New Mexico Magazine
Breaking Out
In years to come, perhaps that’s how this early-21st-century moment in Native art will be known. There’s a growing awareness that Naranjo and peers such as painter Tony Abeyta, and especially the emerging millennials coming up behind them, are shaping history right now by working hard in a fast moving present shaped by communications technology and globalization. This dissolution of borders means an enhanced sense of freedom and ambition. Conversations about identity, oppression, and creation that were formerly located in New Mexico—the epicenter of the world of North American Native art in the 20th century—are merging into a global indigenous discussion. The artists are connecting with new sources of inspiration, and new audiences with few preconceived notions of what Native art should be.
