Jeffrey Gibson
the space in which to place me
The Broad, Los Angeles
May 10 - September 28, 2025
BIRDS FLYING HIGH YOU KNOW HOW I FEEL, 2024
Mural, acrylic on Polytab,
12 ft. 6 ¾ in. × 26 ft. 5 ¾ in. (382.9 × 807.1 cm)
The Broad presents Jeffrey Gibson: the space in which to place me, a special exhibition of the artist’s multidimensional work, adapted from its original presentation at the U.S. Pavilion at the 60th Venice Biennale in 2024, where Jeffrey Gibson was the first Indigenous artist to represent the United States with a solo exhibition. Gibson’s first single-artist museum exhibition in Southern California, The Broad’s presentation includes over thirty artworks joyously affirming the artist’s radically inclusive vision. The exhibition highlights Gibson’s distinct use of geometric design and saturated color alongside references to 19th and 20th century foundational American documents and modern music, critiquing systemic injustices and imagining a more equitable future.
Jeffrey Gibson: the space in which to place me borrows its title from the Oglala Lakota poet Layli Long Soldier’s poem “Ȟe Sápa,” which contemplates Indigeneity using a playful geometric format. Like Long Soldier, Gibson probes the visceral feeling of belonging. Across ten paintings, seven sculptures, eight flags, three murals, and one video installation, Jeffrey Gibson honors the multiplicity of identity. Museum galleries morph into kaleidoscopic environments of Gibson’s paintings.
THE RETURNED MALE STUDENT FAR TOO FREQUENTLY
GOES BACK TO THE RESERVATION AND FALLS INTO THE
OLD CUSTOM OF LETTING HIS HAIR GROW LONG, 2024
Acrylic on canvas, glass beads, plastic beads,
inset in a custom wood frame
244.8 x 194cm (96 3/8 x 76 3/8in)
The Broad has acquired Gibson’s 2024 painting THE RETURNED MALE STUDENT FAR TOO FREQUENTLY GOES BACK TO THE RESERVATION AND FALLS INTO THE OLD CUSTOM OF LETTING HIS HAIR GROW LONG, which was first presented at the Venice Biennale. Incorporating his signature use of patterned text, radiating color, and glass beads, the painting directly quotes a letter written in 1902 by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to a school superintendent in Central California, urging Native school children to cut their hair and assimilate into white Eurocentric modes of dress and appearance. The painting transforms historical oppression into both an opposition to tyranny and a celebration of cultural identity.
The Broad’s presentation includes two additional artworks first displayed together in Gibson’s 2020 Brooklyn Museum exhibition, When Fire Is Applied to a Stone It Cracks. A monumental bronze from the museum’s collection by Charles Cary Rumsey titled The Dying Indian (1900s) wears newly commissioned moccasins by John Little Sun Murie titled I’M GONNA RUN WITH EVERY MINUTE I CAN BORROW (2019). The Roberta Flack lyrics featured from the 1971 song See You Then are also spelled in the beadwork on the moccasins. These works speak to overarching themes in the space in which to place me, whether directly engaging in America’s past and present, paying tribute to histories of resistance, and boldly celebrating belonging, while bringing into this dialogue the topic of monumental sculpture as a mode of US historytelling.
“Jeffrey Gibson imbues unabashed radiant color into his paintings, murals, sculpture and video installations, signaling through his art that frank examination of difficult truths can be affirmative expressions of hope, identity and beauty,” said Joanne Heyler, Founding Director of The Broad. She added, “We are proud to be bringing this groundbreaking work to Los Angeles, directly from the Venice Biennale, where for the first time an Indigenous artist represented the United States, and we hope our audiences will be dazzled by the joy they convey and the belief in the resilience of community the works represent.”
Gibson’s practice celebrates individuals and communities who have maintained their dignity and traditions in impossible circumstances. His work reflects his admiration and respect for the generations of Indigenous makers who have come before him, situating his work within art histories that have previously excluded Native artists, and in the footsteps of postwar painters and printmakers such as Corita Kent, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, and Andy Warhol. Jeffrey Gibson uses recognizable language and images and unsettles the beliefs that might typically be associated with them.
“Developing this project for the Venice Biennale made me interrogate my relationship with the United States as an Indigenous person,” said Jeffrey Gibson. "I wanted to showcase that complexity while celebrating the resilience and joy present in the liberation stories and legacies of Indigenous makers. The show is about turning margin and center inside out, putting topics and people who have been pushed aside in the spotlight. I’m excited for the project to reach audiences in Los Angeles—in a way it’s coming home, from representing the country on an international stage to speaking to histories that are part of our lived experiences here in the U.S.”“Across the exhibition’s diverse media, Jeffrey Gibson engages a wide range of texts, from foundational legal documents to quotes from civil rights activists, poems by Indigenous authors, and pop song lyrics,” said Sarah Loyer, Curator and Exhibitions Manager. “Kaleidoscopic colors and geometric forms are combined with these references to create an installation that at once pays tribute to histories of resistance in the United States and expresses the relational nature of identity and belonging, all articulated in a style that is vivacious and optimistic.”
On view are towering ceramic sculptures like WE WANT TO BE FREE (2024), made with colorful nylon fringe, tin jingles, and steel. Standing at nine-feet tall, the figure’s torso spells out its title in beads as a political demand, referencing the Civil Rights Act of 1866, the first federal law to define citizenship and claim all citizens equal under the law. Alongside its companion sculpture The Enforcer (2024), the two figures possess an ancestral presence to serve as protective guardians.
The Broad’s exhibition also includes geometric mixed-media paintings in Gibson’s distinct and internationally celebrated style. The large-scale mixed media painting ACTION NOW ACTION IS ELOQUENCE (2024) references Congressman Emmanuel Celler’s words to his fellow representatives during a session of Congress in 1964 when they were voting on the Civil Rights Act. The landmark civil rights legislation was signed into law that day, and outlaws discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin in the United States. The surface is adorned with a beaded, heart-shaped bag and sash made by an Indigenous Columbia River Plateau or Crow artist, acknowledging a lineage of unnamed Indigenous makers and extending a living Native art history.
The mural BIRDS FLYING HIGH YOU KNOW HOW I FEEL (2024) borrows lyrics from the song Feeling Good, originally composed by Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse and made famous by the American singer Nina Simone in 1965, an anthem for freedom and justice during the Civil Rights era. Synchronized, abstract avian shapes are centered between the title’s geometric text and a glowing yellow sun in the background. This mural exemplifies Gibson’s ability to demonstrate how history informs our present, locating significant moments of collective power, persistence, and strength amidst oppression.
Jeffrey Gibson collaborates with The Broad on a dynamic slate of programming. The relationship between art and community is central to Gibson’s practice. These performances, talks, and workshops create spaces for recognition and response, inviting audiences to engage more deeply with his work.
Born in Colorado in 1972, interdisciplinary artist JEFFREY GIBSON is a member of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and of Cherokee descent. Gibson received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1995 and his Master of Arts in painting from the Royal College of Art, London, in 1998. Throughout his career, Jeffrey Gibson has centered Indigenous and LGBTQ+ perspectives, exploring cultural authenticity, stereotypes of Native people, and how aesthetics circulate amongst different groups. Vibrant colors, geometric patterns and found objects are common throughout his art, resulting in a distinct visual language that celebrates interconnectedness and assemblage.
Jeffrey Gibson: the space in which to place me was first presented by Portland Art Museum, Oregon, and SITE Santa Fe, New Mexico at the United States Pavilion of La Biennale di Venezia, the 60th International Art Exhibition (April 20, 2024 through November 24, 2024); commissioned by Louis Grachos, Phillips Executive Director, SITE Santa Fe; commissioned and curated by Kathleen Ash-Milby, Curator of Native American Art, Portland Art Museum and Abigail Winograd, Independent Curator.
The Broad’s presentation is organized by Sarah Loyer, Curator and Exhibitions Manager, with the participation of Abigail Winograd.
THE BROAD
221 S. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90012
