Alaska Native Art: Tradition, Innovation, Continuity - Paperback

by Susan W. Fair (Author), Jean Blodgett (Editor)

Ranging from the islands of the Bering Sea to Alaska's interior forests, Alaska Native Art celebrates the rich art of Alaska's Native peoples, both setting their work in the context of historical traditions and demonstrating the vibrant role it continues to play in contemporary Alaskan culture. Alaska Native Art showcases a staggering array of types of art--from beadwork to ivory carving, basketry to skin sewing--from Aleutian Islander, Pacific Eskimo, Tlingit, Athabaskan, Yup'ik, and Inupiaq artists, as well as full-color photographs of artists at work. Lavishly produced, and featuring a fascinating study by author Susan W. Fair of the concept of tradition in the modern world, it is a tribute to the incredible vision of Alaska's Native artists.

Front Jacket

The rich artistic traditions of Alaska Natives are the subject of this landmark volume, which examines the work of the premier Alaska artists of teh twentieth century. Ranging across the state from the islands of the Bering Sea to teh interior forests, Alaska Native Art provides a living context for beadwork and ivory carving, basketry and skin sewing. Examples of work from Tlingit, Aleutian Islanders, Pacific Eskimo, Athabaskan, Yup'ik, and Inupiaq artists make this volume the most comprehensive study of Alaskan art ever published. Beautifully illustrated with full-color photographs of artists and their works, Alaska Native Art examines the concept of tradition in the modern world. Fair demonstrates that tradition is alive and well in Alaksa through the words of Native artists and a multitude of examples, reproduced in color and accompanied by historic photographs. Alaska Native Art is a volume to treasure, a tribute to the incredible vision of Alaska's artists and to the enduring traditions of all of Alaska's Native peoples

Author Biography

Susan W. Fair (1948-2003) was a folklorist, curator, and advocate for Native peoples who published extensively on Alaska Native art.