Target
1992
Painter, Citizen of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, 1940-2025

In Target, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith draws attention to mainstream America’s appropriation of Native American culture. Collaged across the surface are a pennant celebrating the 1992 Super Bowl football champions (now the Washington Commanders) and a comic book cover for Son of Tomahawk. This imagery contrasts with newspaper clippings from the Flathead Indian Reservation in Montana, which show a vibrant, living culture.
“I reference Indians being the Target of the corporate world of mascots and consumer goods,” Smith explained. The title also points to the target at the top with an array of darts, which resembles a head and feathered headdress. Smith nods to artist Jasper Johns’s iconic target paintings and Andy Warhol’s use of repeated photographic images to assert her place and that of Indigenous artists in the histories of modern art.

NGA, East Building, EU-407-D, W
Artwork overview
-
Medium
mixed media on canvas
-
Credit Line
-
Dimensions
overall (three parts): 340.4 × 106.7 cm (134 × 42 in.)
-
Accession
2020.6.1
More About this Artwork

Video: Artist Jaune Quick-to-See Smith Takes on Pop Art
New York Times art critic Aruna D’Souza discusses Jaune Quick-to-See Smith's 1992 work Target.

Video: The Land Carries Our Ancestors: Contemporary Art by Native Americans Exhibition Trailer
Watch to learn more about the nearly 50 living Native artists practicing across the United States featured in the 2023–2024 exhibition The Land Carries Our Ancestors: Contemporary Art by Native Americans.
Artwork history & notes
Provenance
The artist; purchased 7 April 2020 through (Garth Greenan Gallery, New York) by NGA.
Associated Names
Exhibition History
1992
The Quincentennary Non-Celebration, Steinbaum Krauss Gallery, New York, no catalogue.
2019
Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Art Basel, Garth Greenan Gallery booth, Miami Beach, 2019, no catalogue.
2023
Jaune Quick-to-See Smith: Memory Map, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 2023, pl. 44.
Bibliography
1993
McGreevy, Linda. "Jaune Quick-to-See Smith." Art Papers 17, no. 3 (May-June 1993): 62.
1996
Jersey City Museum. Subversions / Affirmations: Jaune Quick-to-See Smith: A Survey. Exh. cat. Jersey City Museum, Jersey City, NJ, 1996: 67.
1997
Valentino, Erin. "Coyote's Ransom: Jaune quick-to-see Smith and the language of appropriation." Third Text 11, no. 38 (Spring 1997): 29, 30, repro.
2020
Roberts, Kathaleen. "National Gallery of Art Acquires Painting by Corrales Native American." Albuquerque Journal Published July 1, 2020, Accessed July 20, 2023, URL: https://www.abqjournal.com/1471633/corrales-artist-is-first-native-american-painter-on-canvas-in-the-national-gallery-of-art.html : repro.
Valentine, Victoria L. "National Gallery of Art's First Painting by a Native American Artist Speaks to Race, Rage, and Problematic Name of Local NFL Team." Culture Type Online blog post, Published July 15, 2020, Accessed July 20, 2023. URL: https://www.culturetype.com/2020/07/15/national-gallery-of-arts-first-painting-by-a-native-american-artist-speaks-to-race-rage-and-problematic-name-of-local-nfl-team/ : repro.
Condill, Shana. "Denadagohvgee (I Will See You Again)." National Gallery of Art Blog Published June 25, 2020, Accessed July 20, 2023, URL https://www.nga.gov/blog/denadagohvgee-will-see-you-again.html : repro.
2023
Reilly, Samuel. "American All-Star." Apollo 197 (May 2023): 64, 65, fig. 2.
Inscriptions
reverse: signed and dated
Wikidata ID
Q108687002