User:AlyssaOmohundro/Norman Akers

Norman Akers is a Native American member of the Osage Nation, artist, and instructor. He teaches visual arts and is part of the Indigenous Studies program at Kansas University. Akers's works focus on creative research in the form of landscapes and incorporates the cultural, historical and contemporary visuals of life as a Native American.

Biography
Norman Akers was born in Fairfax, Oklahoma, into the Osage Nation. He has cited his background as a Native American and what it means culturally to be an Indian as influences in his art and his landscape inspired art has been described as forceful and demand attention through intersecting lines and passionate color by the Art in Embassies Program. The program has also made references to the multiple perspectives or interpretations and how these can be used to identify spiritual places.

Akers has stated that he interprets his art as a form of cultural expression that tie to his views politically and historically, while maintaining a contemporary form. He has also noted that his art visually captures images that can be seen from multiple perspectives and suggest the relationships between the places he paints and spiritual connection. Akers has specified that his art does not relate to a certain physical place or destination but the spiritual origin these images bring him and relate to him culturally.

Education
In 1982, Akers received his BFA in Painting from the Kansas City Art Institute. The next year Akers received a certificate in Museum studies from the Institute of American Arts. In 1991, Akers received an MFA  from the University of Illinois.

Okesa, 2006
Norman Akers "Okesa" was the first of the series completed in 2006. The painting is completed with oils that depict a small map of Kansas located in the bottom right-hand side of the painting. The painting includes hues of blue, light-yellow, and green, setting the overall tone of the painting to be light. Akers included painted roads seemingly leading to no where and located within the center of the painting sits a tree with its branches cut off. The tree stump contains multiple rings depicting age and tenderness of the tree.

Okesa ll, 2010
Norman Akers "Okesa ll" was the second of the series completed in 2010. The painting is completed with oil paints and uses Akers's background map of Kansas once again. The Map focuses more closely than the original Okesa, specifically on the Osage Indian reservation ( Akers's Native tribe). The painting includes a large dear staring into the eyes of the on-looker of the painting. The painting includes a focused image rather than small fragmented parts such as the first of the series.

Okesa lll, 2017
Norman Akers "Okesa lll " was the third of the series completed in 2017. The painting is completed with oil paints and once again contains Akers's signature map of Kansas as the background of the painting. Similar to the second painting of the series Aker's paints a deer front and center standing on a little rock in the middle of a lake. Bubbles and small acorns accompany the outside of the deer.

Exhibitions

 * 2019: "Stories From the Land", Mingenback Gallery and the Birger Sandzen Memorial Gallery, Lindsborg, Kansas (February 11 - March 15).
 * 2019: "Revisions: Contemporary Native American Art", Snite Museum of Art, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana (February 2 - May 18)
 * 2018/2019: "(RE)CLAIM: Indigenous Artist Reflect on Identity", Nelson Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri
 * 2018/2019: "Art for a New Understanding Native Voices 1950's to Now", Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas (October 6 - January 7)
 * 2018: "Back Where They Came From", Sherry Leedy Contemporary Art Museum, Kansas City, Missouri (September 6 - October 22)