I Stand in the Center of the Good: Interviews with Contemporary Native American Artists [Hardcover]

Lawrence Abbott's I Stand in the Center of the Good is described on the book flyleaf as a forum of interviews that aims to address "what is Indian art?" Through the words of American Indian artists who challenge the public's conceptions of contemporary Native American art, Abbott's interviews attempt to cover several topics -- with mixed results. This collection of brief interviews dates from 1991-1992 when most of the artists were preparing works for Quincentennary exhibitions. Abbott has included interviews with seventeen personalities who have established themselves over the last twenty-five to thirty years as primary forces in the Native art scene; but except for Canadian-born George Longfish, the omission of Canada's First Nations artists is a serious problem to any book that purports to address contemporary Indian arts. Most members of this group have served as spokespersons for thematic Indian art since the early -1970s. A second serious problem is the absence of artists such as James Luna, Gerald McMaster, and the late Carl Beam who should not be omitted from any general survey of contemporary Indian art.

I wished the author had broadened the range of artists to include the "contemporary-traditionalists," -- those artists whose work is a direct link to older tribal based art traditions. Disappointed, I wondered if the editor inadvertently narrowed his list of artists too closely, losing a clear perspective on the variety and breadth of Indian arts produced today. One problem arising from a limited view point is the mistaken notion that American Indian "Fine Arts" exists as a singular category. The idea originated from older concepts surrounding Euro-Western art traditions and is limited to artists working in easel painting, sculpture, and graphic arts. I wished the editor had pursued the point of art training of the artists selected. The misperception persists that Native American artists create from an untrained, instinctual base articulated by the cult of the artist. Artists represented in Abbott's collection have clearly benefited from formal western art education and from training in prestigious arts academies and university art programs in this country, England, and Italy. A closer examination of this common ground could be useful to consideration of their work.

Abbott's intention to provide a forum for the artist's voice is neither new nor novel and the time has come for Native American artists to take a serious, critical approach to other germane issues. Have ideological theme museums, galleries, and patrons who have continued to define Native arts as qualifiers of difference effectively manipulated development of the arts? And, what of Native American artists who perceptively see advantages to maintaining the idea of "otherness" as profitable? Abbott skims perplexing, complex and politically charged issues that have merged into the study of Indian arts. This book is another well-intentioned but a non-critical look for those interested in the field of Indian art making. It is a general reader to be catalogued under 'I' for Indian, not 'A' for art.

This is a great survey of Native American contemporary fine art, with an excellent range of views in the artists' word. The issues raised by the artists are still very much in play today.

I Stand in the Center of the Good, a collection edited by Lawrence Abbott, is described as `interviews with contemporary Native American artists.' Traditional Native American art practices are often stereotyped and lumped into the same style--pottery, geometric designs, etc. Abbott interviewed a number of contemporary Native American artists to reveal their processes and innovation in the modern art world, as well as discuss how they feel their art fits in with the current art dialogue. The discussions yield a number of interesting insights that prove how unique each artist's contributions are. However, the thesis seems to become a bit ambiguous as it is never quite clear what the contributors want to be considered foremost--artists or Native Americans. If they want to be considered artists first and foremost, it is almost ironic to lump them together in a book. While altogether a pleasant and informative read, the reader is left wondering what progress, if any, has been made.

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