Now on display in the UMKC Gallery of Art, Yadooa Hookwu (I Will Speak Now), encompasses mediums including prints, paintings, graphics and installations. Deal’s work combines traditional Paiute visual language and the U.S. flag to explore identity, express resistance, and speak to injustice. Combining punk rock lyrics with 1950s-era comic book illustrations, Deal reckons with Indian stereotypes and white punk angst as a way to communicate modern Indian resistance to a dominant white culture. The sum of the works in the exhibition adds up to a powerful, contemporary statement. Yadooa Hookwu (I Will Speak Now) is a voice that speaks for a people who have been historically marginalized.
Gregg Deal is a member of the Paiute Tribe of Pyramid Lake and a provocative contemporary artist/activist whose work deals with indigenous identity and pop-culture. The artist addresses issues of race relations, American history and Indian stereotypes. Gregg’s artistic practice advances issues within Indian country such as decolonization, the use of Indian mascots, and cultural appropriation.
The UMKC Gallery of Art is the public exhibition space of the College of Arts and Sciences and is located in the Fine Arts Building on the University of Missouri – Kansas City campus.
