This week, we will be heading up to Reno to catch a preview of a beautiful new show at the Nevada Museum of Art, The Art of Jack Malotte, on view from June 8 to October 20, 2019, in the third-floor Robert Z. Hawkins Gallery. We wanted to show a mini-preview of the show before we share our conversation with the artist next week. On Thursday, June 6th, the museum will have its First Thursday celebration with a special kick-off showing from 5 to 8 pm.
A little background on the exhibition and artist:
Jack Malotte makes artwork that celebrates the landscape of the Great Basin by uniquely focusing on contemporary political issues faced by Native people seeking to protect and preserve access to their lands. Malotte infuses wry humor into his work even as he delves into sometimes serious yet sobering subjects. Malotte's most recent work reconsiders historical narratives and myths of the American West, refers to Western Shoshone and Washoe traditions and legends, and highlights longtime political, environmental, and legal struggles of Native communities.
For many years, Malotte produced graphics and illustrations for the Seventh Generation Fund for Indigenous Peoples, Inc., the Western Shoshone Sacred Lands Association, and the Southwest Network for Environmental and Economic Justice. This work will be on view alongside drawings, sketches, and prints from early in his career. During his exhibition at the Nevada Museum of Art, Malotte will complete an outdoor, public mural on an exterior wall of the building.
Malotte was born in Schurz, Nevada, lived in Lee, Nevada as a young boy, and eventually moved to Reno where he attended local schools including Wooster High School. At the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, California (1971-74), he was influenced by the work of Arthur Okamura, Jack Mendenhall, and Chuck Close. Malotte also worked as a U.S. Forest Service Firefighter. Malotte, who is Western Shoshone and Washoe, currently resides in Duckwater, Nevada, a rural community located in central Nevada. He is an enrolled member of the South Fork Band of the Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone.
