Gouache, crayon, pencil, and colored pencil on printed brown paper bag
Not on view
Jemison was inspired to work with bags after noticing them while commuting. “The common denominator for those of us who traveled on the subway from Brooklyn to Manhattan every day was that we carried some kind of bag—a plastic bag, a shopping bag, a briefcase, a handbag, a lunch bag.” Recycling paper bags, he painted images referencing nature, personal stories, perceptions of Indigenous peoples in North America, and Haudenosaunee history and art practices like quillwork and beading. These works raise questions like: How are Indigenous peoples thought of in the popular culture of the United States? When are you inspired to transform existing materials into something new?
Just Above Midtown: Changing Spaces, October 09, 2022 – February 18, 2023
MoMA Learning from 2026
What did you bring with you to the museum? How did you carry it?
G. Peter Jemison’s Indian Toy / Toy Indian is drawn on a commercially produced paper bag. While commuting from Brooklyn to Manhattan, he noticed that despite the diversity of people on the subway, everyone “carried some kind of bag—a plastic bag, a shopping bag, a briefcase, a handbag, a lunch bag.” Using humble materials invites us to reflect on the traditions of modern art-making, while the toy Indian depicted on the bag references plastic toys still manufactured today—a reminder of the deep history of the misrepresentation of Indigenous people in the United States.
2026
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