Controversial artist Clairmont

Nothing Conventional About This Indian ArtistThere is nothing traditional about Corwin "Corky" Clairmont's artwork. In unconventional ways, he's spent a lifetime challenging the viewers of his work to understand what he has to say. Every piece of his artwork gives way to ironic twists and turns, full of social and political commentary as it relates to his American Indian culture.One example:One of his most recent works, "Indian Country Passage Denied," is a perfect example of the provocative nature of his work. The collagraph depicts modern-day passport images of Lewis and Clark against a colorful background meant to reflect American Indians' rich past. In a portfolio of Clairmont's prints, "Native Perspectives on the Trail," the commentary points out that Lewis and Clark's historic expedition "was one of exploration but also the demonstration of arrogant superiority and the cementing of territorial lines.

"Lewis and Clark did not proceed as guests in a foreign land, but as conquerors ... Clairmont's print leads us to ask: 'What if Lewis and Clark needed passports and what if their passage had been denied?'"

Another example:His work has sparked controversy on several occasions. Perhaps the most vocal outcry was spurred by a piece called "Paha Sapa," depicting two families—one white, one red—viewing Mount Rushmore. The Euro-American family has the faces of the U.S. presidents reflected in their glasses, but the Indian family has four skulls reflected and positioned in the same places as the presidents' heads, implying the Lakota's disdain over what they see as a desecration of a mountain into a tourist trap.

School trips to the Paris Gibson Square Museum where the piece was on display were canceled as the controversy raged in the mid-1990s.

As well-known American Indian artist and poet Gail Tremblay explained, "any native person with a sense of history understands the content of this work instantly," recounting the hand America's earliest presidents had in destroying the Indian culture.


Comment:  Indian Country Passage Denied is a good idea, but the execution doesn't "wow" me. Nice colors, but I don't see the background reflecting Indians' "rich past."

But Paha Sapa does wow me. The Indians see skulls instead of heads...how great is that? I don't think you have to be Native to understand the context or the message.

For more examples of controversial art, see Scholder Broke Vow, Rules and Provocative Art About Indians.