Original painting – Untitled, Modernist Hopi Subjects [SOLD]

This wonderful acrylic painting by Delbridge Honanie is an untitled piece. Flirting with abstract and surrealist styles it is full of images of man, nature and the spirit world. The swirling shapes and colors could be interpreted as flowers and bees or pollen, suggesting mother nature and/or reproduction. The Katsina face and eagle feathers are more representational. All of these are drastically out of proportion with the cliff face they are attached to and positively dwarf the tiny human figure along the bottom. Is this a suggestion of man’s relatively unimportant role in the large scheme of things? We’re sure there are as many interpretations as there are viewers. Feel free to contact the gallery and tell us what you think. This piece is a sure fire conversation starter and would be a standout in any collection.

Delbridge Honanie was born in 1946 in Winslow, Arizona.  He grew up at the Hopi Second Mesa village of Shungopavi.  He went to the Phoenix Indian Day School in the 1960s and then to the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) in Santa Fe.  Honanie was named an Arizona Indian Living Treasure in 2006. Honanie was a founding member of Artist Hopid, a group of five Hopi artists who banded to work to educate the public to the values and identity of the Hopi people through various art media.  Other members of Artist Hopid were Terrance Talaswaima, Milland Lomakema, Michael Kabotie and Neil David, Sr.  In addition to paintings, Honanie also carves Katsina sculptures from cottonwood root.

Condition:  very good condition

Recommended Reading: Hopi Painting: The World of the Hopis by Patricia Janis Broder.  A Brandywine Press Book, NY 1978.

Provenance: from a gentleman in Colorado