Star WallowingBull (born 1973) is an Objibwe Native American of the

White Earth Nation The White Earth Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, also called the White Earth Nation ( oj, Gaa-waabaabiganikaag Anishinaabeg, "People from where there is an abundance of white clay"), is a federally recognized Native American band located ...

, as well as an artist and illustrator known for his signature

Prismacolor Prismacolor is a brand of professional visual arts supplies originated in 1938 by the Eagle Pencil Company (then taken over by Berol), and currently manufactured by Newell Brands. Prismacolor products include, colored and graphite pencils, soft ...

style of drawing, and representation of Native American Art in a modern art style. His art style portrays symbolic about Native American identity in the US, internal struggles faced by cultural clashing, and other issues WallowingBull finds concerning, such as environmental care.

Biography

Early life

Star WallowingBull was born August 18, 1973, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and is a descendant of the

Ojibwe The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains. According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...

and

Arapaho The Arapaho (; french: Arapahos, ) are a Native American people historically living on the plains of Colorado and Wyoming. They were close allies of the Cheyenne tribe and loosely aligned with the Lakota and Dakota. By the 1850s, Arapaho band ...

e Native American Tribes. Influenced heavily by his father

Frank Big Bear Frank Big Bear is a Native American artist born in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota and is a member of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, White Earth Band. As a multimedia Native artist, Big Bear is known for his colorful, abstract display through his drawin ...

, a prominent Ojibwe artist, WallowingBull started drawing at 8 months old and continued to be influenced by

Native American Art Visual arts by indigenous peoples of the Americas encompasses the visual artistic practices of the indigenous peoples of the Americas from ancient times to the present. These include works from South America and North America, which includes C ...

, Pop Art scene, and European Art Masters in his home of Minneapolis. But as he grew up, he struggled with personal conflicts in his life causing him to drop out of high school and leading him into a path of alcoholism. He eventually used art and these influences to develop a modern style of autobiographically portraying the struggles of Native American life in a time where Native American people, were still adjusting into a new way of life and law in the United States.

Later life

Frank Big Bear being a prominent artist himself connected his son to art dealer Todd Bockley, who jump started WallowingBulls' career by showcasing it at the

Weisman Art Museum The Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum is an art museum at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded in 1934 as University Gallery, the museum was originally housed in an upper floor of the university's Northrop Auditorium. In 19 ...

in Minneapolis. Many art collectors were drawn in by his signature art form use of Prismacolor colored pencils, which provided a metallic tone to his

collage Collage (, from the french: coller, "to glue" or "to stick together";) is a technique of art creation, primarily used in the visual arts, but in music too, by which art results from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole. ...

-like drawings. The Native Arts and Cultures Foundations describes his work as " mployingcolored pencil on paper and acrylic on canvas to explore intersections of American Indian and U.S. pop culture in the 21st Century." An example of one of his earlier art pieces would be ''Black Elk’s Little Sand Man,'' a piece that represented a contrast showing symbols of different indigenous Native American cultures against symbols of what the masses in the US perceive to be indigenous culture. His work is a representation of the conflicting layers of identity held by generations of Native American people, as they have faced prejudice and unwarranted conflict through colonial influences. A significant influence came later into Star Wallowing Bulls' life in 2005 when he met his mentor-to-be

James Rosenquist James Rosenquist (November 29, 1933 – March 31, 2017) was an American artist and one of the proponents of the pop art movement. Drawing from his background working in sign painting, Rosenquist's pieces often explored the role of advertising a ...

in Fargo, North Dakota. While suffering from hand pain, Rosenquist taught Wallowing Bull the art of painting and gave him a $1000 and a full set of tools to start painting. Rosenquist would teach Wallowing Bull the art form he would carry on throughout most of his work after the use of colored pencils caused health issues in his hands.

Recent activity

Currently, Star Wallowing Bull actively goes around to schools of different levels teaching art near his home of Minneapolis as well as throughout parts of North Dakota and the

Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...

Artwork

Plains Art Museum Mural

This mural, commissioned by the

Plains Art Museum The Plains Art Museum is a fine arts museum located in downtown Fargo, North Dakota, United States. History The history of the museum dates back to 1965 when the "Red River Art Center" opened in the former Moorhead, Minnesota, post office. The n ...

in Fargo, North Dakota, was a piece done in 2003 by Wallowing Bull along with his father Frank Big Bear. Contrary to a lot of other work by Wallowing Bull, this piece had a lot heavier influence from Native art styles and motifs. This piece still uses very bright colors, portraying native birds flying around heads of gods surrounded by abstract patterns. There is also a quote in the top right corner stating "I will not be there. I will not fall. Bury my heart at Wounded Knee." referring to the Wounded Knee massacre and paying homage to the struggles faced by indigenous people of past generations.

''American Dreamers''

This piece of prismacolor art is full of bright colours and portrays a Native American chief in the front with another Native holding a gun. Other Native elements such as deer appear, but are all contrasted by a hundred dollar bill in the background and faces prominent in American society such as

Martin Luther King Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...

and

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination i ...

. This piece, published in 2000, reflects into how Wallowing Bull felt growing up influence by two societies he had to conform to. This piece, evident in the name itself, symbolizes that the American Dreamers in the background of the picture resemble the same spirit the Native American people have in an effort to search for their identity.

''Clown Face''

One of his more environmentally geared pieces of art, this piece was released in 2010 and printed in 2015 for the New Art 2.0 print for Eiteljorg Museum. This piece has abstract colors and elements and features a man drawn in abstract native pattern. We also see rain, drawn in a similarly abstract manner, falling from the sky and hitting the man in the arm causing his arm to burn. This is an environmental pursuit and commentary on smog and acid rain affecting people as well as crops, and done in a way where inverse tones are used to create a powerful image.

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

Select group exhibitions

Collections

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

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 ...

Tweed Museum of Art The Tweed Museum of Art is a museum on the campus of the University of Minnesota Duluth, in Duluth, Minnesota, United States. The Tweed Museum of Art was established in 1950 when Alice Tweed Tuohy, widow of George P. Tweed, donated their house an ...

Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art The Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art is an art museum that is part of Johnson County Community College in Overland Park, Kansas. The Nerman Museum is named for donors Jerry and Margaret Nerman. It opened in October 2007, succeeding the college's ...

Honors and awards

Native Arts and Cultures Foundation The Native Arts and Cultures Foundation (NACF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that supports Native American artists, culture bearers, and Native-led arts organizations, providing them with support through fellowships and project funding. ...

- Regional Artist Fellowship **Fellowship studying history of Araphoe tribe and maintaining their cultural traditions through art *

Bush Foundation The Bush Foundation was created in 1953 by Archibald Granville Bush an American businessman primarily involved with 3M and his wife, Edyth Bassler Bush. The organization awards $40 million a year to philanthropic organizations, primarily located ...

- Bush Artist Fellowship *

, Art on the Plains 6 - Juror Award *

Smithsonian 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 ...

- Native Artist Fellowship{{Cite web, url=https://americanindian.si.edu/vp/8/, title=Vantage Point - Once upon a Time…, website=americanindian.si.edu, access-date=2020-03-03

References

External links

Star Wallowing Bull

Star Wallowing Bull
Native Arts & Cultures Foundation Arapaho people 1973 births Living people Native American drawing artists Native American painters Ojibwe male artists Ojibwe artists Artists from Minneapolis 21st-century American male artists 21st-century American artists White Earth Nation people