Shared Images: The Innovative Jewelry of Yazzie Johnson and Gail Bird: The Innovative Jewelry of Yazzie Johnson and Gail Bird - Hardcover

Pardue, Diana F.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0890134960 ISBN 13: 9780890134962

Publisher: Museum of New Mexico Press, 2007

Synopsis

Gail Bird (Santo Domingo/Laguna) and Yazzie Johnson (Navajo) have been making jewelry together since 1972 and are considered among the first rank of Native American artists. Shared Images is a retrospective of their careers in the decorative arts, spanning the early 1970s to the present. Drawing inspiration from prehistoric pictograph and petroglyph sites, Johnson and Bird have developed a distinctive set of designs that continue to inspire contemporary creations. The book documents their collaborative process and features a range of exemplary pieces shown in museums and galleries across the country.

About this title

About the Author

Diana F. Pardue is the Curator of Collections at the Heard Museum. She is the author of Native American Bolo Ties: Vintage and Contemporary Artistry (Museum of New Mexico Press) and coauthor of Inventing the Southwest: The Fred Harvey Company and Native American Art.

Reviews

Thank goodness for such diligent curator-authors as Pardue, for many reasons. First, she and others of her ilk bring to light well-regarded artists who might not necessarily have a national or global following. Second, the exquisite color photographs, courtesy of Craig Smith, pay great homage to the detail in each work of art. And third, a broader readership then understands and appreciates the patience and design behind each item. Native American jewelry is a natural topic for such a renowned southwestern museum as the Heard; focus here is on Yazzie Johnson and Gail Bird, a self-taught jeweler couple distinguished by their uses of unusual materials and designs. Exotic stones, from psilomelane to charoite, are featured, as are their intricate concho belts with whimsical names like the Protein Belt and Spots and Dots. Illustrated sidebars explain processes such as overlay and tufa casting. Although the narrative of the two jewelers' lives is somewhat stilted, the jewelry speaks—and sings—for itself. Jacobs, Barbara
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Edition details

• Publisher: Museum of New Mexico Press
• Publication date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0890134960
• ISBN 13: 9780890134962
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 184