SANTA FE, N. Mex. – The New Mexico sun pours in through large arched windows at Shiprock Santa Fe, illuminating Navajo weavings, some of which date from the beginning of the 19th century, others made by living artists. The gallery features a renowned collection of textiles and jewelry, representing the deep connection to creation that exists in the Diné culture.
At the helm of Shiprock Santa Fe is curator and owner Jed Foutz. He grew up in Shiprock, New Mexico on the Navajo Reservation where his family owned trading posts for five generations, beginning around 1870.
“Shiprock Santa Fe really reflects where I come from,” Foutz said. Hyperallergic. “The curation is very spontaneous; it is a constant refinement. We need to be moved and feel a connection and a certain beauty. If you have respect and love for objects, it naturally creates something around them. Hopefully this tells a story.
Before Foutz launched Shiprock Santa Fe in 2005, he worked with artists, helping get their works into galleries and stores. “When I was wholesale, my job was ‘you do it and I’ll find a place for it’.” His role as a facilitator is something that informs the ethos of Shiprock Santa Fe, which aims to help artists become independent rather than keeping them attached to the gallery. Some of the contemporary artists Shiprock is currently working with include ceramicist Diego Romero (Cochiti Pueblo), jeweler Verma Nequatewa (Hopi), and jeweler Ken Williams Jr. (Arapahoe/Seneca).
“As long as we have a way to help someone progress, it works. Much of my life has been helping artists find their way to the market, feel that market, and grow it. If the gallery can elevate or access a different market, or add value to their work, then that makes sense. Naturally, this leads to greater independence of the artist. Hopefully they develop a customer base and market of their own. If they don’t need the gallery and I don’t perform a function, why should they give up some of their profits? »
Sometimes artists ask Shiprock Santa Fe for help when they have particularly important ideas they want to realize. “Often, we work with artists on a singular project. Many artists we have worked with in the past are coming back.
As someone who grew up on the reservation surrounded by Indigenous peoples, ceremonies and traditions, Foutz has an innate understanding and deep love for the artists he represents and the works they create. “A weave can take six months, eight months. It’s always been a difficult part of my life to find a balance between time and work and what that’s worth in our culture. It’s hard right now to match the value,” he said.
“One of the things I loved about the Navajo culture and the people I grew up and worked with is that they literally believe they exist in the work. It always made me approach it in a different way,” Foutz said. “It’s one thing to talk about an inanimate physical object, but it’s another if you’re talking about them and who they are inside this work. For me, it has always been more than just a “thing”.
In addition to offering works by living artists, Shiprock Santa Fe offers an extensive collection of vintage textiles and jewelry created over hundreds of years. Foutz explained that some clients tend towards contemporary works, while others are drawn to older pieces. “What is made today, 50 years from now, will reflect that moment in time; where is the artist and where is the culture. I think the same can be said for the pieces that are now 100 years old, there is something about the culture and that worldview that is reflected in the work from that time.
Part of what makes Shiprock Santa Fe unique is its impeccable aesthetics. The Rug Room is bursting with color and texture, where weaves hang on the walls and sumptuous piles are stacked on every surface. Jewelery boxes contain pieces of silverware and turquoise which contain pieces of the Land of Enchantment; they remind me of our cerulean skies, the ocher sandstone near Abiquiu, and the adobe architecture that makes New Mexico what it is.
The gallery walls often change as the team rearranges works, creates collections of similar objects, or curates all around particularly stunning pieces that end up at Shiprock. Foutz says there’s a lot of joy in the visual chemistry he manages to create. “Sometimes a story just happens. When it clicks, it’s magic. It’s all right and you feel it, it was meant to be,” he said.
Shiprock Santa Fe is possible thanks to the lived experience of Foutz. His childhood on the reservation, his years in Japan before college, his relationships with Diné artists, living and past, each tailored to the specific artist and their desires, vision and its needs. “My earliest memories are of that job,” he said. “There is no separation between me and this art and what we do. It’s a natural progression. I was on the road with my dad when I was five and never stopped.
