ARTIST INFORMATION

NAME: Lorenzo Clayton  
NATION: Diné (Navajo)  
ADDRESS    
TELEPHONE:    
EMAIL: lorenzoreyclayton@gmail.com  
WEBSITE:    
DISCIPLINE: Multi-media Artist  
     
     

ARTIST STATEMENT

Lorenzo has works at both the Heard Museum in Phoenix and the at the University of Arizona's art museum in Tucson. He has exhibited in galleries in California, Canada and Switzerland. In 1999, Lorenzo was awarded a $20,000 fellowship from the Eitelijorg Museum of the American Indians and Western Art in Indianapolis. He was selected out of 100 Native Americans artists who were to use the award to further their talents by funding new projects. Lorenzo is Professor of Printmaking at Cooper Union.

ARTIST BIO

Lorenzo Clayton grew up in Cannoncito located on the Navajo reservation in New Mexico. Using materials like copper, wood and glass, Lorenzo's abstract art reflects part of what he remembers from his life on the reservation, notably ceremonial arts, and his Western studies. His artist statement from his Jersey City Museum Installation explains his approach this way: "I believe in the modality of abstraction as the core of human experience and expression. I know that this perception of abstraction is due to an indigenous and culturally-based disposition due to my being one half Navajo. To my knowledge, all indigenous cultures seek out the abstraction (the essence) of a general ontology. I use the term "ontology" deliberately to convey a unique perception of and approach to the act of living. Culturally, this act of living investigates the observational relationship of self to environment and the cosmos. By seeking out "essence" (abstraction), the conscious act and process of this endeavor allows for an internalized spiritual nourishment. The result of this nourishment is externalized and transformed into the abstraction of a ritualistic awareness which is the core of experiential existence. These ideas help nurture my creative thought."

EDUCATION
1977
Cooper Union, BFA
1972 - 1974
California College of Arts and Crafts
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2008
Native Voices, Long Island University, Brooklyn, NY
2006
New Tribe, New York, Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of the American Indian, New York, NY
1996
Barrett House Galleries, Poughkeepsie, NY
1987
Morris Museum, Morristown, NJ
1983
Gallery Ten, New York, NY
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2009
Relevant: Reflection-Reformation-Revival, Rethinking Contemporary Native American Art, New York, NY
2009
The Importance of In/Visibility, Recent work by Native American Artists Living in New York City, New York, NY
2008
Native Voices, Kentler International Drawing Center, Brooklyn, NY
2007
Post Identity, Nicole Fiaco Gallery, Hudson, NY
2006
Moment By Moment: Mediation For The Hand, North Dakota Museum of Fine Arts, Grand Forks, ND
 
Paumanok, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY
 
Inner Equations, Heard Museum, Phoenix, AZ (collaborative installation)
 
Rutgers Center for Innovative Print and Paper Annual Exhibition, New Brunswick, NJ
2004
Inner Equations, Jersey City Museum, Jersey City, NJ (collaborative installation)
2003
AICH Gallery, New York, NY
2002
Denise Bibro Gallery, New York, NY
 
AIAA Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
2001
University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA
 
Anton Gallery, Washington, DC
 
Memorial Union Gallery, Minot, ND
 
Jan Cicero Gallery, Chicago, IL
2000
Who Stole the TeePee?, Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of the American Indian, New York, NY (Atlatl exhibition sponsored by the Smithsonian, beginning a three year nationwide tour, University of South Dakota, SD)
1999
Eiteljorg Museum, Fellowship recipient and five-man exhibition, Indianapolis, IN
1998
NJ Arts Annual, Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, NJ
1994
Osaka Triennial 1994 Fifth International Art Competition, Osaka, Japan
 
Hudson Guild, New York, NY
1993
Museum of Art, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
1992
Recent Acquisitions, Heard Museum, Phoenix, AZ
1989
Artworks, Trenton, NJ
1988
Jersey City Museum, Jersey City, NJ
 
Dome Gallery, New York, NY
1988
Aurora Gallery, Closter, NJ
 
Hutchins Gallery, Long Island University, Brookville, NY
1985
Sacred Circle Gallery, Pioneer Square, Seattle, WA
 
Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ
 
The Grolier Club, New York, NY
 
Pratt Institute Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
1984
Pratt Manhattan, Gallery Center, New York, NY
 
Queens Art Gallery, Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada
 
No trinkets No Beads, Palais des Nations, Geneva, Switzerland
 
Museum of the Rockies, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT
 
Seattle Center for the Arts, Seattle, WA
 
The New Native American Aesthetic, Marilyn Butler Gallery, Fine Arts, University Art Gallery, California State University, Dominiques Hills, Carsan, CA
 
The Director’s Choice, American Indian Community House, New York, NY
1983
Biennial Fine Arts Invitational, Heard Museum, Phoenix, AZ
 
Marilyn Butler Gallery, Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM
 
Modern Native American Abstraction, American Indian Community House, New York, NY

COLLECTIONS:
Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of the American Indian, Washington, DC
Museum of Northern Arizona, Flagstaff, Arizona.
Museum of Art, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona.
Heard Museum, Phoenix, Arizona.
Jane Voorhees, Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers State University, NJ.
Morris Museum, Morristown, NJ.
Newark Museum, Newark, NJ.
Eiteljorg Museum, Indianapolis, Indiana

AWARDS & COMPETITIONS
1999
Charter Fellow, Eiteljorg Museum
1986
The Pollock-Krasner Foundation Award
1984
Print commissioned for subscribers, The Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum of Rutgers State University of NJ
1983
The New Jersey State Arts Council Arts Grant
1982
Visiting Artist, Museum of the American Indian, New York, NY

CATALOGS:

New Tribe, New York, Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of the American Indian
So Fine! - Masterworks from the Heard Museum
Who Stole the TeePee? National Museum of the Native American
Contemporary Masters - The Eiteljorg Fellowship
Osaka Triennale 1994 Fifth International Art Competition Osaka, Japan, Fall 1994
Innovations: New Expressions in Native American Painting, The Heard Museum, Phoenix, Arizona, 1984. Color Photo.
Contemporary Native American Art, Gardiner Art Gallery. 1983, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, p. 20 (black and white photo)
Modern Native Abstraction, Philadelphia Art Alliance, 1983. Cover color photo.

REVIEW BY:

Bergen Record, Hackensack, NJ. November 23, 1999
New York Times, New York City, October 30, 1988.
New York Times, New York City, April 3, 1988.
New York Times, New York City, November 30, 1984.
Village Voice, N.Y.C., December 27, 1983.
WNET TV, N.Y.C., February 17, 1983.
Artspeak, N.Y.C., February 17, 1983.
WVHY Radio, Philadelphia, PA., December 13, 1982. *
Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA. December 14, 1982.
The Philadelphia Art Alliance catalog states: "Clayton has developed one of the most ambitious and individualistic visual languages in Native painting today."

PRINTMAKING PROJECTS WITH THE FOLLOWING: (partial listing)

Arakawa. Litho and silkscreen edition of 40 36"x60"; 1984.
Tom Wesselman. Litho and silkscreen edition of 75 22"x30"; 1984.
Juan Sanchez. Litho and silkscreen with chincole edition of 25, three editions of different images 22"x30"; 1988.
Bob Broner. Woodblock editions of 20 printed on rice paper 30"x52"; 1989.
Stuart Diamond. Diptych, litho and silkscreen edition of 42 27"x60"; 1990