THOUSAND OAKS, CA – The Four Friends Gallery will hold a Public Opening Reception on March 24, 2017 from 6-9 pm of its latest exhibition: Native Americans: Keeping the Traditions Alive.  The exhibition will run through May 12, 2017.  Gallery viewings are Tuesdays and Thursdays, 1:30 pm to 5:30 pm and by appointment.  The show will feature the works of Zoë Marieh Urness, and include a selection of original photogravures by Edward S. Curtis.  Also on display will be ancient native Anasazi and Mimbris pottery.

            Zoë Marieh Urness is an Alaskan Tlingit and Cherokee Native American whose portraits of modern Native people in traditional regalia and settings aim to send a message; “We are here. And, through our traditions, we are thriving.”  Her unique style fuses documentary and fine art, with her imagery simultaneously reflecting the sensitivity and the ancestral strength of her subjects. Her most recent works include images from the spiritual movement at Standing Rock, North Dakota an experience about which she says:  “As a native photographer from the Tlingit & Cherokee tribes, being able to witness history unfold in an array of events only predicated through prophesy has left me Forever Changed and reunited with my cultural roots instilled in me as a child. Power of prayer and council. Belief in the spiritual workings from ancient times is a weapon that doesn’t need violence to win. History has been made in the unity of us all, spreading healing all around. On December 5th, 2016 outside Cannon Ball, North Dakota at Oceti Sakowin Camp on the edge of Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, military veterans march in support of the water protectors.”

            Educated at Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, CA, Zoë’s current project focuses exclusively on sharing beautiful, powerful images of indigenous Americans and the lands and traditions they hold dear. She has recently visited the Havasupai at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, the Hopi at Second Mesa, the Apache Crown Dancers at Monument Valley, and the Alaskan natives at the biennial Celebration in Juneau. She has showed abroad in the United Kingdom, and made show appearances at Photo L.A., Art Basel Miami, the Heard Market in Arizona, and Native Treasures in Santa Fe. She has made two appearances on the plaza at the Santa Fe Indian Market, winning three blue ribbons, including Best in Division and Best in Category. Recently the Autry Museum recognized her recent image, Keeping Traditions Alive, as best in her division.

            “I was raised to have pride in my culture and to know the importance of keeping Native American traditions alive,” says Urness. “I feel deeply connected to my native heritage, and my recent body of work is the first phase of my expression of that connection.”

            Edward S. Curtis:  At the beginning of the 20th century, Edward S. Curtis worked in the belief that he was in a desperate race against time to document, with film, sound and scholarship, the North American Indian before white expansion and the federal government destroyed what remained of their natives’ way of life.  His photographs represent ideals and imagery designed to create a timeless vision of Native American culture at a time when modern amenities and American expansion had already irrevocably altered the Indian way of life. Curtis biographer, Laurie Lawlor, wrote, “Curtis was far ahead of his contemporaries in sensitivity, tolerance and openness to Native American cultures and ways of thinking.”

            ‘Mimbres’ is the term used to designate a sub region of the Mogollon cultural tradition centered on the Mimbres and Rio Grande Valleys of the Arizona/New Mexico border region. The ‘Classic Mimbris’ phase, which spanned from approximately 1000 to 1150 AD, is particularly known for its distinctive pottery characterized by painted bowls decorated with geometric and figural designs in black on a white background.

            For information, please visit the gallery website:  www.fourfriendsgallery.com and the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/Four-Friends-Gallery-455275737841255 and Email  info@fourfriendsgallery.com or call them at 805/497-7691.

Zoë Marieh Urness is available for interviews by contacting Christopher Broughton  805-601-7530.

MORE‑MORE‑MORE

 DETAILS FOR CALENDAR LISTINGS

FOUR FRIENDS GALLERY

WHAT:  Four Friends Gallery premieres its latest exhibition Native Americans: Keeping the Traditions Alive featuring the works of Zoë Marieh Urness.

WHEN:  Public Opening Reception on March 24 from 6:00 to 9:00 pm.

Show runs now through Wednesday, May 12, 2017.

Gallery hours for this show are Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1:30PM to 5:30 PM and by appointment.

WHERE:  Four Friends Gallery

1414 East Thousand Oaks Blvd.  Suite 111

Thousand Oaks, CA 91362
HOW:  805-601-7530, www.fourfriendsgallery.com, email info@fourfriendsgallery.com and on Facebook.
TICKETS:
Free Admission

OTHER:
Free parking is always available.

MORE 2017 DATES: 

Saturday, March 25, 2017 at 8:00 pm Brogden Bay presents the next up in the live concert series:  An Evening with Mollie O’Brien and Rich Moore.   Grammy Award winner Mollie O’Brien has recorded several critically-acclaimed albums and appeared regularly on Prairie Home Companion from 2002 – 2005.  Rich Moore is a powerhouse guitar player known to produce some of the funniest onstage running commentary.

Saturday, May 6, 2017 at 8:00 pm Brogden Bay presents An Evening with Danny O’Keefe.  O’Keefe put out a string of albums that cemented his reputation as being among the best songwriters of his generation, composing songs such as “Good Time Charlie’s Got The Blues” and Jackson Browne’s version of “The Road.”  His songs have been recorded by Elvis Presley, Cab Calloway, Charlie Rich, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Earl Klugh, Conway Twitty, Leon Russell, Dwight Yoakam, Jerry Lee Lewis, Jimmy Buffett, Judy Collins, Donny Hathaway, John Denver, and many more.

###