Wilkinson College of Humanities and Social Sciences, the Department of Sociology and the Art Department present, internationally renowned performance and installation artist James Luna (Puyukitchum/Luiseño), Wednesday, April 9, 2014 at 7 p.m. in Argyros Forum 209 A&B as part of the Visual Thinker Lecture Series.

Luna resides on the La Jolla Indian Reservation in North County San Diego, California. With over 30 years of exhibition and performance experience, Luna has given voice to Native American cultural issues, pursued innovative and versatile media within his disciplines, and charted waters for other artists to follow. His powerful works transform gallery spaces into battlefields where the audience is confronted with the nature of cultural identity, the tensions generated by cultural isolation, and the dangers of cultural misinterpretations, all from an indigenous perspective.

Since 1975, Luna has had over 41 solo exhibitions, participated in 85 group exhibitions and performed internationally at venues, which include the Museum of Modern Art (NYC), Whitney Museum of American Art, New Museum of Art, San Francisco Museum of Art, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Canada, and Museum of Contemporary Native Art, Santa Fe, NM.

Luna has received numerous grants and awards throughout his career. Most notably in 2005, when he was selected as the first Sponsored Artist of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian presented at the 2005 Venice Biennale’s 51st International Art Exhibition in Venice, Italy.

This event is free and open to the public. For information, please call: (714) 997-6729