Location: Center of Southwest Studies Main Gallery
Free and Open to the Public
The Center of Southwest Studies is hosting a talk with Diné weaver and educator Venancio Aragón, who curated From the Fringes: Diné Textiles that Disrupt, currently on view at the Center through November 13. Join us for an insightful presentation and guided tour of the gallery to learn about the innovative techniques featured in the historic and contemporary textiles on display. Also, check out the most recent feature on From the Fringes in Durango Local News!
This artist talk and the exhibition From the Fringes: Diné Textiles that Disrupt are supported by a Folk and Traditional Arts Project Grant from Colorado Creative Industries.
About the Artist
Venancio Aragón is an experimental textile weaver whose work combines ancient techniques with vibrant polychromatic designs that have come to be known as an “Expanded Rainbow Aesthetic.” Aragón learned to weave from his mother, Irveta, at the age of ten and has developed a creative practice focused on reviving rare and lesser-known techniques, including twills, two-faced and shaped weavings, tufting, and hybrids.
Fusing his cultural background with the knowledge he gained while earning degrees in Cultural Anthropology (University of New Mexico) and Native American & Indigenous Studies (Fort Lewis College), Aragón views Navajo weaving as a way to preserve Diné culture and identity by promoting the continuation and practice of his ancestors’ legacy. Aragón’s textiles have been featured in major publications and exhibited widely, including at the Heard Museum (Phoenix, AZ), Museum of Fine Arts (St. Petersburg, FL), Tempe Center for the Arts (Tempe, AZ), and the Ah Haa School for the Arts’ Daniel Tucker Gallery (Telluride, CO). Aragón is a past Rollin and Mary Ella King Native Artist Fellow with the School for Advanced Research (Santa Fe, NM) and has received numerous accolades for his textiles, including Best of Class–First Place and Judge’s Choice awards from the Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair & Market and the Southwestern Association for Indian Arts’ Santa Fe Indian Market.
In addition to his weaving practice at his home studio in Farmington, NM, Aragón is a full-time faculty member of Navajo Cultural Arts at Diné College and is currently pursuing a Master of Arts in Education at Fort Lewis College.
For more information visit Venancio’s website and Instagram.