JERRY FOGG

Jerry Fogg, an enrolled member of the Yankton Sioux Tribe (Ihanktowan Nakota Sioux Oyate), uses his art to teach others about the culture and history of his people.  As a professional artist specializing in mixed media, he uses found objects alongside elements of his own creation, such as beadwork and painting.  Together these materials create a complex three-dimensional mixed media work.  Born in Los Angeles, California, Mr. Fogg was raised near Fort Thompson, South Dakota, on the Crow Creek Reservation.  He attended Flandreau Indian School in Flandreau, South Dakota, and Dakota State College in Madison, South Dakota.  He now resides in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.  In addition to his work as a visual artist, Mr. Fogg is the lead singer and percussionist in the rock band Native Soul. 

This exhibit presents the complete catalog of Mr. Fogg’s work, including elements of previous exhibitions under the titles of 11 Degrees of Tatanka and Native Soul.  11 Degrees of Tatanka is a celebration of Yanktonia culture and was created by the artist to honor the bison.   Painted buffalo skulls, buffalo hides, and other objects are used to depict traditional elements of Nakota culture, such as the sacred pipe ceremony, the story of White Buffalo Calf Woman, and star knowledge. Also included in the exhibit is a large selection of Mr. Fogg’s mixed media work.  As a mixed media artist, Mr. Fogg uses traditional and contemporary materials in his work, blending the stories of those who came before him with his own.

Inspired by the work of Native American artists Oscar Howe (Yankton Sioux Tribe) and Donald F. Montileaux (Oglala Sioux Tribe), Mr. Fogg first began creating art while in high school.  His early work focused primarily on draftsmanship and those skills continue to comprise his work today.  As a self-taught artist, he developed his signature mixed media style through the course of experimentation over many years.  He calls this technique “Foggma”.  Early in his career, many art shows did not have a separate category for mixed media work.  As this medium became more commonplace in Native American exhibitions it eventually became a new category of art.  However, Mr. Fogg felt that this term did not adequately capture the spirit of his work.  By combining elements such as historic maps and ledgers, found militaria items, and pieces of beadwork, quillwork, or painted leather under the glass of a shadowbox, Mr. Fogg weaves together a complex visual narrative in every artwork he creates.  This creative process is fitting since his mixed media compositions often focus on significant historical events, or on a traditional story or legend of the Yanktonai people. 

WAZÍYATA (NORTH)

The burning of sage clears the room of negative energy allowing us to offer tobacco to those who have journeyed from WAZÍYATA, the north.

Facing WAZÍYATA, we respectfully offer tobacco that will allow us to receive the meaning of this sacred direction.

WAZÍYATA is shown here in the color LÚTA (red), which is the blood of human beings that dwell upon Mother Earth.

LÚTA is the color of the sacred pipestone harvested from Mother Earth and carved into the ČHAŊNÚŊPA WAKȞÁŊ (sacred pipe) which was brought to us by the White Buffalo Calf Woman, in hopes of a better way of life…

(Jerry Fogg 2020)

ITÓKAǦATA (SOUTH)

The burning of sage clears the room of negative energy allowing us to offer tobacco to those who have journeyed from ITÓKAǦATA, the south.

Facing ITÓKAǦATA, we respectfully offer tobacco that will allow us to receive the meaning of this sacred direction.

ITÓKAǦATA is shown here in the color SKÁ (white) representing the spirit world we journey to once our given time on Mother Earth is finished.

SKÁ shines from the stars to light the way guiding us on our journey to be with the ones we honor and call ancestors. A place we can finally call home…

(Jerry Fogg 2020)

Star Knowledge

I stand alone on prairie hill miles and miles away from anything. The breeze is warm on my face as I look up into a cloudless, dark night with no moon in sight.

As the night gets darker, I come to understand what they mean when they say, “the black of night”. I look to the heavens and see what makes a person wonder. There must be more!

Man and woman have brought together everything there is to know via the electronics in the palms of their hands. Anything we desire to know is known with just a simple request or command.

Someday I will return to that hill, look once again at the heavens, and try to understand the knowledge of the stars. I can’t get that knowledge by simply touching a screen.

(Jerry Fogg 2020)

CULTURE

The history of every country has its own way of expressing the things they have done, and still do today. Through the years groups of humans gathered and determined ways to make life better.

These countries boast of their successes and disguise their failures. Some have even turned against their own peoples over religion, power, or leadership disputes.

The Nations of the Plains have an understanding with nature among Mother Earth. They have turned the culture of survival into a simple way of life, with no need for advancement. Simply believing in what allows them to survive and honoring it.

The arrival of greed has almost completely changed what was never meant to be changed. A people of Mother Earth…

(Jerry Fogg 2020)