Chris Pappan is an enrolled member of the Kaw Nation and honors his Osage and Lakota heritage. His cited artistic influences are the Lowbrow art movement, Heavy Metal and Juxtapoz magazines, and taps into the American cultural roots of 1970s underground comics, punk, and hot rod cultures. His art literally reflects the dominant culture’s distorted perceptions of Native peoples and is based on the Plains Native art tradition known as Ledger Art.
A graduate of the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe and a nationally recognized painter and ledger artist, Chris’ work is in numerous museums such as the National Museum of the American Indian, Washington D.C.; the Tia collection in Santa Fe NM and the Speed Museum of Art in Louisville KY among many other important collections both nationally and internationally. He is represented by Blue Rain Gallery in Santa Fe NM.
Chris is currently a board member of the Illinois State Museum and is a co-founder of the Center for Native Futures, a Native American gallery and studio space in Chicago’s
Loop. He lives and works in Chicago with his wife Debra Yepa-Pappan, and their daughter Ji Hae.
headshot photo by Tran Tran
Website:
Center for Native Futures Website:
https://www.centerfornativefutures.org/
Unbound: Narrative Art of the Plains
https://americanindian.si.edu/explore/exhibitions/item?id=1005
