Corwin Clairmont
Encyclopedia
Corwin "Corky" Clairmont is a printmaker, conceptual
and installation art
ist from the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Nation
. Known for his high concept and politically charged works, Clairmont seeks to explore situations that affect Indian Country
historically and in contemporary times.
on the Salish Kootenai reservation. Creative at a young age, Clairmont was encouraged by his parents to be creative. During the holidays family members gave him paint by number
kits, which he disliked, never completing them. At age 15 he submitted a design for the communities' tribal seal; it was chosen, and is still used to this day.
Attending high school in Polson
he learned about the different elements of fine art, and during his sophomore year he was introduced to using a pallet knife to paint with acrylics
. This was his first experience in fine art painting, paving the path for a future as a professional artist.
, receiving a Masters in Fine Art. His higher educational experiences provided him awareness about the movements of the 20th century international art world. Clairmont was drawn to the work of Joseph Beuys
and John Baldessari
, primarily due to the environmental and nature based influence in their works. After graduation he remained in Los Angeles teaching fine arts and handling programming at Otis Art Institute.
, which at the time, did not have an arts program. He took the lead in creating an arts department. In 1989, he was named Director of Art Programming and Assistant Vice President, positions he still holds today. He designed the college's arts building, "Three Woodcocks", basing the design on a traditional Salish longhouse. He lives in Ronan, Montana
and has served on the Montana Arts Council Board since 2008 and the Ronan Consumer Advisory Committee.
In 1979 he was awarded a National Endowment for the Arts Visual Arts Grant which supported him to travel to seven American cities and publish fragments of the statement "Support Subversive Art in Your Community" in major newspapers. Documenting his conceptual project, Clairmont gathered postcards and photographs from the seven cities, sending copies of these materials, and the newspapers, to the Whitney Museum of American Art
and the Los Angeles County Museum
for display. Completed assemblages would allow viewers to see the statement in its entirety.
With Los Angeles Sidewalk/Survival (1981) Clairmont photographed 12-inch squares of Los Angeles sidewalks. The images depicted the many faces of concrete in the city: grass growing through cracks, pitted concrete, graffiti, contractor stamps. Each photograph had instructions on the back with instructions on how to survive broken bone
s, choking
, nuclear fallout
and other extreme situations. Through this series Clairmont sought to explore "the way differences in how occupants of rural and urban areas interact can create surreal dislocations of imagery and idea."
Clairmont's early pieces reflected many other conceptual works by other artists of the late 1970s and early 1980s, focusing on concerns about nature and the purpose of art. Suffering from feelings of dislocation
after leaving the reservation
, these works allowed Clairmont to convey the emotional impacts of moving from the Big Sky Country to a large metropolis like Los Angeles.
, and became a teacher and administrator at Salish Kootenai College. He delved into historical studies of indigenous peoples and their relationships with early settlers, specifically the Flathead Indian Reservation
and those of his friends off the reservation.
Influenced by his research he created two major works of his career about the Treaty of Hellgate
. The first work is a reprint of the entire treaty printed in small type on a threefold wallet-sized card, which he distributed and displayed. The second work, Skunk Prairie Hellgate Treaty Rocks, featured the treaty text written in a spiral
shape. Recreating the text of the twelve treaty articles in his own intricate handwriting gave Clairmont an even greater sense of connection to the experience of his community.
After completing the handwritten portion of the work, Clairmont cut his copy into 50 5x7 inch mats, with rectangular cutouts in the center of each mat. These cutouts were taken to Skunk Prairie, a traditional hunting and gathering area of the Salish Kootenai people. He distributed the cutouts under rocks, representing the ongoing relationship of humans and the earth, covered in lichen
, photographing them and leaving them as an offering
. The photographs were placed in the rectangular cutouts of the mats, then the mats were placed in clear plastic envelopes and displayed in the form of an "X" the wall, representing the signatures of those who signed the treaty.
in 1492, which led to a series of commentary artworks titled the Submuloc Warrior (Submuloc is Columbus spelled backwards). In this heavily charged series, Clairmont uses irony to confront the cities which have been named as a tribute to the explorer and the celebration of the anniversary of North American European colonization and genocide
.
The Grandfather Rocks series comprised two artworks, one about the murder of Piegan Blackfeet man by the Lewis and Clark Expedition
, and another about the defeat of Chief Joseph
. A series of photographs and text, Clairmont combines the two encouraging viewers to question the historiography
of the topics presented in the works.
This decade also brought the prominence of printmaking into Clairmont's catalog. Heavily layered, his monoprints and prints entail multiple meanings and images, encouraging exploration by the viewer to question the meaning and symbolism within his works. Turtle X's 93 utilized images of turtles, bears, birds, buffalo, trucks, car, bulldozers, chevrons and photographs of Montana landscape and highways. Combined with bold colors and grayscale, he explored trade, transportation, and the dangerous effects that U.S. Route 93
has had on the reservation and its wildlife. Each image, in the series of 10 prints, proceeds to show the onslaught of traffic into the area, until the vehicles outnumber the animals. In response, Clairmont worked with community members and highway officials to secure overpasses over waterways and pond areas, allowing for safe passage of affected animals.
Video clips of bears, mountain lions, deer, and other animals using the Rt. 93 wildlife crossings are available. As of Feb. 28, 2011, the Montana Department of Transportation
reports that "With the majority of the US 93 Evaro-Polson (The Peoples Way) reconstruction work on the Flathead Indian Reservation nearly complete, wildlife, and natural resource managers on the project are now moving into the next phase of assuring the highway is fitting into the landscape and Spirit of Place. The Peoples Way Project set a new standard for mitigating the impacts of roads and traffic on wildlife with wildlife fencing combined with dozens of wildlife underpasses and one wildlife overpass."
In 1993 Clairmont created Paha Sapa, the Lakota
word for the Black Hills
, and the location of Mount Rushmore
. In Paha Sapa Clairmont created life-sized silhouette
s of two families, one Indian and one Euroamerican. The silhouetted family members wear reflective sunglasses, with the Euroamerican sunglasses reflecting the presidential images on Mount Rushmore. In contrast, the Indian family sunglasses show four skulls, making a powerful statement about the history of genocide towards indigenous peoples, and simultaneously raising the question of what this largest of all Presidential memorials is actually showing us—do we see the gigantic faces of greatness, or the immensity of death?
Displayed in a group show at the Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art, Paha Sapa was viewed by the superintendent of Great Falls
schools, who proceeded to cancel all scheduled field trips to the exhibition which celebrated American Indian artists from Montana. The press got wind of the controversy, in which the superintendent defended the decision on grounds of not wanting to expose students to artwork that criticized the government's actions towards Indians. This led to major conversations and dialogue by local and regional residents, who questioned the politically charged artwork and the censorship that took place.
In the early 2000s he decided to revisit Lewis and Clark in the series 10,000 Years Indigenous Indian People, 200 Years Lewis and Clark. Monoprints, the series continues his use of animal imagery such as lizards, turtles, fish, eagles, hawks, bear and horses. Moving through the prints, the animals disappear and reappear, representing the trail taken by Lewis and Clark from Bismarck, North Dakota
to the Pacific Coast
. Retracing the trail, Clairmont shows photographs and segments of a map depicting the journey. Moccasin
prints travel through the works, representing the hard-soled shoes that changed the way of life for Native peoples in the areas explored, shoes that don't feel the ground beneath them, unlike the soft-soled natural moccasins. A serious look at the value of resources, the affected cultures of journey, and the land that was disturbed, Clairmont continued to reflect on the effects of Anglo settling in Indian Country
, not just his own community.
New installation work began to form during this decade as well, including TIME X, using gift shop "artifacts" - trinkets collected from his travels representing "Indians" - in an altar like presentation. Clairmont questions stereotypes, kitsch, and the way that Lewis and Clark's exploration is represented in gift shops and culture in contemporary times.
In 2003 he was rewarded with an Eiteljorg Fellowship for Native American Fine Art. TIME X, 10,000 Years Indigenous Indian People, 200 Years Lewis and Clark, Turtle X's 93 and Split Shield were exhibited in a group show at the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art.
Conceptual art
Conceptual art is art in which the concept or idea involved in the work take precedence over traditional aesthetic and material concerns. Many of the works, sometimes called installations, of the artist Sol LeWitt may be constructed by anyone simply by following a set of written instructions...
and installation art
Installation art
Installation art describes an artistic genre of three-dimensional works that are often site-specific and designed to transform the perception of a space. Generally, the term is applied to interior spaces, whereas exterior interventions are often called Land art; however, the boundaries between...
ist from the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Nation
Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Nation
The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation are the Bitterroot Salish, Kootenai and Pend d'Oreilles Tribes. The Flatheads lived between the Cascade Mountains and Rocky Mountains. The Salish initially lived entirely east of the Continental Divide but established their...
. Known for his high concept and politically charged works, Clairmont seeks to explore situations that affect Indian Country
Indian Country
Indian country is a term used to describe the many self-governing Native American communities throughout the United States. This usage is reflected in many places, both legal and colloquial...
historically and in contemporary times.
I don't put work out that gives solutions but provokes questions. - Corky Clairmont
Early life
Corky Clairmont was born in 1946 at the St. Ignatius MissionSt. Ignatius Mission
The St. Ignatius Mission is a landmark Roman Catholic mission founded at its present location, St. Ignatius, Montana, in 1854 by Father Pierre-Jean De Smet and Father Adrian Hoecken. The current mission church was built between 1891 and 1893, and listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic...
on the Salish Kootenai reservation. Creative at a young age, Clairmont was encouraged by his parents to be creative. During the holidays family members gave him paint by number
Paint by number
Paint by number describes kits having a board on which light blue or grey lines indicate areas to paint, each area having a number and a corresponding numbered paint to use. The kits were invented, developed and marketed in 1950 by Max S...
kits, which he disliked, never completing them. At age 15 he submitted a design for the communities' tribal seal; it was chosen, and is still used to this day.
Attending high school in Polson
Polson, Montana
Polson is a city in Lake County, Montana, United States, on the southern shore of Flathead Lake. It is also on the Flathead Indian Reservation. The population was 4,041 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Lake County...
he learned about the different elements of fine art, and during his sophomore year he was introduced to using a pallet knife to paint with acrylics
Acrylic paint
Acrylic paint is fast drying paint containing pigment suspension in acrylic polymer emulsion. Acrylic paints can be diluted with water, but become water-resistant when dry...
. This was his first experience in fine art painting, paving the path for a future as a professional artist.
Higher education
Obtaining a Bachelors of Art at Montana State University, Clairmont went on to complete a graduate fellowship at San Fernando State University. He finalized his formal education in 1971 at California State University, Los AngelesCalifornia State University, Los Angeles
California State University, Los Angeles is a public comprehensive university, part of the California State University system...
, receiving a Masters in Fine Art. His higher educational experiences provided him awareness about the movements of the 20th century international art world. Clairmont was drawn to the work of Joseph Beuys
Joseph Beuys
Joseph Beuys was a German performance artist, sculptor, installation artist, graphic artist, art theorist and pedagogue of art.His extensive work is grounded in concepts of humanism, social philosophy and anthroposophy; it culminates in his "extended definition of art" and the idea of social...
and John Baldessari
John Baldessari
John Anthony Baldessari is an American conceptual artist known for his work featuring found photography and appropriated images. He lives and works in Santa Monica and Venice, California...
, primarily due to the environmental and nature based influence in their works. After graduation he remained in Los Angeles teaching fine arts and handling programming at Otis Art Institute.
Current activities
In 1984 Clairmont became an administrator at Salish Kootenai CollegeSalish Kootenai College
Salish Kootenai College is a Native American tribal college based in Pablo, Montana which serves the Bitterroot Salish, Kootenai, and Pend d'Oreilles tribes. There are approximately 1,100 students attending the college; enrollment is not limited to Native American students.Prior to 1978, it was a...
, which at the time, did not have an arts program. He took the lead in creating an arts department. In 1989, he was named Director of Art Programming and Assistant Vice President, positions he still holds today. He designed the college's arts building, "Three Woodcocks", basing the design on a traditional Salish longhouse. He lives in Ronan, Montana
Ronan, Montana
Ronan is a city in Lake County, Montana, United States. It lies on the Flathead Indian Reservation about 12 miles south of Flathead Lake in the northwestern part of the state...
and has served on the Montana Arts Council Board since 2008 and the Ronan Consumer Advisory Committee.
Fine art career
Gale Tremblay on Clairmont's work:His work offers a door to revelation and gives indigenous and non-Indian people alike a space to reflect on the dynamics of culture in their lives.
Early work
Clairmont started creating conceptual artworks inspired by the likes of Beuys and Baldessari, often working as an individual or collaborating with other artists, showing primarily in Los Angeles.In 1979 he was awarded a National Endowment for the Arts Visual Arts Grant which supported him to travel to seven American cities and publish fragments of the statement "Support Subversive Art in Your Community" in major newspapers. Documenting his conceptual project, Clairmont gathered postcards and photographs from the seven cities, sending copies of these materials, and the newspapers, to the Whitney Museum of American Art
Whitney Museum of American Art
The Whitney Museum of American Art, often referred to simply as "the Whitney", is an art museum with a focus on 20th- and 21st-century American art. Located at 945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street in New York City, the Whitney's permanent collection contains more than 18,000 works in a wide variety of...
and the Los Angeles County Museum
Los Angeles County Museum
The Los Angeles County Museum may refer to:* Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County* Los Angeles County Museum of Art...
for display. Completed assemblages would allow viewers to see the statement in its entirety.
With Los Angeles Sidewalk/Survival (1981) Clairmont photographed 12-inch squares of Los Angeles sidewalks. The images depicted the many faces of concrete in the city: grass growing through cracks, pitted concrete, graffiti, contractor stamps. Each photograph had instructions on the back with instructions on how to survive broken bone
Bone
Bones are rigid organs that constitute part of the endoskeleton of vertebrates. They support, and protect the various organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells and store minerals. Bone tissue is a type of dense connective tissue...
s, choking
Choking
Choking is the mechanical obstruction of the flow of air from the environment into the lungs. Choking prevents breathing, and can be partial or complete, with partial choking allowing some, although inadequate, flow of air into the lungs. Prolonged or complete choking results in asphyxia which...
, nuclear fallout
Nuclear fallout
Fallout is the residual radioactive material propelled into the upper atmosphere following a nuclear blast, so called because it "falls out" of the sky after the explosion and shock wave have passed. It commonly refers to the radioactive dust and ash created when a nuclear weapon explodes...
and other extreme situations. Through this series Clairmont sought to explore "the way differences in how occupants of rural and urban areas interact can create surreal dislocations of imagery and idea."
Clairmont's early pieces reflected many other conceptual works by other artists of the late 1970s and early 1980s, focusing on concerns about nature and the purpose of art. Suffering from feelings of dislocation
Dislocation
In materials science, a dislocation is a crystallographic defect, or irregularity, within a crystal structure. The presence of dislocations strongly influences many of the properties of materials...
after leaving the reservation
Indian reservation
An American Indian reservation is an area of land managed by a Native American tribe under the United States Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs...
, these works allowed Clairmont to convey the emotional impacts of moving from the Big Sky Country to a large metropolis like Los Angeles.
Return to Montana
In 1984 Clairmont returned to the reservation, where he became active in community life. He served on tribal committees, worked on the Flathead Resources Organization, attended sweat lodgeSweat lodge
The sweat lodge is a ceremonial sauna and is an important event in some North American First Nations or Native American cultures...
, and became a teacher and administrator at Salish Kootenai College. He delved into historical studies of indigenous peoples and their relationships with early settlers, specifically the Flathead Indian Reservation
Flathead Indian Reservation
The Flathead Indian Reservation, located in western Montana on the Flathead River, is home to the Bitterroot Salish, Kootenai, and Pend d'Oreilles Tribes - also known as theConfederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Nation...
and those of his friends off the reservation.
It's work that I feel is educational and is not just for the native community, but is for everyone that might want to get a better understanding of our Indian people. - Corky Clairmont
Influenced by his research he created two major works of his career about the Treaty of Hellgate
Treaty of Hellgate
The Treaty of Hellgate was signed in Hellgate on July 16, 1855 between Indian commissioner Isaac Stevens and the Native American tribes located in western Montana. The treaty was ratified by Congress, signed by President James Buchanan, and proclaimed on April 18, 1859.The tribes involved in the...
. The first work is a reprint of the entire treaty printed in small type on a threefold wallet-sized card, which he distributed and displayed. The second work, Skunk Prairie Hellgate Treaty Rocks, featured the treaty text written in a spiral
Spiral
In mathematics, a spiral is a curve which emanates from a central point, getting progressively farther away as it revolves around the point.-Spiral or helix:...
shape. Recreating the text of the twelve treaty articles in his own intricate handwriting gave Clairmont an even greater sense of connection to the experience of his community.
After completing the handwritten portion of the work, Clairmont cut his copy into 50 5x7 inch mats, with rectangular cutouts in the center of each mat. These cutouts were taken to Skunk Prairie, a traditional hunting and gathering area of the Salish Kootenai people. He distributed the cutouts under rocks, representing the ongoing relationship of humans and the earth, covered in lichen
Lichen
Lichens are composite organisms consisting of a symbiotic organism composed of a fungus with a photosynthetic partner , usually either a green alga or cyanobacterium...
, photographing them and leaving them as an offering
Sacrifice
Sacrifice is the offering of food, objects or the lives of animals or people to God or the gods as an act of propitiation or worship.While sacrifice often implies ritual killing, the term offering can be used for bloodless sacrifices of cereal food or artifacts...
. The photographs were placed in the rectangular cutouts of the mats, then the mats were placed in clear plastic envelopes and displayed in the form of an "X" the wall, representing the signatures of those who signed the treaty.
1990s
The 1990s saw the Quincentennial celebration of the arrival of Christopher ColumbusChristopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus was an explorer, colonizer, and navigator, born in the Republic of Genoa, in northwestern Italy. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean that led to general European awareness of the American continents in the...
in 1492, which led to a series of commentary artworks titled the Submuloc Warrior (Submuloc is Columbus spelled backwards). In this heavily charged series, Clairmont uses irony to confront the cities which have been named as a tribute to the explorer and the celebration of the anniversary of North American European colonization and genocide
Genocide
Genocide is defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group", though what constitutes enough of a "part" to qualify as genocide has been subject to much debate by legal scholars...
.
The Grandfather Rocks series comprised two artworks, one about the murder of Piegan Blackfeet man by the Lewis and Clark Expedition
Lewis and Clark Expedition
The Lewis and Clark Expedition, or ″Corps of Discovery Expedition" was the first transcontinental expedition to the Pacific Coast by the United States. Commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson and led by two Virginia-born veterans of Indian wars in the Ohio Valley, Meriwether Lewis and William...
, and another about the defeat of Chief Joseph
Chief Joseph
Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt, popularly known as Chief Joseph, or Young Joseph was the leader of the Wal-lam-wat-kain band of Nez Perce during General Oliver O. Howard's attempt to forcibly remove his band and the other "non-treaty" Nez Perce to a reservation in Idaho...
. A series of photographs and text, Clairmont combines the two encouraging viewers to question the historiography
Historiography
Historiography refers either to the study of the history and methodology of history as a discipline, or to a body of historical work on a specialized topic...
of the topics presented in the works.
This decade also brought the prominence of printmaking into Clairmont's catalog. Heavily layered, his monoprints and prints entail multiple meanings and images, encouraging exploration by the viewer to question the meaning and symbolism within his works. Turtle X's 93 utilized images of turtles, bears, birds, buffalo, trucks, car, bulldozers, chevrons and photographs of Montana landscape and highways. Combined with bold colors and grayscale, he explored trade, transportation, and the dangerous effects that U.S. Route 93
U.S. Route 93
U.S. Route 93 is a major north–south United States highway in the western United States. The southern terminus is at U.S. Route 60 in Wickenburg, Arizona. The northern terminus is at the Canadian border north of Eureka in Lincoln County, Montana, where the roadway continues into Roosville,...
has had on the reservation and its wildlife. Each image, in the series of 10 prints, proceeds to show the onslaught of traffic into the area, until the vehicles outnumber the animals. In response, Clairmont worked with community members and highway officials to secure overpasses over waterways and pond areas, allowing for safe passage of affected animals.
Video clips of bears, mountain lions, deer, and other animals using the Rt. 93 wildlife crossings are available. As of Feb. 28, 2011, the Montana Department of Transportation
Montana Department of Transportation
The Montana Department of Transportation is a governmental agency in the U.S. state of Montana, responsible for numerous programs related to the construction, maintenance, and monitoring of Montana's transportation infrastructure and operations...
reports that "With the majority of the US 93 Evaro-Polson (The Peoples Way) reconstruction work on the Flathead Indian Reservation nearly complete, wildlife, and natural resource managers on the project are now moving into the next phase of assuring the highway is fitting into the landscape and Spirit of Place. The Peoples Way Project set a new standard for mitigating the impacts of roads and traffic on wildlife with wildlife fencing combined with dozens of wildlife underpasses and one wildlife overpass."
Paha Sapa controversy
Lakota language
Lakota is a Siouan language spoken by the Lakota people of the Sioux tribes. While generally taught and considered by speakers as a separate language, Lakota is mutually understandable with the other two languages , and is considered by most linguists one of the three major varieties of the Sioux...
word for the Black Hills
Black Hills
The Black Hills are a small, isolated mountain range rising from the Great Plains of North America in western South Dakota and extending into Wyoming, USA. Set off from the main body of the Rocky Mountains, the region is something of a geological anomaly—accurately described as an "island of...
, and the location of Mount Rushmore
Mount Rushmore
Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore near Keystone, South Dakota, in the United States...
. In Paha Sapa Clairmont created life-sized silhouette
Silhouette
A silhouette is the image of a person, an object or scene consisting of the outline and a basically featureless interior, with the silhouetted object usually being black. Although the art form has been popular since the mid-18th century, the term “silhouette” was seldom used until the early decades...
s of two families, one Indian and one Euroamerican. The silhouetted family members wear reflective sunglasses, with the Euroamerican sunglasses reflecting the presidential images on Mount Rushmore. In contrast, the Indian family sunglasses show four skulls, making a powerful statement about the history of genocide towards indigenous peoples, and simultaneously raising the question of what this largest of all Presidential memorials is actually showing us—do we see the gigantic faces of greatness, or the immensity of death?
Displayed in a group show at the Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art, Paha Sapa was viewed by the superintendent of Great Falls
Great Falls, Montana
Great Falls is a city in and the county seat of Cascade County, Montana, United States. The population was 58,505 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Great Falls, Montana Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Cascade County...
schools, who proceeded to cancel all scheduled field trips to the exhibition which celebrated American Indian artists from Montana. The press got wind of the controversy, in which the superintendent defended the decision on grounds of not wanting to expose students to artwork that criticized the government's actions towards Indians. This led to major conversations and dialogue by local and regional residents, who questioned the politically charged artwork and the censorship that took place.
2000's
Bismarck, North Dakota
Bismarck is the capital of the U.S. state of North Dakota and the county seat of Burleigh County. It is the second most populous city in North Dakota after Fargo. The city's population was 61,272 at the 2010 census, while its metropolitan population was 108,779...
to the Pacific Coast
Pacific Coast
A country's Pacific coast is the part of its coast bordering the Pacific Ocean.-The Americas:Countries on the western side of the Americas have a Pacific coast as their western border.* Geography of Canada* Geography of Chile* Geography of Colombia...
. Retracing the trail, Clairmont shows photographs and segments of a map depicting the journey. Moccasin
Moccasin
A Moccasin is a form of shoe worn by Native Americans, as well as by hunters, traders, and settlers in the frontier regions of North America.Moccasin may also refer to:* Moccasin , an American Thoroughbred racehorse-Places:...
prints travel through the works, representing the hard-soled shoes that changed the way of life for Native peoples in the areas explored, shoes that don't feel the ground beneath them, unlike the soft-soled natural moccasins. A serious look at the value of resources, the affected cultures of journey, and the land that was disturbed, Clairmont continued to reflect on the effects of Anglo settling in Indian Country
Indian Country
Indian country is a term used to describe the many self-governing Native American communities throughout the United States. This usage is reflected in many places, both legal and colloquial...
, not just his own community.
New installation work began to form during this decade as well, including TIME X, using gift shop "artifacts" - trinkets collected from his travels representing "Indians" - in an altar like presentation. Clairmont questions stereotypes, kitsch, and the way that Lewis and Clark's exploration is represented in gift shops and culture in contemporary times.
In 2003 he was rewarded with an Eiteljorg Fellowship for Native American Fine Art. TIME X, 10,000 Years Indigenous Indian People, 200 Years Lewis and Clark, Turtle X's 93 and Split Shield were exhibited in a group show at the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art.
2010's
In June 2010 Clairmont co-designed the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes veteran memorial with architect Paul Bishop. The memorial, made of granite, forms a large eagle. Each side of the center panel features images of a mounted warrior, one male and one female, on each side, along with buffalos. Images of Salish and Kootenai camps are also depicted, on the wings of the eagle. The panels feature the names of Salish, Pend d'Oreille and Kootenai tribal members who have served throughout the United States military, with room for upwards of 2,600 names, as well as an area for unknown warriors. Seeking inspiration, Clairmont visited with tribal elder veterans for ideas on what the memorial should look like. Upon completing the design, he presented it to community members of various groups for approval. Clairmont on creating the memorial:I felt that the Creator and those we are honoring got to me somehow and influenced the concept I came up with. In reality my inspiration came from many forces. I just put what I see together. Even though this memorial is specific to our tribal veterans I can’t help but believe that it honors all Indian veterans.
Notable works
- Emblem of the American Indian Library AssociationAmerican Indian Library AssociationThe American Indian Library Association is an affiliate of the American Library Association , and is a membership action group that focuses on the library-related needs of American Indians and Alaska Natives...
- Tribal seal of the Salish-Kootenai
- Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes Veterans Memorial, 2010
Exhibitions
- Corwin Clairmont: Welcome to the Rez, 2009, Holter Museum of Art, Helena, MT
- Native Perspectives on the Trail, 2005, Missoula Art Museum, Missoula, MT
- Reflections After Lewis and Clark–Contemporary Native American Art, Montana Museum of Art & Culture, Missoula, MT
- Corwin Clairmont: Halfway Between Here & There, 2001, Missoula Art Museum, Missoula, MT
- Indian Reality Today, 1999, Westfälisches Museum für Naturkunde, Muenster, West Germany
- New Art of the West 5, 1996, Eiteljorg Museum, Indianapolis, IN
- Contemporary Indian Art, 1995, Denver Art MuseumDenver Art MuseumThe Denver Art Museum is an art museum in Denver, Colorado located in Denver's Civic Center.It is known for its collection of American Indian art,and has a comprehensive collection numbering more than 68,000 works from across the world....
, Denver, CO - Treaty Times: Past, Present and Future, Missoula Art Museum, Missoula, MT
Notable collections
- Missoula Art Museum, Missoula, MT
- Montana Museum of Art & Culture, Missoula, MT
- National Museum of the American IndianNational Museum of the American IndianThe National Museum of the American Indian is a museum operated under the auspices of the Smithsonian Institution that is dedicated to the life, languages, literature, history, and arts of the native Americans of the Western Hemisphere...
, Washington, D.C. - Spencer Museum of ArtSpencer Museum of ArtThe Spencer Museum of Art, or SMA, is an art museum on the campus of University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas. While admission is free, donations are accepted. Also located inside the Spencer Museum of Art are the Kress Foundation Department of Art History, and the Murphy Library of Art &...
, Lawrence, KS
Awards
- Montana Governor's Arts Award for Visual Arts, 2008, State of Montana
- Eiteljorg Fellowship, 2003, Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art
- National Endowment for the Arts Visual Arts Grant, 1979, National Endowment for the ArtsNational Endowment for the ArtsThe National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
- Ford Foundation Grant for the Arts, 1971, Ford FoundationFord FoundationThe Ford Foundation is a private foundation incorporated in Michigan and based in New York City created to fund programs that were chartered in 1936 by Edsel Ford and Henry Ford....
- Artist-in-Residence, Rutgers UniversityRutgers UniversityRutgers, The State University of New Jersey , is the largest institution for higher education in New Jersey, United States. It was originally chartered as Queen's College in 1766. It is the eighth-oldest college in the United States and one of the nine Colonial colleges founded before the American...
Further reading
- Arlee, Johnny. Over a Century of Moving to the Drum: Salish Indian Celebrations on the Flathead Reservation. Montana Historical Society Press. 1998. ISBN 0917298578 Features illustrations by Clairmont and other artists.
- McFadden, David Revere & Ellen Napiura Taubman. Changing Hands: Art without Reservation 2: Contemporary Native North American Art from the West, Northwest and Pacific. Museum of Arts & Design, New York. The Studley Press, Dalton. 2005. ISBN 1858941881 Exhibition catalog with essay on Clairmont by Jennifer Complo McNutt.
External links
- 2003 Eiteljorg Fellow from the Eiteljorg Museum, Corwin's bio and selected works.
- Images of service, strength: Indian veterans memorial dedicated in Pablo from the Missoulian, a video documenting the dedication of the veterans memorial.
- Relaying Traditional Culture Through Modern Art from the Flathead Beacon, Clairmont and other contemporary artists teach local students.
- Salish Kootenai College offers degree and certificate in Fine Arts featuring Clairmont's thoughts on his position, programming and students work.