gallupARTS is proud to present Exposé: A Show for Economic Justice. Opening on Saturday, August 6, Exposé is a special limited-run show exploring issues of exploitation in the Native arts market through the work of five Diné visual and literary artists: Armond Antonio, Jerry Brown, Manny Loley, Tasha N.,  and Jay Smiley. 

The featured artists created works of art specifically for Exposé, sharing personal stories about, lived experiences of, historical approaches to, and analytical perspectives on the Native arts market. As a whole, Exposé paints a multidimensional picture of the biased and inequitable dynamics at play, prompting reflection and depth of understanding. 

Kicking off with an opening event on Saturday, August 6 from 5 – 7pm, Exposé will be open to the public for one week, from August 9 – 14 between 10am and 6pm daily, at 204 E. Aztec Ave. (in the old Century 21 office building). It will be open by appointment only through September 3. 

The featured artists are: 

    • Armond Antonio: Antonio is a Diné artist working in pencil, acrylic, oil, watercolor, mixed media, and block printing who often turns his eye for raw beauty to the landscape, animals and people. From Gallup, Armond also leads an active life as horseman. He regularly participates in the Sovereign Santa Fe exhibition, and has exhibited his work across the Southwest. Find him on Instagram @antonio_studioarts. 
    • Jerry Brown: Jerry Brown is a contemporary Diné painter from Mariano Lake, NM. He’s been making artwork for his entire life, and is a graduate of the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe. Jerry creates abstract mixed media paintings influenced by his Diné culture and daily life that combine paint, modeling paste, paper and natural materials. Jerry is a beloved and acclaimed local artist famous for his hummingbirds. Find him on Instagram @jerrybrownart.
    • Manny Loley: Manny Loley is from Casamero Lake, New Mexico. He holds an M.F.A. in fiction from the Institute of American Indian Arts and he is a current Ph.D. candidate in English and literary arts at the University of Denver. Loley is a member of Saad Bee Hózhǫ́: Diné Writers’ Collective and director of the Emerging Diné Writers’ Institute. He is also the program coordinator for Six Directions: Indigenous Creative Writing Program through Lighthouse Writers Workshop in Denver, CO. His work has found homes in Pleaides Magazine,  the Massachusetts Review, the Santa Fe Literary Review, Broadsided Press, the Yellow Medicine Review, and the Diné Reader: an Anthology of Navajo Literature, among others. His writing has been thrice nominated for Pushcart Prizes. Loley is at work on a novel titled They Collect Rain in Their Palms. 
    • Tasha N.: Tasha N. is a Diné mixed media artist, graphic designer and photographer. Her art is inspired by the local landscape, culture, and her childhood growing up in the greater Gallup area. Her goal as an artist is to inspire others to look for the extraordinary in the ordinary. Find her on Instagram @pacotacorox.
    • Jay Smiley: Jay Smiley is a Diné artist from Tuba City, Arizona who creates a mixture of abstract, contemporary, and street-influenced paintings. Jay was raised valuing Ké (kinship/family) and Diné tradition while being immersed in pop culture, hip-hop, expression and dance. His work finds balance in a complex modern world, and is a way to give back to his community. He is a member of the established art collective “Medicine Paint Dream Warriors” and has many murals scattered throughout the Southwest from Lower Antelope Canyon Tours to a collaboration piece with kids from the community in Navajo, New Mexico and the IMPACT project to a room at Nativo Lodge in Albuquerque. Find him on Instagram @jaysmileylive.