Target

1992

Jaune Quick-to-See Smith

Associated Names
Jaune Quick-to-See Smith
Painter, Citizen of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, 1940-2025
Two vertically oriented, rectangular canvases are stacked over each other, and a dart board is affixed to the uppermost edge. The canvases are collaged with newspaper articles, headlines, black-and-white pamphlets, cartoons, comic books, illustrations of animals like chipmunks and buffalo, and a triangular pennant celebrating the “Washington Redskins” as “Super Bowl XXVI CHAMPIONS.” Streaks and drips of red paint create horizontal bands across the panels, separated by bands streaked in yellow. Text is visible throughout, including the title of the pamphlet, which repeats across the composition: “Community Service and Interest Courses/Workshop.” Headlines include “The Heist,” “For People Who Inherited Brains Instead of Wealth,” “Defying the Stereotypes,” and “Destroy The Myth.” The comic is titled “Son of Tomahawk,” and fliers are titled “Help Locate Handicapped Indian Children” and “2nd Annual Flathead Reservation Culture Fair.” One piece of blue fabric with white polka dots is along the bottom edge of the top panel and a piece of red fabric with white dots is along the bottom edge of the lower panel. The outer band of the dart board is smeared with red, and darts with red, blue, yellow, or green feathers line the upper perimeter of the board.

Media Options

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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.

On View
East Building, Upper Level, Gallery E407

Artwork overview

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

  • 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.

  • 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.

2023

  • Reilly, Samuel. "American All-Star." Apollo 197 (May 2023): 64, 65, fig. 2.

Inscriptions

reverse: signed and dated

Wikidata ID

Q108687002

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