The Art, Design & Architecture Museum at UC Santa Barbara presents the first solo museum exhibition of LA-based artist Ishi Glinsky (b. 1982, Tucson, Arizona – Tohono O’odham). An early career survey covering work made over the past decade, the exhibition features 25 of Glinsky’s works, including painting, works on paper, and mixed-media sculpture. Glinsky’s art draws from the traditions of the Tohono O’odham Nation as well as those of various North American Native arts, such as jewelry making, basketry, and weaving, among others, in order to honor Native Americans’ place in history and art movements. Organized by the Art, Design & Architecture Museum at UCSB, the exhibition is on view from September 1, 2022 through January 22, 2023. 

For the Tohono O’odham, “The Man in the Maze” represents the people’s emergence upon earth, but more broadly also reflects paths taken throughout life and beyond. With the title Upon a Jagged Maze, artist Ishi Glinsky reflects on his personal journey through his evolving art practice. Glinsky approaches moments in history, art history, and the presentation of physical objects as endeavors of engagement and care that comprise his path. His journey of understanding is also embedded in the experience of this exhibition. As Glinsky explains, “The viewer can actively track twists and turns I've taken in mediums and processes thus far, intended to honor indigenous knowledge in new spaces and viewed in new ways. Throughout Upon a Jagged Maze, there are moments meant to open the door for further discussion or understanding.” This early career survey of Glinsky’s art will present an overview of his artistic output thus far, including work from 2009 to the present.

Ishi Glinksy was born in Tucson, AZ in 1982, but has resided and worked in Los Angeles, CA for the past sixteen years. As a sculptor, painter, and installation artist, Glinsky focuses on aspects of resourcefulness, permanence and continuity, based upon his material compositions. Materiality and intertribal cultural celebrations are central to this focus, while Glinsky explores a range of historical pieces, both major events and ephemera, across Native North America. A fusion of the past with contemporary art, Glinsky is a mostly self-taught artist who observes both the techniques of his people of the Tohono O’odham Nation, as well as the traditions of other Native nations in a celebration of interconnectivity and survival of those practices. Through techniques based in scale and verisimilitude, Glinsky acknowledges craft traditions as fine art forms.

Opening Reception:
Thursday, September 1st
5:00 – 7:30 PM
AD&A Museum
(click for details)
 

IMAGE: Ishi Glinsky, Coral v. King Snake Jacket, 2019. Canvas, industrial adhesives, wax, wood beads, aluminum, steel, nylon, enamel paint, black pigment. Hammer Museum, Los Angeles. Purchased through the Board of Advisors Acquisition Fund.