First American Art Magazine No. 9, Winter 2015/16 | Page 12

Editor’s Greetings
I have seen among the curiosities they have brought to the King from the new land of gold, a sun of gold of the size of a fathom, and a moon of
silver of the same size. I have admired two chambers full of all kinds of curious things from the same land; arms, harness, engines of war, vests
the most astonishing. I remark that nearly all these things are richer and more beautiful than the same kind of things to be seen at home. They
are, it is said, worth a hundred thousand florins. I own that never any sight has excited and gratified me so much as these extraordinary products
of that distant country. They show art-work of a subtilty [sic] and ingenia altogether new in its shape.1
—Albrecht Dürer
August 27, 1520

T

HE HUNGARIAN-GERMAN ARTIST
Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528) penned these words
after he witnessed the tribute that Nahua leader
Motecuhzoma Xocoyotzin of Tenochtitlan
presented to the invader Hernán Cortés. Dürer, considered
by some to be the greatest draftsman of the Northern
Renaissance, stood in awe of Mesoamerican artistry.
Unfortunately, not everyone possessed the artist’s eye, and
the items were destroyed—the silver and gold items melted
down for their metals.
Developing an eye for art takes skill. Fully
experiencing art takes time and dedication. Dürer, trained
by his art practice to be a keen, open-minded observer, could
appreciate the sophistication of the Mesoamerican artworks
he beheld, when so many other Europeans could not. The
power of art enabled him to span vast cultural differences.
Research shows that curiosity increases with
knowledge.2 Having some knowledge about Native art
whets the appetite for more. Knowledge about different
cultures expands our ability to bridge cultural gaps.
The articles and information in this magazine provide
pieces of a complex puzzle that I don’t believe any of us fully
comprehend. As I compiled our first print calendar of events
(pages 92–94), I kept envisioning a beating heart. The shows,
fairs, and other art events are all part of the organ that drives
the lifeblood of the Indigenous American art world.
Providing fascinating clues to this intricate whole,
First American Art Magazine writers share diverse aspects of
our art world. Matthew Ryan Smith explores perspectives
shared by First Nations and Native American street artists
with those of South Africa and Australia, while Peter Szok
looks at street artists and collectives in Panama. Cathy Short
examines an other-than-human collaborator in textile art:
the Navajo-Churro sheep and its central role in Navajo
weaving. I look at Native artists who draw inspiration
from Renaissance Old Masters, including Dürer, to paint
naturalistic portraits.
Our profiled artists are carefully selected to include
diverse voices within the Native art world. Joan Hill has
always lived on the Muscogee Creek Nation, but her artistic
outlook was expanded by early museum trips and art

reproductions. George Neptune, who grew up on his home
reservation, draws inspiration from Spanish surrealists in
creating his sculptural ash basket designs. Diego Romero
uses styles of classical Greek ceramics to tell the stories of the
Spanish invasion of his Pueblo homelands. Wendy Ponca’s
ambitions of cross-cultural communication extend beyond
this planet.
Art is the window that allows us to begin to see each
other, across our very real and valid cultural differences, and
it sparks our curiosity to keep looking further.
—America Meredith

America Meredith (Cherokee Nation), ᎫᏇ ᎠᎾᏄᏣ (Guque Atanutsa),
2011, quail egg tempera on true gesso panel, 7 x 5 in.

1. William Bell Scott, Albrecht Dürer: His Life and Works (London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1869), 125.
2. George Loewenstein, “The Psychology of Curiosity: A Review and Reinterpretation,” Psychological Bulletin 116, no. 1 (1994): 87–89.

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