Benjamin Harjo Jr. (
Absentee Shawnee
The Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma (or Absentee Shawnee) is one of three federally recognized tribes of Shawnee people. Historically residing in what became organized as the upper part of the Eastern United States, the original Sh ...
/
Seminole
The Seminole are a Native American people who developed in Florida in the 18th century. Today, they live in Oklahoma and Florida, and comprise three federally recognized tribes: the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, an ...
, September 14, 1945 – May 20, 2023) was a
Native American painter and printmaker based in
Oklahoma
Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...
.
[Lester, 220-1]
Background
Benjamin Harjo, Jr. was an enrolled citizen of the
Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma
The Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma (or Absentee Shawnee) is one of three federally recognized tribes of Shawnee people. Historically residing in what became organized as the upper part of the Eastern United States, the original Sh ...
and a descended of the
Seminole Nation of Oklahoma
The Seminole Nation of Oklahoma is a List of federally recognized tribes, federally recognized Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribe based in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. It is the largest of the three federally recognized Se ...
. His ancestry was half-
Seminole
The Seminole are a Native American people who developed in Florida in the 18th century. Today, they live in Oklahoma and Florida, and comprise three federally recognized tribes: the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, an ...
and half-
Shawnee
The Shawnee are an Algonquian-speaking indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands. In the 17th century they lived in Pennsylvania, and in the 18th century they were in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, with some bands in Kentucky a ...
. Harjo's father was the late Benjamin Harjo Sr., a full-blood Seminole. Harjo's mother, Viola Harjo, was from
Byng, Oklahoma
Byng is a town in Pontotoc County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 1,175 at the 2010 census.
History
The beginnings of the town of Byng were established in 1917 with the building of a post office and power plant (about five miles nor ...
. Her father was William F. Harjo, who graduated from
Chilocco Indian School
Chilocco Indian School was an agricultural school for Native Americans on reserved land in north-central Oklahoma from 1884 to 1980. It was approximately 20 miles north of Ponca City, Oklahoma and seven miles north of Newkirk, Oklahoma, near ...
in 1939. His maternal grandparents were Emmett and Ruth Wood.
[
Harjo Jr. was born on September 19, 1945, in ]Clovis, New Mexico
Clovis is a city in and the county seat of Curry County, New Mexico, Curry County, New Mexico. The city had a population of 37,775 as of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, and a 2019 estimated population of 38,319. Clovis is located in th ...
.[ After his parents divorced, Viola married Roman Harjo (1924–2006), in 1954 at Clovis; he became the stepfather of Benjamin Jr.
The name Harjo means "crazy" in the ]Muskogee language
The Muscogee language (Muskogee, ''Mvskoke'' in Muscogee), also known as Creek, is a Muskogean language spoken by Muscogee (Creek) and Seminole people, primarily in the US states of Oklahoma and Florida. Along with Mikasuki, when it is spoken by ...
, which was spoken by both the Muscogee and the Seminole. The word is part of a military title, ''Chitto Harjo
''Chitto Harjo'' (also known as Crazy Snake, Wilson Jones, Bill Jones, Bill Snake, and Bill Harjo; 1846 – April 5, 1912) was a leader and orator among the traditionalists in the Muscogee Creek Nation in Indian Territory at the turn of the 20 ...
'', meaning "crazy snake".
After his family moved back to Oklahoma, Harjo lived with his maternal grandparents from the age of 10 to 18.[Painter, Bryan]
Going Home: Ben Harjo Jr.
'NewsOK'. November 23, 2007 (August 30, 2009)
Education and military service
Harjo's first passion was drawing comics, and he sold comics to his high school newspaper. Interested in pursuing a professional career in cartoon animation, Harjo went to the Institute of American Indian Arts
The Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) is a public tribal land-grant college in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The college focuses on Native American art. It operates the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (MoCNA), which is housed in the historic S ...
in 1966. There he discovered that they had discontinued their animation program at IAIA. He expanded his studies and earned his Associate of Arts degree. His classmates included T. C. Cannon
Tommy Wayne Cannon (September 27, 1946 – May 8, 1978) (Kiowa) was an important Native American artist of the 20th century. He was popularly known as T. C. Cannon. He was an enrolled member of the Kiowa Tribe and also had Caddo and Frenc ...
and Linda Lomahaftewa
Linda Lomahaftewa (born 1947) is a Hopi and Choctaw printmaker, painter, and educator living in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Background
Linda J. Lomahaftewa was born July 3, 1947 in Phoenix, Arizona. Her late father was Hopi; her mother is Choctaw fro ...
, who have become noted artists. Seymour Tubis was his most influential teacher, and taught him low-tech but highly effective printmaking techniques.
In 1969 Harjo was drafted into the US Army; he served honorably in the Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
[ from 1969 to 1971.][
Upon his release from the military, Harjo continued his art education. He attended ]Oklahoma State University
Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...
and graduated with a BFA degree in 1974.[Smiley, Lori and Stephanie Lusher]
"Ben Harjo Jr."
'NDN Art Gallery.' (retrieved August 30, 2009)
Style
Harjo typically painted geometric forms composed of blocks of highly saturated color that form both abstract and highly stylized representational figures. The mosaic nature of his painting is reminiscent of Seminole patchwork Seminole patchwork, referred to by Seminole and Miccosukee women as Taweekaache (''design'' in the Mikasuki language), is a patchwork style made from piecing colorful strips of fabric in horizontal bands. Seminole patchwork garments are often trimme ...
clothing. He also worked in pen and ink, allowing his comic influences to show through. Through printmaking, Harjo was able to experiment with texture and subtler palettes. His work is known for its humor, either in comical imagery or in witty titles.
His smallest miniature paintings were not much larger than postage stamp but still featured highly detailed portraits. Harjo's chosen media was gouache on paper but he also used oil, acrylic, watercolor, conté crayons, pencil, pen and ink, pastel, printmaking,[ and occasionally sculpture.][McFadden and Taubman, 113]
Harjo said:
"When you're traveling down the highway, you see an image whether it's dirt on the back of a truck or a splat on a windshield or two birds sitting by the side of the road picking at something. All those things have inspired me at some point in my creativity."[
Harjo summarized his artistic philosophy:
"It has always been my contention that one's art speaks from the soul of the artist and remains viable and open to the influences of the artist's environment. Forms, colors, and movement keep it from stagnating and allow it to grow as the artist matures and develops. I feel that my art covers a wide range of emotions, from serious to humorous, and that the colors I used radiate a sense of happiness and joy."][
]
Personal life and death
Benjamin Harjo lived in Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...
[ with his wife, Barbara C. Harjo, a curator, gardener, and businesswoman.
Harjo died on May 20, 2023, at the age of 77.]
Public collections
His artwork can be found in many public collections, including the following:
*Gilcrease Museum
Gilcrease Museum, also known as the Thomas Gilcrease Institute of American History and Art, is a museum northwest of downtown Tulsa, Oklahoma housing the world's largest, most comprehensive collection of art of the American West, as well as a gro ...
, Tulsa, Oklahoma
*Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art
The Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art is a non-profit art museum in Shawnee, Oklahoma, USA. It is located on the Oklahoma Baptist University Green Campus, being the campus of the former St. Gregory's University. The museum operated independently of St. ...
, Shawnee, Oklahoma
*Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History
Sam, SAM or variants may refer to:
Places
* Sam, Benin
* Sam, Boulkiemdé, Burkina Faso
* Sam, Bourzanga, Burkina Faso
* Sam, Kongoussi, Burkina Faso
* Sam, Iran
* Sam, Teton County, Idaho, United States, a populated place
People and fictio ...
, Norman, Oklahoma
*US Embassy, Mogadishu, Somalia
Mogadishu (, also ; so, Muqdisho or ; ar, مقديشو ; it, Mogadiscio ), locally known as Xamar or Hamar, is the capital and List of cities in Somalia by population, most populous city of Somalia. The city has served as an important port ...
[McFadden and Taubman, 245]
* Sequoyah National Research Center, Little Rock, Arkansas
Oklahoma State University Museum of Art
Stillwater, Oklahoma
Awards and honors
Harjo was the 2005 poster artist for SWAIA's Santa Fe Indian Market
The Santa Fe Indian Market is an annual art market held in Santa Fe, New Mexico on the weekend following the third Thursday in August. The event draws an estimated 150,000 people to the city from around the world. The Southwestern Association for ...
.[ He has consistently worn top awards there, including Best of Show, since 1983.
In 1987 he won the Red Earth Grand Award. He was the 1993 ]Heard Museum
The Heard Museum is a private, not-for-profit museum in Phoenix, Arizona, United States, dedicated to the advancement of American Indian art. It presents the stories of American Indian people from a first-person perspective, as well as exhibitio ...
's 34th Annual Featured Artist, the Featured Artist in 1992 and 1993 for the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian
The National Museum of the American Indian is a museum in the United States devoted to the culture of the indigenous peoples of the Americas. It is part of the Smithsonian Institution group of museums and research centers.
The museum has three ...
's Annual Aspen Benefit, and the Gold Medal Award at the 1990 American Indian Cowboy Artists Wichita Show.[Benjamin Harjo Jr.]
''Mittie Cooper Gallery.'' (retrieved August 30, 2009)
Oklahoma Governor David Walters
David Lee Walters (born November 20, 1951) is an American politician who was the 24th governor of Oklahoma from 1991 to 1995.
Born in Canute, Oklahoma, Walters was a project manager for Governor David Boren and the youngest executive officer w ...
honored Harjo for his selection by Absolut Vodka
Absolut Vodka is a brand of vodka, produced near Åhus, in southern Sweden. Absolut is a part of the French group Pernod Ricard. Pernod Ricard bought Absolut for €5.63 billion in 2008 from the Swedish state. Absolut is one of the largest brand ...
to represent Oklahoma in its ''USA Today'' advertising campaign.
Exhibitions
* 1992, Franco-American Institute in Rennes, France
Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine departmen ...
.[
* In 1991, the ]Wichita Art Museum
The Wichita Art Museum is an art museum located in Wichita, Kansas, United States.
The museum was established in 1915, when Louise Caldwell Murdock’s Will which created a trust to start the Roland P. Murdock Collection of art in memory of her ...
held a solo exhibition of his work.[
* 1991, the ]Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian
The Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian is a museum devoted to Native American arts. It is located in Santa Fe, New Mexico and was founded in 1937 by Mary Cabot Wheelwright, who came from Boston, and Hastiin Klah, a Navajo singer and medici ...
hosted a major retrospective of Harjo's work, entitled ''The Earth, the Moon, and the Stars Above.''
* January 2010, solo exhibition at Oklahoma State University: Harjo donated all proceeds of his art sales to OSU's Art Department.
* 2023: ''Patterns of Knowing'' at Oklahoma Contemporary
Oklahoma Contemporary is a Contemporary Art Museum in downtown Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. It is a non-profit museum which was founded in 1989.
Architectural Digest noted at 2020 the opening of the museum's opening: "What was born in 1989 as a mode ...
in Oklahoma City, three-person exhibition, May 18 – October 23, 2023.
References
Sources
* Lester, Patrick D. ''The Biographical Directory of Native American Painters''. Norman: Oklahoma University Press, 1995. .
*Little Thunder, Julie Pearson. ''The Earth, the Moon, and the Stars Above: Benjamin Harjo Jr.'' Santa Fe: Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian, 2004. ASIN B000KIT8QO.
* McFadden, David Revere and Ellen Napiura Taubman. ''Changing Hands: Art without Reservation 2: Contemporary Native North American Art from the West, Northwest & Pacific.'' New York: Museum of Arts and Design, 2005. .
External links
Benjamin Harjo Jr.: American Indian Artist
official website
Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian
''Benjamin Harjo Jr.: We Are a Landscape of All We Know,'' OSU Museum of Art
OSU
Oral History Interview with Benjamin Harjo Jr., Oklahoma State University Native Artists Oral History Project
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harjo, Benjamin Jr.
1945 births
2023 deaths
Absentee Shawnee people
Artists from Oklahoma City
Native American painters
Native American printmakers
American people of Seminole descent
Institute of American Indian Arts alumni
Oklahoma State University alumni
People from Clovis, New Mexico
20th-century Native American artists
21st-century Native American artists