On the Road of Dreams
Artist Jeremy Fish’s reverse trek along Route 66 is bringing him to OKC.
Jeremy Fish got the memo: A certain ribbon of asphalt was gonna be celebrating a big centennial this year. Route 66, no less, that Chicago-to-L.A. icon of American car culture and highway to West Coast cool. Who hasn’t dreamed of getting out on that open road?
Inspired by the centennial, the history, the critters and machines that transformed the American West, San Francisco-based Fish composed 20 new screen prints in honor of The Mother Road. Not only that, the artist set out on a Route 66 journey in reverse. Starting the 2,448-mile trip in southern California, Fish has been traveling east behind the wheel of his 1987 Toyota Corolla, dubbed the “Golden Eagle,” to stops like Flagstaff and Albuquerque.
With a little luck, Fish is set to land his Golden Eagle in Oklahoma City on Friday, Oct. 2, from 6 to 9 PM at Denise Duong’s Little D Gallery on Paseo. At least 10 of Fish’s screenprints will be on view and editions will be for sale.
Fish is an accomplished, versatile artist who pivots from a unique brand of surrealist-meets-symbolist drawing and painting, to large public art projects, to a crisp graphic design style that translates beautifully to screen printing in one or two colors.
Fish’s zany hybrid mashups may include Muppet monster trucks, Model-T horses on skateboards and vintage bunny buses with layers of historic pop culture references. There’s a li’l bit of Ken Kesey and a li’l bit of Ralph Steadman’s inventive spirits in these playful images, although Fish has a distinctive comic illustration style that is somehow funny and slightly disturbing as one absorbs the details.
On the Road of Dreams has a clever, symbolic story to tell about the absurd arc of human transport and its environmental impact. Fish has seen the future in the Bay Area and has chosen a 1987 Golden Eagle over a self-driving car. You can meet the traveling artist in person on Oct. 2, acquire a signed print and support the tour before it rolls on to Kansas City, St. Louis and the eastern terminus of the Mother Road in Chicago. To quote a great Okie film, “Stay gold,” Fish.
On the Road of Dreams Screen Print tour featuring the transportation-themed artwork of Jeremy Fish, Oct. 2-31, Little D Gallery, 3003A Paseo St., Oklahoma City.
Storytelling in Skin
Tattoo traditions take the stage at the NDN Territory Gathering of Ink.
Anthropologist Lars Krutak published an impressive tome last year called Indigenous Tattoo Traditions: Humanity through Skin and Ink. He researched tattoo practices in cultures across every continent, from the Arctic to Papua New Guinea to the American Plains. While we tend to think of our recent era of machine tattooing as the ultimate form of personal decoration, its function as a visual language has much deeper communal, ritual and spiritual meanings that date back thousands of years.
Indigenous tattoo traditions amount to a global cultural heritage; one that must be continuously revitalized so that it can inspire future generations. NDN Territory Gathering of Ink is an event dedicated to honoring, preserving and celebrating Indigenous skin marking practices.
Taking place at the OKANA Resort & Waterpark Oct. 23-25, with support from Muscogee Nation Businesses, LLC, the Gathering of Ink will create space for artists to demonstrate hand poke techniques in a wide variety of styles. Several artists take inspiration from traditional designs in other media such as beadwork, basketry or rock art.
The tools of the trade have scarcely changed; bone or stone needles, thorns, spines or sharpened plant materials do the poking. Inks are still sustainably harvested from naturally occurring pigments in minerals, plants—even bugs. One imagines it’s as painful to receive those pigments under the skin as it ever was. The Gathering of Ink will showcase the resilience of this ancient practice among new generations of artists.
Several tribal nations from Oklahoma are well represented among the confirmed artists, such as Nathalie Standingcloud based in Tahlequah, Charis Johnson-Turner of Edmond and Kii Johnson of Tulsa. Out-of-state artists like Ashley Foreman, Missy Mahan, Shelly Wahweotten and Nipinet Landsem will bring their own tribal expressions and design skills from California, Arizona, Missouri and Minnesota.
Performances are scheduled throughout the weekend by Sten Joddi, who doubles as a hip-hop and tattoo artist; the Central Plains Dance Troupe; and accomplished flute player and visual artist Randy Kemp with several guest DJ sets. NDN Territory Gathering of Ink promises to be an opportunity to build community, share knowledge and celebrate this storied art form in skin.
This article appears in Thunder Season Preview.