ARTIST STATEMENT

Lorenzo has works at both the Heard Museum in Phoenix and the at the University of Arizona's art museum in Tucson. He has exhibited in galleries in California, Canada and Switzerland. In 1999, Lorenzo was awarded a $20,000 fellowship from the Eitelijorg Museum of the American Indians and Western Art in Indianapolis. He was selected out of 100 Native Americans artists who were to use the award to further their talents by funding new projects. Lorenzo is Professor of Printmaking at Cooper Union.

ARTIST BIO

Lorenzo Clayton grew up in Cannoncito located on the Navajo reservation in New Mexico. Using materials like copper, wood and glass, Lorenzo's abstract art reflects part of what he remembers from his life on the reservation, notably ceremonial arts, and his Western studies. His artist statement from his Jersey City Museum Installation explains his approach this way: "I believe in the modality of abstraction as the core of human experience and expression. I know that this perception of abstraction is due to an indigenous and culturally-based disposition due to my being one half Navajo. To my knowledge, all indigenous cultures seek out the abstraction (the essence) of a general ontology. I use the term "ontology" deliberately to convey a unique perception of and approach to the act of living. Culturally, this act of living investigates the observational relationship of self to environment and the cosmos. By seeking out "essence" (abstraction), the conscious act and process of this endeavor allows for an internalized spiritual nourishment. The result of this nourishment is externalized and transformed into the abstraction of a ritualistic awareness which is the core of experiential existence. These ideas help nurture my creative thought."

COLLECTIONS:
Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of the American Indian, Washington, DC
Museum of Northern Arizona, Flagstaff, Arizona.
Museum of Art, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona.
Heard Museum, Phoenix, Arizona.
Jane Voorhees, Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers State University, NJ.
Morris Museum, Morristown, NJ.
Newark Museum, Newark, NJ.
Eiteljorg Museum, Indianapolis, Indiana

CATALOGS:

New Tribe, New York, Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of the American Indian
So Fine! - Masterworks from the Heard Museum
Who Stole the TeePee? National Museum of the Native American
Contemporary Masters - The Eiteljorg Fellowship
Osaka Triennale 1994 Fifth International Art Competition Osaka, Japan, Fall 1994
Innovations: New Expressions in Native American Painting, The Heard Museum, Phoenix, Arizona, 1984. Color Photo.
Contemporary Native American Art, Gardiner Art Gallery. 1983, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, p. 20 (black and white photo)
Modern Native Abstraction, Philadelphia Art Alliance, 1983. Cover color photo.

REVIEW BY:

Bergen Record, Hackensack, NJ. November 23, 1999
New York Times, New York City, October 30, 1988.
New York Times, New York City, April 3, 1988.
New York Times, New York City, November 30, 1984.
Village Voice, N.Y.C., December 27, 1983.
WNET TV, N.Y.C., February 17, 1983.
Artspeak, N.Y.C., February 17, 1983.
WVHY Radio, Philadelphia, PA., December 13, 1982. *
Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA. December 14, 1982.
The Philadelphia Art Alliance catalog states: "Clayton has developed one of the most ambitious and individualistic visual languages in Native painting today."

PRINTMAKING PROJECTS WITH THE FOLLOWING: (partial listing)

Arakawa. Litho and silkscreen edition of 40 36"x60"; 1984.
Tom Wesselman. Litho and silkscreen edition of 75 22"x30"; 1984.
Juan Sanchez. Litho and silkscreen with chincole edition of 25, three editions of different images 22"x30"; 1988.
Bob Broner. Woodblock editions of 20 printed on rice paper 30"x52"; 1989.
Stuart Diamond. Diptych, litho and silkscreen edition of 42 27"x60"; 1990