For Cannupa Hanska Luger (b. 1979, Standing Rock Reservation, ND), the bison is a symbol of Indigenous resilience and sovereignty. The mass slaughter of North American bison from 1845 to 1895 by settlers of European descent took place for profit, dominion over land, and westward expansion. The strategic removal of this vital source of food, clothing, shelter, and spiritual reverence for the Great Plains Native American populations forced their assimilation into western culture. It was also an ecological disaster with long-lasting effects.
Luger, an enrolled member of the Three Affiliated Tribes of Fort Berthold from the Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara, and Lakota cultures, is a descendant of buffalo people. Attrition is a 10-foot long, larger-than-life skeletal sculpture made from steel with an ash black patina. The arresting form emerges from the soil beneath, visible through grasses indigenous to this region. The work highlights the profound interdependence between animals, humans, and the land. It draws attention to the loss, trauma, and violence that can result from a single disruption in an ecosystem. Placed on the pathway to City Hall, Attrition symbolically engages with New York City’s heart of policy-making, bringing to light the history of the bison’s survival.
Cannupa Hanska Luger: Attrition is curated by Public Art Fund Adjunct Curator Katerina Stathopoulou.
Artist Statement
“I live because my ancestors survived a war of attrition carried out by extractive colonizers in order to subjugate tribal nations of the Great Plains for American progress. By the year 1895, across North America, bison herds had been systematically eradicated from numbers in the tens of millions to a mere 1,500—this was genocide. The public artwork Attrition is an effort to transform industrial processes and materials into a symbol of these buried histories reemerging in the 21st century.”
—Cannupa Hanska Luger
About the Artist
Cannupa Hanska Luger (b. 1979, Standing Rock Reservation, ND) is an enrolled member of the Three Affiliated Tribes of Fort Berthold and is Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara, and Lakota—an identity that deeply informs his works in sculpture, installation, performance, and video. His bold style of visual storytelling presents new ways of seeing our humanity while foregrounding an Indigenous worldview. Luger holds a BFA in studio arts from the Institute of American Indian Arts and is represented by Garth Greenan Gallery in New York.
Cannupa Hanska Luger’s work was part of the 2024 Whitney Biennial; he was a 2023 Soros Award Fellow, 2022 Guggenheim Fellow, 2020 Creative Capital Fellow, a 2020 Smithsonian Artist Research Fellow, and the recipient of the Museum of Arts and Design’s 2018 inaugural Burke Prize, among others. He was also the recipient of a 2021 United States Artists Fellowship Award for Craft, and was named a 2021 GRIST Fixer. Luger has exhibited nationally and internationally including at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (2021); Kunsthal KAdE, Amersfoort, Netherlands (2021); Gardiner Museum, Toronto (2019); Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR (2019); Washington Project for the Arts, Washington, DC (2017); National Center for Civil and Human Rights, Atlanta (2016); and Art Mûr, Montreal (2014).
Installation Photos
Location
Related Programming
Para Cannupa Hanska Luger (n. 1979, Reserva de Standing Rock, North Dakota), el bisonte es un símbolo de resiliencia y soberanía indígenas. La matanza masiva de bisontes norteamericanos que tuvo lugar entre 1845 y 1895 por parte de colonos de ascendencia europea se llevó a cabo buscando ganancias económicas, dominio sobre la tierra y expansión hacia el oeste. La eliminación estratégica de esta fuente vital de alimento, ropa, refugio y reverencia espiritual para las poblaciones nativas americanas de las Grandes Llanuras los obligó a asimilarse a la cultura occidental. También fue un desastre ecológico con efectos duraderos.
Luger, miembro de las Tres Tribus Afiliadas de Fort Berthold de las culturas Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara y Lakota, es descendiente de la gente del búfalo. Attrition [Desgaste] es una escultura esquelética enorme de 3 metros de largo, hecha de acero con una pátina negra ceniza. La llamativa forma emerge del suelo, visible a través de los pastos autóctonos de esta región. La obra destaca la profunda interdependencia entre los animales, los humanos y la tierra, y llama la atención sobre la pérdida, el trauma y la violencia que pueden resultar de una sola alteración en un ecosistema. Ubicada en el camino hacia el Ayuntamiento , Attrition se relaciona simbólicamente con el corazón político de la ciudad de Nueva York, sacando a la luz la historia de la supervivencia del bisonte.
Cannupa Hanska Luger: Attrition fue curada por Katerina Stathopoulou, Curadora Adjunta del Public Art Fund.
Declaración de la Artista
“Vivo porque mis ancestros sobrevivieron una guerra de atrición, llevada a cabo por colonizadores extractivistas, para subyugar a las naciones originarias de las Grandes Llanuras en nombre del progreso estadounidense. Hacia el año 1895, las manadas de bisontes habían sido erradicadas sistemáticamente en toda América del Norte, reduciendo sus números, que alguna vez alcanzaron decenas de millones, hasta contar apenas 1,500. Se trató de un genocidio. La obra de arte pública Attrition [Desgaste] es un esfuerzo por transformar los procesos y materiales industriales en un símbolo de estas historias ocultas que resurgen en el siglo XXI”.
—Cannupa Hanska Luger
Acerca de la Artista
Cannupa Hanska Luger (n. 1979, Reserva de Standing Rock, North Dakota) es miembro de las Tres Tribus Afiliadas de Fort Berthold y es Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara y Lakota, una identidad que conforma profundamente sus obras escultóricas, de instalación, performance y video. Su audaz estilo de narrativa visual presenta nuevas formas de ver nuestra humanidad y al mismo tiempo pone en primer plano una cosmovisión indígena. Luger tiene una licenciatura en arte del Institute of American Indian Arts y está representado por la galería Garth Greenan de Nueva York.
La obra de Cannupa Hanska Luger se puede ver actualmente como parte de la Bienal del Whitney de 2024; fue becario del Soros Award 2023, becario Guggenheim 2022, becario Creative Capital 2020, becario de investigación para artistas del Smithsonian 2020 y recibió el Burke Prize inaugural del Museum of Arts and Design en 2018, entre otros. También recibió el Premio para Becarios de las Artesanías de Estados Unidos de 2021 y fue nombrado GRIST Fixer en 2021. Luger ha tenido exhibiciones a nivel nacional e internacional, incluyendo el Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gardiner Museum, Kunsthal KAdE, el Washington Project for the Arts, Art Mûr, Museo Crystal Bridges Museum de Arte Americano y el Centro Nacional para los Derechos Civiles y Humanos.
Ubicación
Bloomberg Philanthropies is the presenting sponsor of Cannupa Hanska Luger: Attrition.
Leadership support for Attrition is provided by Garth Greenan Gallery, Jennifer Sykes Harris and Elizabeth Fearon Pepperman & Richard C. Pepperman II, with champion support from Ellen & Andrew Celli, Angelo K H Chan & Frederick Wertheim, Allison & Paul Russo, and David Wine & Michael P. MacElhenny; generous support from Becky Gochman and Linda Lennon & Stuart Baskin; and major support from Ruthard C. Murphy.
Special thanks to the Office of the Mayor, Office of the Manhattan Borough President, NYC Parks’ Art in the Parks program, and our engineering partner Silman.
Public Art Fund is supported by the generosity of individuals, corporations, and private foundations including lead support from Bloomberg Philanthropies, along with major support from the Charina Endowment Fund, The Cowles Charitable Trust, the Joseph and Joan Cullman Foundation for the Arts, The Fuhrman Family Foundation, The Marc Haas Foundation, Hartfield Foundation, William Talbott Hillman Foundation- Affirmation Arts Fund, KHR Family Fund, the Donald A. Pels Charitable Trust, Red Crane Foundation, Meyer and Deanne Sharlin Foundation, The Silverweed Foundation, and Wagner Foundation.
Public Art Fund exhibitions and programs are also supported in part with public funds from government agencies, including the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
