Postcommodity facts for kids

Postcommodity is a group of Native American artists from the Southwest United States. They started in 2007 with Kade Twist and Steve Yazzie. Their name, "Postcommodity," refers to a time in the late 1800s and 1900s when Native American art was often traded like goods. The "post" part means their art is a modern take on traditional Native art forms.

Today, the group includes Kade Twist and Cristobal Martinez. Some artists who used to be part of Postcommodity are Raven Chacon (from 2009-2018), Steve Yazzie (from 2007-2010), and Nathan Young (from 2007-2015).

Exploring Art Styles and Meanings

A "scare-eye" balloon made by Postcommodity members Raven Chacon, Cristóbal Martínez, and Kade L. Twist in 2015, shown at the Art Institute of Chicago.

Postcommodity uses modern tools like sound and video in their art. This is different from what was known as Native American "Commodity Art." Many people describe their work as having ASMR qualities, which means it can create a tingling or relaxing feeling through sound. Recently, they have also started adding their art to buildings. This might involve putting speakers on existing structures or even building their own unique art spaces.

A common idea in their art is the use of Bird scarer balloons. These balloons often feature Native American colors and symbols. The artists use these balloons to "push back against Western ways of thinking and imagining." They want their art to challenge common ideas.

Besides visual art and ASMR experiences, Postcommodity also creates music. They often put together music from other artists and release it on LP records.

Notable Artworks by Year

This section lists some of the important artworks created by Postcommodity.

2008

• Repellent Eye Over Phoenix

2009

• Worldview Manipulation Therapy
• Do You Remember When?
• Dead River

2010

• My Blood is in the Water
• If History Moves At the Speed of its Weapons, Then the Shape of the Arrow is Changing
• It's My Second Home, But I Have a Very Spiritual Connection With This Place

2011

• Gallup Motel Butchering
• The Night is Filled With the Harmonics of Suburban Dreams
• Radiophonic Territory (Nocturne)
• A More Just, Verdant and Harmonious Resolution
• Mother, Teacher, Destroyer
• Repellent Eye (Winnipeg)

2012

• With Salvage and Knife Tongue

2013

• Game Remains (Ongoing)

2014

• People of Good Will (2014-2016)

2015

• Repellent Fence / Valla Repelente (US/Mexico Borderlands)
• Pollination

2016

• A Very Long Line

2017

• In Memorium
• Blind / Curtain
• The Ears Between Worlds are Always Speaking
• Coyotaje

2018

From Smoke and Tangled Waters We Carried Fire Home by Postcommodity.

• From Smoke and Tangled Waters We Carried Fire Home

2019

• The Point of Final Collapse
• With Each Incentive
• It Exists in Many Forms

2020

• Some Reach While Others Clap
• Let Us Pray for the Water Between Us

Music Releases

Postcommodity has also released several music albums and projects.

2007

• Postcommodity + Magor

2011

• The Contour 2011 Sound + Vision LP: Piles of Cougar Pelts (recorded 2001–2011)
• Your New Age Dream Contains More Blood Than You Imagine

2015

• We Lost Half the Forest and the Rest Will Burn This Summer

Books Published

The group has also published books related to their art and ideas.

2010

• Postcommodity + Magor, Postcommodity Publications (PCP)

Exhibitions Around the World

Postcommodity's art has been shown in many places, including museums and galleries.

2007

• 4+4+4 Days in Motion Festival, Prague, Czech Republic
• Intersections, Institute Slavonice, Center For the Future, Slavonice, Czech Republic

2009

• Martha and Mary Street Fair, Arizona State University Art Museum Happening
• Native Confluence: Sustaining Cultures, Arizona State University Art Museum
• Worldview Manipulation Therapy, Ice House, Phoenix, AZ

2010

• Muorrajurdagat, The National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design, Oslo Norway
• It Wasn't the Dream of Golden Cities, Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, Santa Fe, NM

2011

• Here, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art Museum, Philadelphia, PA
• Nuit Blanche, Toronto, Canada.
• Contour 2011, 5th Bienniel of Sound and Image, Mechelen, Belgium.
• Half Life: Patterns of Change, Santa Fe Art Institute, Santa Fe, NM
• Close Encounters, Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art, Winnipeg, Canada
• The Night is Filled With the Harmonics of Suburban Dreams, Lawrence Arts Center, Lawrence, KS

2012

• 18th Biennale of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
• Time Lapse / March 2012, Site Santa Fe, Santa Fe, New Mexico
• Adelaide International 2012: Restless, Adelaide, Australia

2013

• It's My Second Home, But I Have a Very Spiritual Connection With This Place, Headlands Center for the Arts, Sausalito, CA

2014

• Boundary//Battle, Redline, Denver, CO
• Free State Festival, Lawerence Art Center, Lawerence, KS

2015

• Ende Tymes Festival of Noise and Liberation, Knockdown Center, Brooklyn, NY
• Image Festival, A Non-Place in A Space, A Space Gallery, Toronto, ON
• You Are On Indian Land, Radiator Gallery, New York, NY
• Repellent Fence, US/Mexican Border, Douglas, AZ, U.S., Agua Prieta, Sonora, Mex.
• The Advice Seekers Want To Be Told Their Right, Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO
• Gallup Motel Butchering, CentralTrak Gallery, University of Texas, Dallas, TX
• Pollination, SouthwestNET: Postcommodity, Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Scottsdale, AZ

2016

• Screens and Thresholds, Presentation House Gallery, North Vancouver, BC
• Visions Into Infinite Archives, SOMArts, San Francisco, CA
• A Very Long Line, Center for Contemporary Art, Santa Fe, NM
• People of Good Will, Musagetes Foundation, Guelph, Canada

2017

• In Around Beyond, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA
• I am you, you are too, Walker Art Center, Minneopolis, MN
• Toronto International Film Festival, Toronto, ON
• documenta14, Kassel, DE
• documenta14, Athens, GR
• 2017 Whitney Biennial, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
• Resistance After Nature, Haverford Cantor Fitzgerald Gallery, Haverford, PA
• Land Art - Broken Ground New Beginnings, Florida State University Museum of Fine Arts, Tallahassee, FL
• A Very Long Line, Esker Foundation, Calgary, Canada
• Coyotaje, Art in General, New York, NY

2018

• 57th Carnegie International, 2018, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA
• Nature's Nation: American Art and Environment, Princeton Art Museum, Princeton, NJ
• Califas: Art of the US-Mexico Borderlands, Richmond Art Center, Richmond, CA
• Hyperobjects, Ballroom Marfa, Marfa, TX
• Coyotaje, Art Gallery of York University, Toronto, Canada

2019

• how the light gets in, 2019, Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
• Desert X, 2019, Coachella Valley, CA
• Some Reach While Others Clap, LAXArt, Los Angeles, CA
• The Point of Final Collapse, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA
• With Each Incentive, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL

Awards and Recognitions

Postcommodity has received many awards and grants for their artistic work.

2007

• Telluride Institute Fellowship for a residency at the Center for the Future in the Czech Republic.

2008

• Common Ground Grant, First Nations Composers Imitative, American Composers Forum

2009

• Artist Project Grant, Arizona Commission on the Arts.

2010

• Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters and Sculptors Grant.
• Harpo Foundation Grant.
• National Museum of the American Indian, Expressive Arts Grant.
• Elly Kay Fund Award for excellence in contemporary art.

2012

• Creative Capital Artist Grant.

2013

• Art Matters Grant.

2014

• Native Arts and Cultures Foundation Grant.

2017

• Art of Change Fellowship, Ford Foundation.
• USArtist International Grant, Mid Atlantic Art Foundation.

2018

• Fine Prize, The Fine Foundation.

2019

• The Harker Fund of The San Francisco Foundation.