The
Apache Kid
Retrospective
illuminates shadows and form of Houser at the Heard
by
Chris Moore
What
makes art exciting I believe, is the ability to
experiment. A person's creative ability is challenged
through this searching approach.
Allan Houser, Chiricahua Apache artist, 1914 1994
SCOTTSDALE
– After growing up in an America where his Chiricahua
Apache parents suffered prejudice, discrimination
and even imprisonment in the early part of the 20th
century, Allan Houser spent his life developing
the alchemy he needed to turn that ugliness into
an immense collection of beauty that not only advanced
the shape of sculpture, but challenged the stereotypes
of Native American art.
According
to Trisha Loscher, the exhibition and program director
at Heard Museum North, Houser “stated that it was
a conscious choice not to convey unattractiveness.
It stemmed in part from the artist’s experiences
with prejudice. His powerful creations that have
been exhibited worldwide express innovation, freedom,
contemporary life, traditions, human emotions and
dignity.
“He
did not portray the ugliness or agonies that exist
in the world,” she continues. “The shadows and forms
created in his art emphasized the beauty, strength
and integrity of the human condition.”
That’s
why Loscher has titled Heard North’s new major retrospective
“Allan Houser: Shadows and Form.” Covering 60 years
of work in painting and sculpture of wood, stone
and bronze, the retrospective will show how “he
never stayed within one art form, he was continually
experimenting,” says Loscher, the curator of the
exhibit.
“The
show encompasses Houser’s prolific career from his
early figurative work to the more abstract art that
marked his later career,” says Nicole Haas, Heard’s
marketing communication manager.
The
museum’s tribute to Houser will feature some pieces
which have never been shown before, according to
Loscher. For example, the early painting “Apache
Kid” from the 1940s. There has been some speculation
in the art world that the painting is actually a
self‑portrait of Houser, after an unrelated
historical photograph circa 1900.
Loscher
has included the a copy of the original historical
photograph in the exhibit as an intriguing touchstone.
Furthermore, Loscher points out that when Houser
had his own talk show on radio in Santa Fe in the
40s, his name on the show was “Apache Kid.”
