'I make excitement': Twin retrospectives explore the works, impact of Marcus Amerman and Tony Jojola

Tony Jojola studied the basics of glass at Santa Fe’s Institute of American Indian Arts before working alongside the legendary Dale Chihuly.

Marcus Amerman’s beadwork grew from the powwow trinkets he sold as a boy to a motorcycle jacket emblazoned with the image of Brooke Shields.

The twin retrospectives “Pathfinder: 40 Years of Marcus Amerman” and “Master Glass: The Collaborative Spirit of Tony Jojola” explore the works and impact of these artists at the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian.

'I make excitement': Twin retrospectives explore the works, impact of Marcus Amerman and Tony Jojola

Jojola (Isleta Pueblo), who died in 2022, is considered one of the most influential American glass artists of the 20th century. Best known for his organic and vibrantly hued glass vessels, fetishes and totems, he was one of the first Indigenous artists to choose glass and develop to his skill level.

When Jojola studied at IAIA, the fashion designer Lloyd Kiva New predicted glass would be the next focus of American Indian art.

Jojola saw glass as an extension of the pueblo tradition of clay, said Henrietta Lidchi, Wheelwright executive director. The exhibition features his bowls, ollas and fetishes. The artist was known for his innovations in color and form.

He called glass a “clay you can’t touch.”

After studying at Chihuly’s Pilchuck Glass School in Washington and becoming a member of his team, Jojola founded the Taos Glass Workshop in 1999. It focused on teaching Native American youth and mentorship.

Collaboration was essential to Jojola’s aesthetic. He forged a creative relationship with ceramic and public art artist Rosemary Lonewolf (Santa Clara Pueblo), developing a series of blown glass and clay pieces.

“Tony was one of the most generous and creative people I have known,” said Chihuly. “Over the years, we shared many meaningful and creative moments together at Pilchuck, the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe and at the Taos Glass Workshop.”

At the end of his life, Jojola said, “I have so much work to do, there’s no way I will ever be finished.”

Celebrated for his microscopic “photobeadilism,” Amerman (Choctaw) first learned how to draw thread through tiny beads when he attended powwows with his family.

His beaded portraiture has ranged from Georgia O’Keeffe to Buffalo Bill Cody. Drawn from photography, his work creates a tension between image and reality, representation and/or stereotype.

The exhibition includes his first beaded portrait — a young Brooke Shields emblazoned across a leather jacket. His most recent commission from the Wheelwright comes from an historic photograph of the museum’s co-founder, the artist and medicine man Hastiin Klah.

Born in Phoenix, Amerman grew up in the Pacific Northwest before settling in New Mexico. He received his bachelor of arts degree at Washington’s Whitman College, then attended IAIA.

“He always said he found his voice at IAIA,” Lidchi said.

“He was experimental and he likes pop culture,” she continued. “He was looking at a lot of iconic photographs of beautiful women. He also did a Playboy centerfold at one point.”

The exhibition encompasses 12 beaded works, including portraits of Janet Jackson (from a Rolling Stone cover) and Buffalo Bill (from an historic photograph).

“Pathfinder” also highlights Amerman’s collaborative work with artists such as the photographer Cara Romero (Chemehuevi) and the glass artist Preston Singletary (Tlingit).

Amerman recently returned to Santa Fe after taking care of his parents in Idaho for 10 years, Lidchi said.

“Sometimes when I mention that I am an artist to a stranger, they’ll often ask, ‘What do you make?’ ” Amerman said. “I tell them I make excitement.”