Treasures from Our West: Money by Stan Natchez

Originally featured in Points West magazine in Spring 2012

Money by Stan Natchez

The combination of tradition and modernity; a Los Angeles upbringing and an education in ceremonial heritage; and pop culture imagery overlaid with beadwork provide the foundation for Native American artist Stan Natchez’s complex artwork. Influenced by Pop artist Andy Warhol and performance in Native American dances throughout Europe and the United States, Natchez’s contemporary style of bold color and flattened space portrays traditional subjects in modern life.

His work often focuses on themes related to money. “The dollar bill is a symbol of the world we live in,” explained Natchez. “In the 1700s and 1800s, Indians painted on deerskin, buffalo, or elk hides. And if you wanted something, hides were your money. So the modern day hide is the dollar bill.” In Money, Natchez created a background of mock five dollar bills with a Native American on each bill. The figure posed in front of the money wears traditional Plains Indian regalia, with actual beadwork on the brow band of the feather headdress, the armband, and his pipe bag.

Natchez takes the “best of both worlds,” the modern and the traditional, to find balance in his life and art.

Stan Natchez (b. 1954). Money, ca. 1994. Mixed media. Gift of Janis and Wiley T. Buchanan III. 9.02

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