Bently Spang (born 1960) is a multidisciplinary artist, educator, writer, curator and an enrolled member of the Tsitsistas/Suhtai Nation (a.k.a.
Northern Cheyenne
The Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation ( chy, Tsėhéstáno; formerly named the Tongue River) is the federally recognized Northern Cheyenne tribe. Located in southeastern Montana, the reservation is approximately ...
) in Montana. His work has been exhibited widely in North America, South America, and Europe.
Biography
Spang is an enrolled member of the Tsitsistas/Suhtai (Northern Cheyenne) Nation in southeastern Montana and was born at the Crow-Northern Cheyenne Indian Hospital on the Crow Reservation located in Crow Agency, Montana in 1960. Spang grew up both on and off the
Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation
The Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation ( chy, Tsėhéstáno; formerly named the Tongue River) is the federally recognized Northern Cheyenne tribe. Located in southeastern Montana, the reservation is approximately ...
, living in places such as
Sitka
russian: Ситка
, native_name_lang = tli
, settlement_type = Consolidated city-borough
, image_skyline = File:Sitka 84 Elev 135.jpg
, image_caption = Downtown Sitka in 1984
, image_size ...
,
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...
and
Portland
Portland most commonly refers to:
* Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States
* Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...
,
Oregon
Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...
.
He graduated from
Montana State University Billings
Montana State University Billings (or MSU Billings) is a public university in Billings, Montana. It is the state's third largest university. Its campus is located on 110 acres in downtown Billings. Formerly Eastern Montana Normal School at its ...
and earned a
Master of Fine Arts degree at the
University of Wisconsin–Madison
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...
.
He taught at the
School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University (Museum School, SMFA at Tufts, or SMFA; formerly the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston) is the art school of Tufts University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusett ...
from 2007 to 2009 as a full-time Visiting Faculty Member in Video.
The
University of Wyoming
The University of Wyoming (UW) is a public land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, and opened in September 1887. The University of Wyoming ...
's American Indian Study Program named Spang its "Eminent Artist in Residence" for the spring semester of 2014. During this time he taught a class on Native American art and held exhibitions at the university's art museum. Spang now works as an independent artist and has a studio in
Billings
Billings is the largest city in the U.S. state of Montana, with a population of 117,116 as of the 2020 census. Located in the south-central portion of the state, it is the seat of Yellowstone County and the principal city of the Billings Met ...
, Montana.
Art works
Spang's early work included mixed media sculptures, often made out of metal, and installations. His later work focused on incorporating digital technologies such as film and photography.
Spang drew inspiration for his work in mixed media from how his Cheyenne ancestors incorporated European materials into their artwork; he has stated, "There was this fearlessness about mediums that we don't really have today."
Spang considers his art autobiographical, addressing his cultural identity as a Cheyenne living in a modern society and bridging the gap between these two worlds.
Spang often adds humor to his works to help present these themes to his audience.
For example, in his sculpture ''Pevah'' (meaning "good" in Cheyenne), Spang used stone and wood to signify the Cheyenne part of him, and he used aluminum to signify the contemporary world. In constructing the project, he explained, "The metal binds the stone, the wood binds them both. I am bound by my culture; we are still here after all."
Another one of Spang's sculptures is inspired by the Cheyenne tradition of adorning the fringe of war shirts with the hairs from the warrior's community. The fringe on Spang's ''War Shirt #1'' is likewise composed of the photographic negatives of people he knows to show that he draws his strength from the community.
Spang collaborated with techno DJ
Bert Benally to create the ''Techno Pow Wow'', a mix of
rave dance culture with into a traditional
pow wow.
This piece was inspired by the 1990s
electronic music
Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroa ...
movement. Spang claimed that the energy and effortless dancing reminded him of the pow wows at the reservation. Spang performed as part of this piece as "The Blue Guy", the
tribal chief
A tribal chief or chieftain is the leader of a tribal society or chiefdom.
Tribe
The concept of tribe is a broadly applied concept, based on tribal concepts of societies of western Afroeurasia.
Tribal societies are sometimes categorized a ...
figure of the future. Through the installation's mix of cultural music and dance, Spang hoped to showcase the similarities between Native American and modern culture.
In his ''New American Relics: Redux 2'' (2009), Spang satirized museums and anthropologists' depiction of indigenous America as a "lost culture" using irony. He designed a futuristic museum exhibit for the "vit-heut" (meaning "white man" in Northern Cheyenne) with "artifacts" molded from the plastic encasings of ordinary modern objects.
From February to March 2014, Spang presented his "Bently Spang: On Fire" exhibition at the
University of Wyoming Art Museum, which told the story of the 2012 Ash Creek wildfire. In July 2017, Spang presented the video installation "War Shirt #6 – Waterways" as part of his Modern Warrior Series, at the Dry Creek Schoolhouse in
Belgrade, Montana
Belgrade is a city in Gallatin County, Montana, United States. The population was 10,460 at the 2020 census. It is the largest city in Montana that is not a county seat.
Belgrade and surrounding areas are experiencing significant population gro ...
. The installation was a series of moving images within a steel war shirt conveying Spang's relationship with water.
Awards and recognition
In 2003, Spang won an Outstanding Alumni Award from MSU Billings for "Exceptional Contribution" and a
Woodrow Wilson Foundation
The Woodrow Wilson Foundation was an educational non-profit created in 1921, organized under the laws of New York, for the "perpetuation of Wilson's ideals" via periodic grants to worthy groups and individuals. Franklin D. Roosevelt was the chai ...
: Imagining America grant. The next year, he was awarded a
Paul G. Allen Family Foundation
Paul Gardner Allen (January 21, 1953 – October 15, 2018) was an American business magnate, computer programmer, researcher, investor, and philanthropist. He co-founded Microsoft Corporation with childhood friend Bill Gates in 1975, which ...
Grant for his residency in conjunction with the Techno Powwow Project. Spang has also gained artist fellowships from the
Creative Capital
Creative Capital is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization based in New York City that supports artists across the United States through funding, counsel, gatherings, and career development services. Since its founding in 1999, Creative Capital has commi ...
Foundation and the Joan Mitchell Foundation.
He was one of the eight artists who received the 2017 Artist's Innovation Award from the Montana Arts Council and
2018 recipient of the Native Arts and Culture Foundation National Artist Fellowship
References
External links
on Britesites
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spang, Bently
1960 births
Living people
Artists from Montana
Artists from Portland, Oregon
Northern Cheyenne people
Montana State University Billings alumni
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Native American male artists
Native American filmmakers
Native American installation artists
People from Big Horn County, Montana
Writers from Billings, Montana
University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni
University of Wyoming faculty