The Bockley Gallery in Minneapolis is hosting a posthumous solo exhibition that revisits Jim Denomie’s early “Renegade” series, a body of work created between 1994 and 2004. The show runs through Nov. 7, offering free admission and a chance for the Twin Cities community to experience the vivid, politically charged paintings that helped define Denomie’s career.
Moon‑Bound Vision in “The Prophecy”
One of the centerpiece works, The Prophecy, imagines Native American life on the moon. In the painting, Earth glows in the night sky beside distant planets while a giant walleye chases a dragonfly across the cosmos. Below, Native figures ride winged horses between two towering mesas—one marked by a U.S. moon station, the other by a traditional tipi. The scene suggests a future where colonization forces Indigenous peoples far from their ancestral lands, or where they have seized space technology on their own terms.
Denomie began the Renegade series while completing his undergraduate studies at the University of Minnesota. Courses on the reservation system and conversations with fellow Native students inspired the series’ recurring mesa motifs, which serve as metaphors for the reservations that confine Indigenous communities.
Curatorial Insight and Legacy
Independent curator Robert Cozzolino, who has featured Denomie’s work at the Minneapolis Institute of Art and New York’s Andrew Edlin Gallery, described Denomie as a “casual mentor” who balanced a physically demanding construction job with a deep commitment to the Twin Cities art scene. Cozzolino noted that the Renegade paintings are more formulaic and tightly composed than Denomie’s later, more expressive works, adding that the early series “puts what he really cared about and his art together.”
Denomie’s career was cut short when he was diagnosed with cancer in 2022. He passed away at his Minnesota home that year at age 66, but his influence endures among local artists and curators who hope his work will gain broader national recognition.
Other Twin Cities Arts Highlights This Weekend
While the Renegade exhibition draws art lovers to downtown Minneapolis, the city’s cultural calendar offers several free events:
- Poetry Pajamas and Jams: Minneapolis Poet Laureate Junauda Petrus celebrates the end of her two‑year term with a night of music and poetry at Pillsbury House and Theatre on Friday, Oct. 23, 6 p.m. Attendees are encouraged to wear pajamas, bonnets, and slippers.
- Hmong Arts Celebration: The Mall of America hosts its second annual Hmong Arts Celebration on Saturday, Oct. 24, featuring K‑pop dance, traditional qeej music, a fashion show, and a talk by entrepreneur Cheng Kue about pitching his shoe brand on “Shark Tank.”
- International Sculpture Conference: Free tours of outdoor sculpture installations are available at Caponi Art Park in Eagan, All My Relations Arts in Minneapolis, the University of Minnesota’s Quarter Gallery, and the Katherine E. Nash Gallery. A community mural honoring late artist John Biggers will be unveiled along the Olson Memorial Highway bridge.
All events are free and open to the public, providing ample opportunity for families, faith communities, and art enthusiasts to engage with the vibrant cultural life of the Twin Cities.
Original reporting: Sahan Journal — read the source article.
