Native American art exhibit comes to Wilson College

Skateboarding, graffiti, slam poetry and Native Americans. Which one doesn't belong? According to members of the Native Agent Arts Collective, the answer is none of the above.

Douglas Miles, who founded the group of Native American artists called the Native Agents, is in Princeton this week for the exhibition of his artwork, which includes skateboard decks from his Apache Skateboards company and paper artwork.

There will be an open lunch Wednesday with members of the Native Agents and a screening of the film "Smoke Signals," a documentary on Apache skateboards.

"Native Agents is just me and other artists like myself working in different mediums that are considered not traditional, like skating, slam poetry and graffiti. They are more raw art forms, newer mediums, like painting skateboards," said Miles, who is from Arizona and considers himself the creative coordinator of the Native Agents. His artistic influences range from Japanese anime and Chinese woodburning to Disney and comic books.

"There are really two goals for this week," Miles said. "One, I would hope that people will be able to see contemporary Native Americans in the 21st century. And two, I would hope that people are encouraged by the performance and art to go out and make their own art, make their own movies, own books and own songs."

The week will culminate in a free performance on Friday night in Wilcox Hall, featuring live graffiti, skateboarding, slam poetry and a DJ.

The show, called Pop Life 2, aims to explore the intersection of Native American rural culture and modern urban youth. Pop Life debuted last July in Santa Fe, N.M.

The organizer of the event, Wilson College Master Marguerite Browning, said she got the idea for the Native Agents to come to the University when she saw an exhibit of Miles' artwork while on vacation in Santa Fe last August.

"The day I was supposed to leave, they did the first Pop Life performance at a museum in Santa Fe. I missed it but read about it and thought it would be a great idea to have one in Wilson," she said.

For Browning, the intriguing part about the Native Agents is how young artists adapt the hip-hop style of music, poetry and painting and transform it into a personalized expression of their own Native American identity.

"This kind of cultural interaction challenges our preconceived notions of racial and cultural identity . . . and creates something very new," Browning said.

Enlightening Events

The fusion between traditional Native American culture and modern pop culture is evident in the skateboarding documentary that will be shown on Wednesday.

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"The Apache skateboards documentary is not just about skateboards, but it's also about our culture, our community, team riders and about the art. It's not just about the product," Miles said.

Reuben Ringlero — a member of the Native Agents' skateboarding team from Phoenix, Ariz. — sees Native Agents as a way to mix Native American culture with pop culture.

"It's a new movement. It's just the tip of the iceberg and it's something that's still growing," he said.

Ringlero describes his life as involving mostly skating and making music. His band, Sooth, will be playing on Friday.

"The music we play is improvisational and influenced by music like Radiohead and Sigur Rós. If the stars could talk, that's how we would sound," he said.

Miles' art will be on display all week in Wilcox Hall.