Turquoise Tortoise Gallery Hosts Two Artists

Medicine Crow By Stan Natchez Showing At Turquoise Tortoise Gallery In Sedona

Sedona, AZ: The Turquoise Tortoise Gallery in Sedona is hosting both Chuck “Winter Heart” Reddick and Stan Natchez for a joint exhibition called “Complex Harmony” for October’s “1st Friday Gallery Tour” reception on November 6. The reception will be held from 5-8 p.m. The exhibition allows visitors the opportunity to marvel at meticulously accurate traditional technique and challenged by provocative Native American insight.

Natchez, a ShoShoni/Paiute of Tatavian descent, earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree before teaching humanities for 10 years at a prep school, then serving as an editor at Native Peoples Magazine. It is by blending both the modern and the traditional in a distinctive Neo-Pop style that has made his unique multimedia paintings so profound.

“Without an awareness of our traditional heritage,” Natchez explains, “we as Native Americans have no identity. By taking the best of both worlds … we are better able to find balance in our lives." His unique and dramatic works may incorporate anything from beadwork to bottle caps and are often overlaid on actual U.S. currency – a representation of ideas that grows ever more compellingly complex.

Reddick, a self-described “mountain man,” not only makes Plains Indian war shirts that are cherished by collectors as unique and stunning wall art, he has also built dance gear for prominent Native American dancers and won numerous awards along the way. His superior attention to detail means fashioning pieces using only traditional techniques and materials, studiously learned on a Lakota Sioux reservation.

Warshirt By Chuck Reddick Showing In Sedona Arizona

Warshirt By Chuck Reddick Showing In Sedona Arizona

Dyes used on his deer hides are from plants and minerals such as the red from prickly pear juice, the yellow from Mormon tea and the purple from sweetgrass. The authentic designs of his war shirts, rifle scabbards and “possible bags” incorporate antique trade beads - roughly 100 beads filling a square inch.

This event is part of Sedona Gallery Association’s “Red Rock Canvas: The Event,” a weekend-long, city-wide arts celebration. Reddick is one of the artists donating works to the silent auction to benefit Camp Soaring Eagle. For further information, visit Turquoise Tortoise Gallery at Sedona’s Hozho Center, or call 928-282-2262, email mail@turqtortsedona.com or visit www.turqtortsedona.com. The gallery is open 10 a.m. – 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. on Sundays.

Article courtesy of Patricia Knight.

Posted October 27, 2009.

Turquoise Tortoise Gallery Hosts Two Artists in Sedona Arizona