edu
Here are some UW–Madison web sites with information
about Truman Lowe.
A faculty web page, including a video:
school
of education uw–madison
An article about Lowe, with a photo of
him and quotes from Ortel.
news@uw–madison
Reviews
"There are relatively few books on contemporary fine art
made by Native Americans, and many of these reproduce old stereotypes.
This amply illustrated book is a specific and respectful treatment
of a Native artist as an artist. It examines Lowe's work in multiple
contexts, including his personal history and social, political,
intellectual, and cultural spheres in which he lives and works.
The artist's voice throughout the book
is clear and constant: the text is based on extensive interviews
with Truman Lowe and on a recent history of the Wisconsin Ho-chunk.
Equally important, the book relates Lowe's art both to mainstream
modernist art theory and to contemporary cultural theories of
Native critics and scholars."—Winds of Change,
Winter 2005
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February 2004
LC: 2003005682 NB
224 pp. 8 1/2 x 11
49 color photos, 48 b/w photos
ISBN 0-299-19310-1 Cloth $60.00 t
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"In a memorable and often-recalled
moment when his grandmother showed him how to garner water from
a birch tree, wood and water came together. They have remained
the touchstones of his life and work. Lowe's transformation of
these two primal materials into graceful and rigorous near-abstract
sculpture is a major achievement in American sculpture."—Lucy
Lippard, from the foreword
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