Larry McNeil,
professor at Boise State University, is a distinguished photographer
with a focus on subject matter relating to that of his Native
American heritage. During his presentation, he shared pieces from
two different collections. The first collection, titled the Fly by
Night Mythology, is a collection created by imposing text and other
images in addition to the featured photography with the raven and '59
Caddillac's being a significant recurring motif. To Mr. McNeil's
tribe, the raven represents a creation spirit. The '59 Cadillac,
with their iconic dual rear fin design, reminded him of the orca,
also an important animal in Native American mythology. In other
images of this collection, Mr. McNeil used lithography to impose
tribal designs onto his prints.
The next
collection, titled “The Home Planet” featured many images of coal
fired power plants, power lines, and other industrial images of the
sort. The collection shows the relationship between our natural
landscapes and these huge, man-made structures which are slowly
polluting and destroying the former. They also show a unique image
of beauty at the same time; although as a viewer you are aware of the
negative ecological impacts of the image that you are viewing,
artistically the photos are still beautiful in that strangely unique
way. Again, the raven makes an appearance as a motif in this
collection. However, to me, the gas mask motif is the most
significant of this collection. Many of the landscapes with
industrial structures have an image of a gas mask or a person wearing
a gas mask imposed onto the original photograph.
In conclusion, I
enjoyed the artwork presented by Larry McNeil. Although I couldn't
wholeheartedly agree with his anti-western diatribe during his
speech, I could understand where he was coming from and could see how
that greatly affected and inspired the direction and vision of his
artwork, which to me was undoubtedly phenomenal. The meaning and
messages behind many of his pieces I believe speaks to a universal
humanistic element in relation to the natural world around us.
