Jackson Polys (born 1976 in Ketchikan, Alaska[1]) is a Tlingit Native visual artist and filmmaker whose work is based between Alaska and New York.[2] His work examines the constraints and potential in the desire for Indigenous advancement, while challenging existing gazes onto traditional Native culture.[3][4] Polys is well known for his films, institutional critique, and carved sculptures incorporating materials such as abalone, glass, liquids, resins, silicone, as well as the ready-made.[3]

Early life and education

Polys was born in the Tlingit territory located in the Pacific Northwest of the United States near the border of British Canada.[5] At the early age of three, Polys began carving with his father Nathan Jackson (artist).[3] He was adopted into the Dakl’aweidí Clan of the Jilkáat Kwáan and worked as a visual artist with the names of Stephen Paul Jackson and Stron Softi.[6] During this time Polys began to carve large-scale totemic sculptures.[5]

Polys received his BA in Art History and Visual Arts from Columbia University (2013), and holds an MFA in Visual Arts from Columbia University (2015).[7] He is the recipient of a 2017 Native Arts and Culture Foundation (NACF)[8] Mentor Artist Fellowship, and Advisor to Indigenous New York.[7]

Art

Jackson Polys' artistic practice explores the history, historiography, and contemporary experience of native peoples. Polys practices wood carving from his traditional training with his father Nathan Jackson (artist), integrating research into traditional native-American carving techniques.[3][5] In "Manifest X," a collaboration with Robert Mills, the two artists created sculptures that Tlingit visual traditions while revealing the expansive potential for self expression through these forms. This project, among others, seeks to correct the treatment of native artifacts and objects by institutions such as museums.[9]

Jackson Polys taught at Columbia from 2016 to 2017, and was an advisor to Indigenous New York with the Vera List Center for Art and Politics.[8] Polys received a 2017 Native Arts and Cultures Foundation Mentor Artist Fellowship.[7] He is currently collaborating with the Whitney Museum of American Art to establish a land acknowledgement principle.[10]

In 2022, Sealaska Heritage Institute invited carvers to create kootéeyaa (totem poles) for the Totem Pole Trail in Juneau, Alaska. Polys and his father, Nathan Jackson, will carve two poles.[11]

Polys has also worked under the names Stephen Paul Jackson and Stron Softi.[6]

Selected exhibitions, performances, and screenings

  • Whitney Biennial, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY, 2019.[12]
  • The Crybabies, Alaska State Museum, Juneau, AK, 2019.[13][14]
  • Native Perspectives, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, 2018.[15]
  • Sealaska Heritage Institute, Juneau, AK, 2018.[16]
  • Unholding, Artists Space, New York, NY, 2018.[17][18][19][20]
  • The Violence of a Civilization Without Secrets, Sundance Film Festival, 2018.[21][22]
  • Manifest X, Main Street Gallery, Ketchikan, AK, 2018.[9]
  • The New Order, Whitney Museum of American Art, 2018.[23]
  • My First 3D Part III: The Final Chapter, Microscope Gallery, New York, NY, 2017.[24]

References

  1. ↑ Whitney Biennial 2019. New York: Whitney Museum of American Art. 2019. p. 84.
  2. ↑ "Jackson Polys: Manifest X | Cornell AAP". aap.cornell.edu. Retrieved 2019-03-18.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Soulé, Barbara (2017-04-18). "Jackson Polys". Native Arts and Cultures Foundation. Retrieved 2019-03-18.
  4. ↑ Green, Christopher. "Beyond Inclusion – Art in America". Retrieved 2019-03-27.
  5. 1 2 3 "VA_Jackson Polys '15 in Exhibition Exploring Indigenous Art". Columbia - School of the Arts. Retrieved 2019-03-18.
  6. 1 2 "SHI to unveil pieces chosen for Juried Art Show". www.sealaskaheritage.org. Retrieved 2019-03-18.
  7. 1 2 3 "Jackson Polys". The Center for the Humanities. Retrieved 2019-03-18.
  8. 1 2 "Native Arts and Cultures Foundation". Native Arts and Cultures Foundation. Retrieved 2019-03-18.
  9. 1 2 "Ketchikan Area Arts and Humanities Council : Main Street Gallery : Current Season". www.ketchikanarts.org. Retrieved 2019-03-18.
  10. ↑ "The Artist Activists Decolonizing the Whitney Museum". Paris Review.
  11. ↑ Miller, Raegan (2 September 2022). "Decorated Ketchikan carvers and apprentices work on totem poles to be raised in Juneau". Rainbird Community Radio. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
  12. ↑ "Here's the Artist List for the 2019 Whitney Biennial". ArtNews.
  13. ↑ "New Exhibition Opening at the Alaska State Museum".
  14. ↑ Dudzak, Maria (2019-01-30). "New exhibit features works by Ketchikan artist Donald Varnell". KRBD. Retrieved 2019-03-27.
  15. ↑ "Native Perspectives". www.metmuseum.org. Retrieved 2019-03-26.
  16. ↑ "NEWS_SHI to unveil exquisite bronze house posts at public ceremony | Sealaska Heritage". www.sealaskaheritage.org. Retrieved 2019-03-26.
  17. ↑ "Unholding". Art in America.
  18. ↑ "Jackson Polys (Contemporary Art Daily)". www.contemporaryartdaily.com. Retrieved 2019-03-26.
  19. ↑ "What to See in New York Art Galleries This Week". New York Times.
  20. ↑ "Unholding, An Art Show About America". The New Yorker.
  21. ↑ "8 Indigenous-Made Films Premiering at the Sundance Film Festival – and a 20th Anniversary Screening of 'Smoke Signals'". www.sundance.org. January 10, 2018. Retrieved 2019-03-27.
  22. ↑ "Oneida Indian Nation Joins with Sundance Institute to Bring Native Film Series to Upstate New York on October 13th". Oneida Indian Nation. Retrieved 2019-03-27.
  23. ↑ "Rituals of Liberation Intended to Unsettle at the Whitney Museum". Hyperallergic.
  24. ↑ Microscope Gallery. "My First 3D Part III".
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