Artwork copyright Jeffrey Thomas. Photo courtesy of the artist, 1986.

Diet Coke-Juxtaposition, 1983

Jeffrey Thomas
(American | Onondaga, born 1956)

Location: Washington State University, Pullman

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

Diet Coke-Juxtaposition captures a ceremonial dancer sipping a canned soda, and was taken by Native American documentary photographer Jeffrey Thomas at a Six Nations Pow Wow in 1983. A print of this photograph is part of the Indian Art Center collection in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Thomas notes that his work is "greatly influenced by the need to reestablish our [Native American] visual identity and no longer rest on the work of non-native photographers."

This artwork is part of Beyond Blue Mountains, a collection that was curated by late Tlingit (Native Alaskan) artist Jim Schoppert. It presents the work of Native American artists of diverse heritage, ideas, materials, and styles. The collection takes an in-depth look at the artists’ unique voices and interpretations of tradition.

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with Department of Corrections.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Native American artist Jeffrey Thomas (Onondaga) is a photographer, curator, and cultural theorist. His photographic practice explores historical images of Indigenous Peoples and places them in a new context. Thomas describes himself as an "Urban-Iroquois", and further explains that "My study of Indian-ness seeks to create an image bank of my urban-Iroquois experience, as well as re-contextualize historical images of First Nations people for a contemporary audience."

Born in Buffalo, New York, Jeffrey Thomas studied at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo. He lives in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. His photographs are in the collections of the National Gallery of Canada, the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian in Washington D.C., The British Museum in England, and many others.