Rick Bartow: Things You Know But Cannot Explain

Through January 6, 2019

The Autry in Griffith Park

About the Exhibition

Rick Bartow: Things You Know But Cannot Explain represents the artist’s first major retrospective and a contribution to the substantial growing body of scholarship on contemporary Native artists. Bartow (Mad River Band Wiyot) established his art career in the 1980s following service in Vietnam and a period of recovery from PTSD and alcoholism. His work consists of large-scale paintings, drawings, prints, and sculptures that often feature haunting combinations of animal and human forms, and are often both deeply personal and culturally relevant. Divided into thematic sections such as “Self,” “Dialogue,” and “Tradition,” this exhibition speaks directly to the personal and cultural aspects of traditional Native art within Bartow’s oeuvre while demonstrating his close engagement with the work of 20th-century masters, including Francis Bacon, Robert Rauschenberg, and Jean-Michel Basquiat.

Highlights (Click image for details)

Rick Bartow 3 Hawks
Rick Bartow, 3 Hawks, 2006, drypoint, 12 x 10 in., Moon & Dog Press, Tokyo, Japan/ South Beach, OR. Courtesy of the artist and Froelick Gallery, Portland, OR © Rick Bartow
Rick Bartow, Deer Spirit for Frank LaPena, 1999, Acrylic on panel, 24 x 24 in., private collection © Rick Bartow

Rick Bartow, Creation of Crow, 2014, acrylic on canvas, 36 x 48 in. Courtesy of the artist and Froelick Gallery, Portland, OR © Rick Bartow

Rick Bartow, Crow’s Creation V, 1992, pastel, graphite on paper, 40 x 26 in., Private Collection © Rick Bartow
Rick Bartow, From Nothing Coyote Creates Himself
Rick Bartow, From Nothing Coyote Creates Himself, 2004, wood, metal, 41 x 84 x 16 in. Courtesy of the artist and Froelick Gallery, Portland, OR © Rick Bartow

Organized by the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, University of Oregon.

Support for the exhibition is provided by the Ford Family Foundation and the Oregon Community Foundation, Arlene Schnitzer, the Coeta and Donald Barker Changing Exhibitions Endowment, The Harold and Arlene Schnitzer CARE Foundation, a grant from the Oregon Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts (a federal agency), the Ballinger Endowment, Philip and Sandra Piele, and JSMA members.