Mesoamerica, South America & North America

Borgia Codex, Mictlantecuhtli and Quetzalcalcoatl

Period: Mesoamerica. Folio 56. From Puebla or Tlaxcala, Mexico, Mixteca-Puebla. Medium: Mineral and vegetable pigments on deerskin. Context: 2 important deities. Deity of life and creation with deity of death and destruction. Enter underworld through mouth of creature. Standing on an inverted skull symbolizing the Underworld. Symmetrical and balanced, bright vivid flat colors, highly stylized, geometric patterns and motifs. PG 1095

Coyolxauhqui

Period: Mesoamerican. Culture: Aztec. Medium: Stone. Context: Moon goddess body parts distributed across compostion. Distributive composition; where all the depicted sections of the images are equally placed within the sculpture as a whole making it even. Carved relief sculpture place at bottom of Great Temple. Plotting death of mother. Geometric, stylized, mixed perspective. PG 1097

Codex Medoza, the founding of Tenochtitlan

Period: Mesoamerican. Folio 2 Recto. Medium: Ink and colors on paper. Context: Dates are not exact or an end to the people. Aztecs migrated to create a capital in central Mexico at Tenochtitlan. Codex Mendoza, The founding of Tenochtitlan. Founding of the capital city. Aztec referred to themselves as the meshicas. They were shown a vision of an eagle perched on a prickly pear cactus eating a snake. This vision which they felt was being revealed to them by the sun god told them to create their city there. Bottom shows them defeating their enemies. Skull on stand a ritual for sun god. Full of symbolism. The intended audience was Charles V of Spain, but French pirates intercepted the ship at sea. PG 1093

The Great Temple

Period: Mesoamerican. Location: Tenochtitlan, Mexico City, Mexico. Culture: Aztec. Context: Temple where priests made sacrafices. One shrine dedicated to Huitzilopochtli, other dedicated to Tlaloc. Temples built on existing buildings. Bottom right shows process. Sophisticated building strategies of Aztecs. Hut house on top of staircase. Decapitated at top, parts roll down and land on relief sculpture called Coyolxauhqui. PG 1096

Raven and the first men

Period: North American Coast. Artist: Bill Reid. Context: Monumental wood carving, sculpture in the round. Origin story. Raven was trickster in NW cultures. Raven is tricking humans to come out of their safe clamshell. Once humans leave they see it can be a terrible place. Emphazing the paradoxical nature of life, good with the bad. Stylistically; abstract, simple outlines for texture, disproportionate, geometric forms. PG 1108

Haida house with totem poles

Period: North American Coast. Artist: Bill Reid. Culture: Haida. Location: Queen Charlotte Island, Canada. Context: Recreated Haida houses and totem poles. Totem poles act as mortuary poles (honoring ancestors), identify homes (prominent families would own a family crest, animals, spirits beings could only be used by that family). Doorways were symbolic animal jaws to beginning of journey. Clans origin story. PG 1107

War Helmet Mask

Period: North American Coast/NW (Canada). Culture: Tlingit. Medium: Wood. Context: More naturalistic. May be a portrait of a Tlingit warrior or representation of a supernatural being. The carver intended the face's grimacing expression to intimidate enemies. Enhanced the wearer's strength. PG 1107

Mandan Buffalo-hide robe

Period: North American/Great Plains. Context: Men were in charge of creating representational art. Calendar and Heraldic. Picture shows calendar art. Hide versus rock art. Pictographs were form of their artistic expression. Called calendar art because he is placing the 131st year. Called winter count, each picture would represent each winter. Important that representational art in great plains played an important role in documenting history and exploits. No interest in background to show a clear message. Still has balance and harmony. PG 1109

Kiowi Parfleche

Period: North American/Great Plains. Context: Parfleche-rawhide envelop or container that holds goods. Decorated with abstract motifs. Men were representation, women responsible for abstract art. Objects used for everyday life, utilitarian. Women would approach designs with negative space equally important to colored space. Women would possibly look to their landscapes for inspiration.

Honoring Song at the Painted Tipi

Period: North American/Great Plains/Reservation. Culture: Kiowa. Context: During this time period we see forced assimilation. Ledger paper and pencils only really available. Depicting event. Continued traditional pictograph art. Also trying to record recent lost past. Begin to see more personal art. Before it was more public. Subject matter changes to personal, like humor, love and other things not appropriate for public display. This shows commanche singing in honor of painted tipis with identifiers. Personal adornment shows identity. Flat, trying to accurately record ceremony. PG 1110

Jar with feathers and avanyus

Period: North American/SW. Artist: Maria Martinez & Julian Martinez. Medium: Black-on-black earthenware. Context: Her and her husband were able to replicate the ancient Puebloan style. Women in charge of ceramics and painting the geometric shapes, so husband helping by painting them is new sense of gender role in art production. Culture orignally produced utilitarian forms and used coils instead of wheel. PG 1105

Katsina figurine

Period: North American/SW. Artist: Otto Pentewa. Culture: Pueblo. Medium: Cottonwood root and feathers. Context: Acted as a tangible home for spirits. Rain deity (right). Human form wearing masks. Blue for water, color symbolism. Feathers would bring prayers to the heavens. Some geometric, some naturalistic. Katsinas are benevolent spritits living in mountains and water sources. Patterns symbolic of water and agricultural fertility. PG 1105

Detail of a Kiva mural from Kuaua Pueblo

Period: North American/SW. Culture: Ancestral Puebloan. Location: New Mexico. Medium: Painting. Context: The kiva, or male council house, was the spiritual center of Puebloan life. Kivas were decorated with mural paintings associated with agricultural fertility. This one depicts a lightning man, fish, birds, and seeds. Thick black lines, dots, and a restricted palette. Frontal figure against neutral ground makes an immediate visual impact. PG 1102

Chilkat Blanket

Period: Northwest Coast/Alaska. Medium: Cedar bark and mountain goat wool. Context: Named for an Alaskan Tlingit village. Worn by high ranking tribal members, long wool fringe that sways when dancing, extremely difficult and complex process, circles and curves can be sewn directly into the blanket. Men would design and women would weave it. Gender role. Geometrical treatment. Oviod popular shape (oval in top left) Would incorporate crest of wearer. Great consciousness of harmony in composition. Stylistic elements unified and evenly distributed. When looking at Pacific NW, forms can be highly stylized and rounded. PG 1108

Inka Man working with a Khipu

Period: South America. Culture: Inka. Medium: Ink and colors on vellum. Context: Illustration in the Codex Murua. Inka never developed a writing system bu maintained records using a khipu. Spaniards noted that Inka officials always knew how much maize or cloth was in their empire. Khipu consisted of fiber cord and other knotted thres. Color, position, kind of knot and location signified number and categories. Result of collaboration between a spanish and inka artist. Figures look eurpoean and stand in a plaza with receding paving stones. PG 1100

Inca Llama, Alpaca, and Woman

Period: South American. Culture: Inca. Context: Believed deities filled these objects called huacas. Spanish thought if they destroyed the huacas they destroyed their deities, but the Incas knew the deites would just move on. PG 1102

Remains of the Temple of the Sun

Period: South American. Culture: Inka. Location: Cuzco, Peru. Medium: dry ashlar masonry, interior had gold silver and emeralds. Context: Housed life-size statues of silver and gold. Lost large scale statues. Dedicated to Incan deities, Sun god most important. Strategic spot, in networking lines radiating to other shrines. PG 1101