Jemez Pueblo Artist Jaque Fragua’s “Gun Show” Opens Friday at These Days Gallery in LA

Published June 18, 2019

LOS ANGELES — These Days Gallery is pleased to present Gun Show, a solo exhibition of new work by Jaque Fragua. The exhibition opens Friday, June 22, 2019 at These Days Gallery, located at 118 Winston in Los Angeles.

Jaque Fragua

Fragua (b. 1986, Jemez Pueblo, New Mexico) is an artist whose work features visions drawn from traditional Native American ceramics, blankets, tattoo designs and more. Fragua authentically repurposes his culture’s iconography, which conceptually subverts our overconsumption of misappropriated Native American design and identity. Fragua studied Visual Communications at the Institute of American Indian Arts and has exhibited widely both throughout the US, Europe, and Japan.

“Gun Show is a title, a double entendre, a metaphor, a facsimile of our current situation. As an artist, how do you defend your constitutional rights? Art is a weapon, guns are also weapons.” says Jaque. “I utilize both. I exercise my right to this land, and I’m governed by laws that predate any current law of the United States of America. I’m a human being that is sovereign, and I come from a tribe that is sovereign. Existing in an environment that seems lawless, I will utilize the tools that are lawful to protect myself and my tribe. How do you engage and protect your freedom of speech?”

“Art has always been a struggle for me. I relate this struggle to the angst of my identity. My identity is not just rooted in Native American culture. Instead, I find myself an amalgam of DNAs, historical trauma, boarding schools, civil rights, Alcatraz, American dreams, urbanization, reservation tragedy, creative triumph, war stories, fist fights, jail time, racial profiling, mixed opinions, hip-hop, punk, rock & roll, jazz, graffiti, tattoos, dark brown skin, long black hair, spiritual wisdom, traditional knowledge, direct action, and painting…”

WHAT:

Gun Show, an exhibition of new work by Jaque Fragua

WHEN:

June 22 – July 28, 2019

WHERE:

These Days Gallery

118 Winston

Los Angeles, California