National Museum of the American Indian George Gustav Heye Center
Carl Beam
October 29, 2011 – April 15, 2012
With 41 works, including paintings, ceramics, constructions, and video, this exhibition examines Carl Beam's (Ojibwe, 1943-2005) investigations into the metaphysical aspects of both Western and Native cultures. It opens with the artist’s early works and includes his masterpiece The North American Iceberg. Also included in the exhibition are The Columbus Project, an immense body of work that re-examines European contact; Plant Communication, Margins: Food/Shelter, and The Whale of Our Being, which touch on Beam’s study of people’s relationship with the environment; and Crossroads, a meditation on fame and celebrity. In addition, a selection of Beam’s ceramics is on view.
Organized by the National Gallery of Canada.
Related publication: Carl Beam: The Poetics of Being
