Terran Last Gun (born 1989 in

Browning, Montana Browning is a town in Glacier County, Montana, United States. It is the headquarters for the Blackfeet Indian Reservation and the only incorporated town on the Reservation. The population was 1,018 at the 2020 census. The town was named in 188 ...

) is a Native American visual artist. He is Piikani and a citizen of the

Blackfeet Tribe of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation of Montana The Blackfeet Nation ( bla, Aamsskáápipikani, script=Latn, ), officially named the Blackfeet Tribe of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation of Montana, is a List of federally recognized tribes in the United States, federally recognized tribe of B ...

, a member of the Siksikaitsitapii (

Blackfoot Confederacy The Blackfoot Confederacy, ''Niitsitapi'' or ''Siksikaitsitapi'' (ᖹᐟᒧᐧᒣᑯ, meaning "the people" or " Blackfoot-speaking real people"), is a historic collective name for linguistically related groups that make up the Blackfoot or Bla ...

). He lives and works in

Santa Fe, New Mexico Santa Fe ( ; , Spanish for 'Holy Faith'; tew, Oghá P'o'oge, Tewa for 'white shell water place'; tiw, Hulp'ó'ona, label=Tiwa language, Northern Tiwa; nv, Yootó, Navajo for 'bead + water place') is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. ...

Early life

Last Gun is a Piikani citizen of the Blackfeet Tribe, born in

. He grew up on the

Blackfeet Reservation The Blackfeet Nation ( bla, Aamsskáápipikani, script=Latn, ), officially named the Blackfeet Tribe of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation of Montana, is a federally recognized tribe of Siksikaitsitapi people with an Indian reservation in Monta ...

. Last Gun's father, Terrance Guardipee (

Blackfeet The Blackfeet Nation ( bla, Aamsskáápipikani, script=Latn, ), officially named the Blackfeet Tribe of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation of Montana, is a federally recognized tribe of Siksikaitsitapi people with an Indian reservation in Monta ...

) is a

ledger artist Ledger art is a term for narrative drawing or painting on paper or cloth, predominantly practiced by Plains Indians, Plains Indian, but also from the Indigenous peoples of the Plateau, Plateau and Indigenous peoples of the Great Basin, Great Basi ...

, who encouraged his son to pursue a degree in museum studies at 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 ...

. Last Gun was raised Catholic but did not understand nor feel a part of that faith. Beginning in the fourth grade, he attended the Lost Children immersion school which was on the Piikani Reservation. The school was founded in part by Darrell Robes Kipp, who is Last Gun's great uncle.

Education

In 2011, Last Gun received an A.S. degree in Environmental Science from Blackfeet Community College, Browning, Montana, and went on to receive a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Museum Studies as well as an Associate of Fine Arts in Studio Arts in 2016 from the

in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Work

Last Gun primarily works in

serigraphy Screen printing is a printing technique where a mesh is used to transfer ink (or dye) onto a substrate, except in areas made impermeable to the ink by a blocking stencil. A blade or squeegee is moved across the screen to fill the open me ...

, painting, ledger drawing and photography. His work interprets cultural narratives of nature and the cosmos, connecting the ancient world to contemporary realms. Last Gun states, "I am revealing fragments of time, history, and Indigenous Abstraction — an art form that has continued for tens of thousands of years." Last Gun has stated that the painted lodges of the Blackfeet are a source of inspiration that he draws on in his work. The imagery used in the painted lodges has been passed down through generations. These designs have three zones: the upper sky world, the middle zone representing the animal spirit helpers, and the lower zone of Earth. In 2018, Last Gun had a solo show at the

; in 2020 he had a solo show, ''Terran Last Gun: Color Play'' at the

Museum of Contemporary Native 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 ...

, Santa Fe and has had two solo shows, in 2019 and 2020, at Hecho a Mano Gallery, Santa Fe. In 2021, he had a one-person show at Blue Star Contemporary, San Antonio, Texas. His work has been included in group exhibitions at the Rainmaker Gallery in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

, UK,

SITE Santa Fe SITE Santa Fe (often referred to simply as SITE) is a nonprofit contemporary arts organization based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Since its founding in 1995, SITE Santa Fe has presented 11 biennials, more than 90 contemporary art exhibitions, and wor ...

and the

Santa Fe Institute The Santa Fe Institute (SFI) is an independent, nonprofit theoretical research institute located in Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States and dedicated to the multidisciplinary study of the fundamental principles of complex adaptive systems, includ ...

, among other venues.

Awards and honors

In 2020 Last Gun received a fellowship from the

First People's Fund First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

as an "Artist in Business Leadership", and a Story Maps fellowship from the Santa Fe Art Institute. In 2016 he received a Goodman Aspiring Artist fellowship from the

Museum of Indian Arts and Culture The Museum of Indian Arts and Culture is a museum of Native American art and culture located in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It is one of eight museums in the state operated by the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs and is accredited by the Ameri ...

. In 2017 he was an artist-in-residence at the IAIA Museum of Contemporary Art.

Collections

* IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, Santa Fe, NM * Institute of American Indian Arts, Public Art Collection, Santa Fe, NM * Ralph T. Coe Center for the Arts, Santa Fe, NM * The Heritage Center at

Red Cloud Indian School Red Cloud Indian School ( lkt, Maȟpíya Lúta Owáyawa) is a private, Catholic, K–12 school run by the Jesuits in Oglala Lakota County, South Dakota. It is located in the Diocese of Rapid City and serves Oglala Lakota Native American children ...

, Pine Ridge, SD

References

External links

Engaging the Future with Terran Last Gun (Piikani)
Museum of American Indian Arts and Culture
Terran Last Gun Story Maps Fellow

Terran Last Gun on Instagram
{{Authority control Native American artists 21st-century American artists Artists from Santa Fe, New Mexico Blackfeet Tribe people Institute of American Indian Arts alumni Printmakers