March 25–April 22, 2023
Los Angeles
Installation Views
Works
Steve Turner is pleased to present Sunsets in the West, a solo exhibition by Raven Halfmoon which features five monumental ceramic sculptures that reflect her identity as a woman and a Native American. Each work is a reflection of her interpretation of Caddo culture and the fight to maintain a place for it in today’s world. To pursue that fight, she composes large works that are compelling in size and content. She wants them to be confronted, observed and recognized so that the audience will know that the Caddo people and other Indigenous people are still here, resilient and powerful. Halfmoon is motivated to maintain the tradition of creating, story-telling and sharing history.
The title of the exhibition honors Halfmoon’s connection to the American West, Oklahoma where she grew up, Montana where she also spends time and Long Beach where she created some of the works. The West inspires her to think big and to create big. Two works in this show tower to nearly seven feet, a scale seldom achieved in ceramic sculpture. Her women are glazed with Caddo tattoos and symbols of stars. They represent history as well as a “New America.” Caddo culture is coupled with Pop culture in the form of cowboy hats, Gucci sunglasses and Louis Vuitton handbags. Halfmoon sees her women as warriors for those who have no voice and as monuments that will bridge the gap between yesterday and tomorrow.
Raven Halfmoon (b. 1991, Norman, Oklahoma) earned a BA in Ceramics and Painting as well as Anthropology from the University of Arkansas (2014). She has had solo exhibitions at Nino Mier Gallery, Los Angeles (2019); Bill Brady Gallery, Miami (2020); Ross + Kramer Gallery, New York (2021); Art Omi, Ghent, New York (2022) and Missoula Art Museum (2022). Later in 2023, she will have a solo exhibition at the Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield, Connecticut which will also travel to the Bemis Center, Omaha. Her work is in several institutional collections including the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston;; Detroit Institute of Arts; Arkansas Museum of Fine Art, Little Rock; Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Overland Park, Kansas and Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami. This is her first exhibition with Steve Turner.
Born 1991, Norman, Oklahoma
Lives and works in Norman, Oklahoma
Education
2014
BA in Ceramics and Painting, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
2014
BA in Anthropology, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
Solo Exhibitions
2023
Sunsets in the West, Steve Turner, Los Angeles
Flags of Our Mothers, The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield, Connecticut
2022
Ancestors, Art Omi Sculpture Park, Ghent, New York
New Monuments, Missoula Art Museum, Missoula, Montana
2021
Horse: Di’i’tamah, Issuba, Lichiile, Fritz + Kouri Gallery, Santa Fe
Okla Homma to Mannahatta, Ross+Kramer Gallery, New York
2020
Caddo Girl in a Material World, Bill Brady Gallery, Miami
2019
The New Native, Nino Mier Gallery, Los Angeles
Group Exhibitions
2022
In the Middle of Everywhere: Artists of the Great Plains, Remai Modern, Saskatoon, Canada
Light Up the Sky, The Pit, Los Angeles
2021
Clay Pop, Jeffrey Deitch Gallery, New York
Strategies in 21st Century Craft, Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, Salt Lake City
Figure 9, Western Exhibitions Gallery, Chicago
ArtNow 2021, Oklahoma Contemporary, Oklahoma City
Contemporary Caddo Art, Museum of Red River, Idabel, Oklahoma
2020
The Body, The Object, The Other, Craft Contemporary, Los Angeles
Contemporary Craft in America, LHUCA, Houston
American Woman, Allouche Benias Gallery, Athens, Greece
2019
The Burke Prize 2019, Museum of Art and Design, New York
Caddo Contemporary: Present and Relevant, Cole Art Center, Nacogdoches, Texas
Current Profile, Delmar Loop Gallery, Craft Alliance Center for Art + Design, St. Louis, Montana
2018
US = Emerging Voices in Clay, District Clay Gallery, Washington D.C.
Meditation on a Bone, Heide Museum of Contemporary Art, Melbourne, Australia
Copper, Paper, Clay, LEADAPRON Gallery, Los Angeles
Residencies and Awards
2022
Eiteljorg Contemporary Art Fellowship, Indianapolis
Virginia A. Groot Foundation Sculpture Grant Recipient, 1st Place
CSULB Visiting Artist, Long Beach, CA Archie Bray Visiting Artist, Helena, Montana
2021
Tinworks Artist Grant, Bozeman, Montana
John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Foundry Residency, Sheboygan, Wisconsin
2020
Archie Bray Foundation, Long Term Resident, Helena
2019
Burke Prize Finalist, Museum of Arts and Design, New York Archie Bray Foundation, Long Term Resident Artist, Helena
American Craft Council Emerging Voices Award, American Craft Council Ceramics Monthly Emerging Artist, Ceramics Monthly
Artist in Residence, Center for Contemporary Ceramics, CSULB, Long Beach
2018
Artaxis Fellowship, funded Residency at Haystack Mountain, Craft School, Maryland
Bibliography
2022
Civin, Marcus. “Interview with Raven Halfmoon,” Maake Magazine
2021
Allaire, Christian. “Indigenous Artist Raven Halfmoon on Interpreting History Through Contemporary Sculpture,” Vogue
Voon, Claire. “Raven Halfmoon’s Monumental Ceramics Counter Stereotypes of Indigenous Culture”
Armstrong, Annie. “Raven Halfmoon on Toeing the Line Between Her Caddo Heritage and Tik Tok,” Garage Vice, January
Reintjes, Brandon. “Raven Halfmoon’s Monumental Sculptures,” Ceramic Monthly
Corriel, Michele. “Tinworks Artist Grant Recipients,” Big Sky Journal
2020
Grayson, Emma. “Raven Halfmoon’s Caddo Sculptures Are Shaped By History,” Art of Choice, February
“Your Concise Southwest Art Guide for Spring 2020,” HYPERALLERGIC, February
2019
A. Hazani, Joseph. “The New Native by Raven Halfmoon,” A Dilettante
Yung Shin, Sun. “Emerging Voices: Raven Halfmoon,” American Craft Council
Knapp, Jessica. “Emerging Artists of 2019: Raven Halfmoon,” Ceramics Monthly McKenzie, Heidi. “Art of the Other,” Ceramics Monthly
Goodrich, Robbie. “Caddo Contemporary: Present and Relevant,” SFASU
2018
Livingston, Kate. “The American Character as Modeled by 11 Female Artists Peripheral Vision Art,” Washington Post
Erger, Georgia. “Caddo Girl Recognizes Herself in the Mirror,” Peripheral Vision Art Stern, Melissa. “Raven Halfmoon,” Posit Journal