The artist Jimmie Durham, who has died at the age of 81, is perhaps best known for the controversy surrounding his ethnic origins.
In early interviews, Durham both claimed Cherokee heritage and was identified as such by the press. In a 1996 interview he referred to Native American nationhood as “our nationhood” and spoke about his ancestors fighting the US government between 1890 and 1923.
However, in 2017 during his travelling exhibition “At the Center of The World”, a group of Cherokee artists, scholars, activists and citizens published a scathing editorial in Indian Country Today, remarking: “No matter what metric is used to determine Indigenous status, Durham does not fulfil any of them,” which they deemed spectacular, “because Cherokees are one of the most well-documented ethnic groups in the United States”. The nature of some of his work did nothing to quell the feeling from some that he was being disrespectful.
In an early self-portrait (1986), Durham wrote notes and decorated a silhouette of himself drawn by his partner. On his nether regions, he placed cedar wood decorated in bright red and yellow alongside the annotation: “Indian penises are unusually large and colourful.”
Towards the end of his life, he used less imagery associated with Native American culture and spoke more cryptically about his heritage. In a 2017 interview with The New York Times, he said: “I am perfectly willing to be called Cherokee. But I’m not a Cherokee artist or Indian artist, no more than Brancusi was a Romanian artist.”
In 2019, Durham was awarded the Venice Biennale. His work has been exhibited at galleries including London’s Serpentine Galleries, New York’s 22 Wooster Gallery and Brussels’ Palais des Beaux-Arts.
Before gaining recognition as an artist, Durham was an activist for indigenous people. He was a director of the International Indian Treaty Council, joining the post in 1974. He left in part due to government persecution of Native Americans.
It is widely believed that Durham was born in Houston to Ethel and Jerry Durham. The family lived in various spots in the south as his father sought construction work. After he left home as a teenager, Durham too travelled around the south doing ranching jobs. At 19, he joined the navy.
His first exhibition was held in 1967 at the University of Texas. By 1970, he had enrolled at the École des Beaux-Arts in Geneva. In 1990, the Indian Arts and Crafts Act was introduced. In layman’s terms, it meant that falsely representing any artwork as Indian was punishable with a five-year prison term, fines of up to $250,000 or both.
According to Indian Country Today, it led to the cancellation of several of his exhibitions. Durham moved to Europe in 1994 and is survived by his partner Maria Thereza Alves.
Jimmie Durham, artist, born 10 July 1940, died 17 November 2021
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