Block Museum Exhibition Depicts Over 115 Indigenous Artists 

Selected from an archive of over 500 photographs, Métis artist Rosalie Favell’s black and white portraits aim to speak about “the broad diversity of Indigenous people engaged in the arts and cultural community.” “Rosalie Favell: Indigenous Artists Facing the Camera” is installed at The Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University, and runs until December 3, 2023.

The works themselves are fine and do their jobs in depicting subjects standing frontally, sometimes serious, sometimes smiling. Many of the artists are highly regarded in the field of art history, but the works and exhibition fall short. As an archival and political work, the exhibition is successful, but they’re aesthetically boring, and almost curated haphazardly. 

The portraits also have a black border, which detract from the subject. The show was fine, but not particularly interesting or groundbreaking.