Broadway Gallery in New York City is presenting a solo exhibition by the visual artist Sky Hopinka. Under the title Unforgiven Souls Sing Hymns, the show includes a new series of photographs along with a two-channel video installation.

The exhibition was inspired by Denizens of Hell, a body of poetry which Hopinka wrote for this occasion. In this literary work, Hopinka documents his travels throughout the American West, traversing a rich tapestry of powwows and diners with his spirit friend Passenger Ghost. The photographs on view are an extension of Hopinka's moving image practice, serving as a device that imprints ephemeral images from his journey. Organized into a set of diptychs and triptychs, each of the photographs approaches a sculptural monumentality.

Sky Hopinka, Dislocation Blues, 2017. Image courtesy of the artist.

As a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation and a descendant of the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians, Hopinka makes art that is connected to Indigenous language and cultural practices. Much of Hopinka's oeuvre revolves around the spoken word, finding the sublime in poetry which subtly intertwines English and Chinuk Wawa to distill notions of Indigenous homeland and landscapes. He often focuses on deconstructing language as a means to escape the bounds of traditional storytelling and to create an authentic Indigenous visual experience.

Hopinka's work has been presented at solo and group exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, and Tate Modern in London, among other places. Unforgiven Souls Sing Hymns is open through August 2, 2024 at Broadway Gallery. For more information please check the gallery site.

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