Premiering in 2020 at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where Hubbell was completing his Master of Fine Arts, Tack Room is a montage of visual influences. Hubbell’s references span the genre of American West history painting with particular focus on Native American portrait painting.

Utilizing the tack room as a vehicle for expressing both emotional and aesthetic intent, this multi-faceted installation examines the myths, tropes and stereotypes imposed upon Indigenous peoples in Western art.

Staged as a typical tack area of a ranch barn, farm, or stable, the installation recasts deconstructed painting and drawings as equine equipment and accessories. Braided ranch ropes and sewn chaps are crafted from cut up paintings, saddle racks and stands composed from the wood of stretcher bars, and unframed, unstretched paintings indicate saddles.

The paintings are sourced from historical portraits by George Caitlin, Charles Russell, Frederic Remington and others. Employing blind contours, Hubbell reproduces the images without releasing his brush from the surface. The result is obscured, emotional charged images. These acts of obfuscating reflect the ongoing struggle for social visibility and recognition of Indigenous Peoples specifically within the cannon of American Art.

“By denouncing specific and romanticized imagery of Native American people, the work seeks to address outdated and inaccurate stereotypes and create space for equity and inclusion”

Hubbell received his BFA in 2010 from Arizona State University and his MFA in 2021 from the Art Institute of Chicago. His work has been exhibited at the Heard Museum, Phoenix, AZ; The Autry Museum of the West, Los Angeles; Rochester Contemporary Art Center, Rochester, NY; Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, Salt Lake City, Utah; and in numerous public and private collections. In 2017, Hubbell was awarded a prestigious Pollock-Krasner grant.

This presentation will be accompanied by an illustrated digital catalog with an introduction by art historian, Elizabeth Hawley.