The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Commons Gallery is celebrating the creative works of Michele Zalopany, a prominent Kanaka ʻŌiwi (Native Hawaiian) artist, with its newest exhibit, Nana I Ke Kumu, Pay Attention to the Source.
The free art exhibit highlights Zalopany’s eye-catching photo-based, large-scale pastel paintings on canvas that weave together personal and historical imagery, drawing on family photos and Hawaiʻi archival collections to evoke a deep sense of cultural memory and heritage.
“Through her research of the history of representation of the Kanaka ʻŌiwi, Michele Zalopany’s work speaks with power and conviction as artist who has experienced the diaspora of people, whose families have left Hawaiʻi for economic reasons,” said Debra Drexler, interim director of the John Young Museum of Art and UH Mānoa galleries. “She approaches the difficult subjects of racism and disenfranchisement with grace and sophistication. Her figurative pastel paintings are evocative, and reach a level of technical skill that speaks to her mastery as an artist.”
Global showcase
Rooted in her Native Hawaiian identity and experiences growing up between Hawaiʻi and Detroit, Zalopany’s celebrated body of work has been recognized in more than 25 major museum collections worldwide. Her work has graced the Whitney Museum of American Art, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and Walker Art Center.
“As I was led to inform myself by my face and curiosity, I am hoping that by putting more images of an older Hawaiian reality out into the world, I may provoke interest in the true history of the Hawaiian people and their land, and thus chip away at the false narrative that overwhelms most peoples’ current perceptions,” said Zalopany.
The exhibition runs through December 8 at the Commons Gallery and open Tuesday through Friday and Sunday, noon–4 p.m.
More Events
Panel Discussion: November 7, 5 p.m, Art Building, Room 101
Michele Zalopany, Heather Waldroup (Art history professor at Appalachia State University) and Emily Cornish (PhD student in 19th Century Hawaiian Visual Culture at University of Michigan).
The exhibit is supported by the Admiral Residency in Contemporary Pacific Art and a grant from UH Mānoa’s Office of Student Equity, Excellence and Diversity.
