"We all have to pay bills"

Zeitgenössische Sioux-Künstler und der Markt

Abstract

In the early twentieth century, a two-dimensional style of 'Indian Art' was developed, which was focused on marketing and became the 'authentic' Native American contemporary art. Even though native artists started to paint in new styles not later than in the 1950s, an important part of the market for contemporary Native American art has remained highly stereotypical, especially in rural parts of the United States like South Dakota where Sioux artists struggle between the expectations of the market and their own artistic demands. Even though some of them place high artistic demands on their work, which is usually also a representation of Lakota culture, they are or feel dependent on the market and the wishes of their customers, as well as the expectations of the art world (see Becker 1982) of South Dakota. Some artists submit to the market as they have to make a living. As Del Iron Cloud clearly remarks: 'We all have to pay bills!' Others, mostly academically trained artists, try to stay independent from this influence and want to help the younger generation arrive artistically in the twenty-first century. As the influence of the place and art world of South Dakota is huge, these artists want to make the young people leave the reservations to see other art worlds and to learn how art can be more than something through which just to earn enough money to survive.