Welcome to One Fine Showwhen the Observer highlights an exhibit that just opened at a museum outside of New York City, a place we know and love is already getting a lot of attention.
In late October of last year John Kinsel Sr., one of the last of the Navajo Code Talkers, who helped secure the Allied victory in the Pacific in World War II, passed away. The Navajo language was unwritten and inaccessible to skilled Japanese coders, although Kinsel and his colleagues added another layer through the art of using metaphor when it came to military references. The Economist's obituary credits Kinsel with coining the terms “turtle” tank and “rabbit lane” of military movement, a postmodern fusion of traditional culture with one as American as apple pie: the military-industrial complex.
Jeffrey Gibson (b. 1972) is of Choctaw and Cherokee descent, but his work enjoys a similar remix style. Recent examples of it are on display in “FULL POWER BECAUSE WE ARE DIFFERENT,” a new installation recently installed in the MASS MoCA Building 5 signature gallery space that seeks to explore the concept of “two spirits,” a third gender that is both—and neither—male and female and embraced by many Native cultures. Visitors to Gibson's gallery in the US last summer for the 60th Venice Biennale know that the artist knows how to combine queer culture with the beaded bows of folk festivals. In this new exhibition, Gibson goes multi-ethnic, using the program as a forum for Indigenous and two-spirit people, more than twenty of whom contributed to the video portion of the show, and dozens of others will perform inside the gallery throughout the show. 18 months.
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Theatrical shows go by Gibson's schedule, and their offerings are more than just set dress. The long hall of Building 5 is filled with several large ornate, artisan-designed costumes that hang from more than seven disco-style dancing poles made of bespoke patterns—functional stages of fused glass.
Much of Gibson's work comes down to these patterns, and those in Massachusetts are among the richest and most complex. They also have good degrees. Every Crossroads is a Broken Heart (2024) seems to explain the missing connections within this design. I'm owned by you (2024) is an acid trip to the point that you might not know it's meant to reference anything Native unless you're told, which is when you'll notice the quilt-like repetition of its Day-Glo oscilloscope pits.
Sometimes your body changes and you don't remember your dreams (2024) has a warm and dancing pattern and a dress of the same name. This pairing sounds neat, but most pairings are messy. Don't finish me off (2024) seems to speak to this pushback against hierarchical order and boasts a floral metal shape with holographic vinyl.
It's a treat to see Gibson in these outfits in a new two-channel video made for the show. This was inspired by a 1988 performance by Leigh Bowery, where she tried on a costume at the Anthony D'Offay Gallery while looking through a one-way mirror that gave passers-by a glimpse of the near future. Gibson's new show does the same hard work of trying to make big, intimate questions personal.
“FULL POWER BECAUSE WE HAVE ARRIVED” is on view at MASS MoCA through May 2026.
