Critical Writing Index

Shelley Niro: 500 Year Itch

by Laurel Saint Pierre

Bowling Green New York, Hamilton Ontario: Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian Art Gallery of Hamilton, 2023

ISBN 9781897407356

"Shelley Niro is widely known for her ability to explore Traditional Stories, transgress boundaries, and embody the ethos of her matriarchal culture. A member of the Kanyen’kehaka (Mohawk) Nation, she uses a wide variety of media, including photography, installation, film, and painting to bring greater visibility to Indigenous women and girls.

"Pushing the limits of photography, Niro incorporates imagery from Traditional Stories to focus on contemporary subjects with wit, irony, and parody. Throughout her work — in her portraiture, sculptures, landscape paintings, photography, and film and video work — Niro challenges common preconceptions about gender, culture, and Indigenous Peoples.

"Shelley Niro: 500 Year Itch brings together 215 reproductions from Niro’s expansive oeuvre, including work published here for the first time. Also included in this career retrospective are three major essays about Niro’s work by Melissa Bennett, Greg Hill, and David W. Penney, as well as texts from seven guest artists, scholars, and curators.

"Shelley Niro: 500 Year Itch is organized and circulated by the Art Gallery of Hamilton with the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI), with curatorial support from the National Gallery of Canada (NGC). Co-curated by Melissa Bennett, AGH Senior Curator of Contemporary Art, Greg Hill, Independent Curator, formerly Audain Senior Curator, Indigenous Art, National Gallery of Canada, and David Penney, Associate Director of Museum scholarship, Exhibitions, and Public Engagement at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian." (Taken from Art Gallery of Hamilton website.)

Contents: Foreword, by Shelley Falconer; Shelley Niro Surrenders Nothing Always, by Tobi Bruce; It Starts With a Whisper, by Mesillsa Bennet; Who is Sky Woman? by Madeline Lennon; Calmly and Fearlessly, by Lori Beavis; Becoming Shelley Niro, by Bryce Kanbara; You're Coming with Me, by Nancy Marie Mithlo; An Incredibly Short Interview with Shelley Niro, by Hulleah J. Tsinhnahjinnie; An Artist That Uses Beads, by Adriana Greci Green; Shelley Niro Matters, by Greg Hill; Resting with Warriors, by Sally Frater; Shelley Niro Lenses, by David W. Penney; List of Plates; Acknowledgements; Contributor Biographies.

ITEM 2023.003 – available for viewing in the Research Centre

Videos, Artworks and Artists Cited

It Starts with a WhisperShelley Niro

It Starts with a WhisperAnna Gronau

Resting With WarriorsShelley Niro

Sky WomanShelley Niro

WaitressShelley Niro

Red Heels HardShelley Niro

The ShirtShelley Niro

The ShirtHulleah J. Tsinhnahjinnie

The ShirtVeronica Passalacqua

Raven's WorldShelley Niro

1779Shelley Niro

Thinking CapsShelley Niro

TreeShelley Niro

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's NestMiloš Forman

The Incredible 25th Year of Mitzi BearclawShelley Niro

Kissed by LightningShelley Niro

BordersShelley Niro

La PietaShelley Niro

This Land is Mime LandShelley Niro

Standing on Guard for TheeShelley Niro