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Cannupa Hanska Luger’s exhibition American Traditional at Garth Greenan Gallery in New York brings together bison sculptures, wood, ink and archival references to address the mass slaughter of buffalo during westward expansion. Hyperallergic’s Hrag Vartanian describes the exhibition as the artist’s strongest work yet; the review interprets its forms as linking beauty with histories of violence. The supplied report does not give the exhibition’s dates or a detailed account of every work.
Cannupa Hanska Luger’s American Traditional, on view at Garth Greenan Gallery in New York’s Soho, uses sculptural bison forms and archival references to address the slaughter of buffalo during European settlement and westward expansion. In a Hyperallergic review, Editor-at-Large Hrag Vartanian calls the exhibition the artist’s strongest work yet, describing how its restrained forms bring the history of destruction into the gallery, as explored in Cannupa Hanska Luger’s work.
The exhibition marks a shift from the participatory, ceramics-heavy projects for which Luger is best known, according to Vartanian. The review describes a synthesis of wood, ink and archival material that gives the new works a more declarative character. The source material does not provide a complete checklist or the show’s dates.
One sculpture is an abstracted bison made from ironstone clay and sumi ink, set on a burned and blackened 19th-century American dining table. Another arrangement places a stack of bison skulls on a surface whose legs are made from vintage axes. The objects connect domestic and historical materials with the violence of buffalo slaughter, as interpreted in the review and echoed by the Buffalo Puppet Procession.
Vartanian writes that the forms’ visual appeal can make viewers nearly forget the destruction they evoke, but says that history is embedded in the work, a theme also considered in Arthur Jafa’s Elegy To America. The review also recalls an 1892 photograph of two men beside a hill of buffalo skulls, which the writer encountered at the Baltimore Museum of Art. That image is a point of comparison in the article, not a work identified as part of Luger’s exhibition.
How the Sculptures Reframe Buffalo History
The exhibition places the history of buffalo slaughter at the center of a contemporary art presentation, asking viewers to encounter that past through materials associated with home, craft and the archive. The contrast between the bison forms and the charred table or axe-legged surface gives the objects a visual tension: the works can attract attention while pointing toward the violence behind the history they invoke.
Vartanian’s review situates that history alongside the relationship between buffalo and Native American communities, which he describes as having lived in symbiotic relationship with the animal for millennia. The exhibition’s subject matters beyond its formal choices because it challenges viewers to consider how familiar images of westward expansion can obscure the scale and consequences of the destruction. The source does not make claims about the exhibition’s broader public response or impact.
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An Earlier Encounter With Buffalo Skulls
Vartanian opens his account by recalling an 1892 photograph of two men and a hill of buffalo skulls displayed at the Baltimore Museum of Art. In the museum’s exhibition Preoccupied: Indigenizing the Museum, the image was covered by a small wall-mounted curtain designed by Yurok artist Stormi Turner. Visitors had to actively uncover it, an intervention Vartanian says gave the image a sense of care and tragedy.
The reviewer compares that experience with his visit to American Traditional. The comparison helps explain why archival images matter to his reading of Luger’s works: both the covered photograph and the sculptures ask viewers to confront a violent history rather than treat it as distant background. This is Vartanian’s interpretation of the exhibition, not a stated description from the gallery in the material provided.
““strongest work yet””
— Hrag Vartanian, Hyperallergic editor-at-large
Show Dates and Gallery Details Not Provided
The supplied report does not state when American Traditional opened or closes, its full list of works, or whether the gallery has published an artist statement about the exhibition. It also gives no attendance figures or response from visitors. The article’s account of how the works address westward expansion is attributable to Vartanian’s review; the material does not include a separate statement from Luger or the gallery.
Gallery Information and Further Response
Readers seeking practical details, including exhibition dates and visiting information, will need to check Garth Greenan Gallery’s current listings; those details are absent from the supplied report. The available material also does not announce a related event, publication or next exhibition. Any further account of Luger’s intentions or public response would require additional statements or reporting beyond the review summarized here.
Key Questions
What is American Traditional?
American Traditional is an exhibition by Cannupa Hanska Luger at Garth Greenan Gallery in New York’s Soho. Hyperallergic’s Hrag Vartanian describes it as a synthesis of wood, ink and archival references.
What history does the exhibition address?
The works address the slaughter of buffalo during European settlement and westward expansion, as discussed in Vartanian’s review. The article also notes the longstanding relationship between buffalo and Native American communities.
What materials appear in the works described?
The review describes an abstracted bison made from ironstone clay and sumi ink, placed on a burned 19th-century dining table. It also describes bison skull forms displayed on a surface with vintage axes for legs.
When can visitors see the exhibition?
The supplied report does not give opening or closing dates. Check Garth Greenan Gallery’s current information for availability and visitor details.
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