Norman Akers (b. 1958) is an Osage and Pawnee painter and printmaker from Oklahoma. He holds a BFA in painting from the Kansas City Art Institute, an MFA from the University of Illinois, and a certificate in museum studies from the Institute of American Indian Arts. Gilcrease Museum has one of the most pivotal works of the artist’s career, Collision of Heavenly Structures, ca. 1990s (01.2486).

Studying art in the American Southwest, Akers and his contemporaries looked to the land for inspiration, and Akers’s art practice evolved from its beginnings in landscape painting. At the University of Illinois, Akers began to explore subjects such as time, personhood, and cultural continuity, particularly drawing on the intersections of placemaking and landscape as well as the intergenerational landscapes of his Osage identity. In this way, Akers expanded his notions of landscape with concepts derived from his lived experiences—tribal, political, and historical space with distinct interconnections to place. During this aesthetic shift, Akers honed a new painting style exploring elements of Abstract Expressionism and Osage visual arts. In addition, his paintings often layer multiple narratives to create a discourse between symbolism and story. Akers successfully combines principles found in oratory or storytelling with mapping and locating narrative.

“I address the topics of personal and cultural survival. Instead of speaking out words, I pursue a visual dialog. Through color, line, and visual form, I express deeply felt concerns regarding removal, disturbance, and the struggle to reclaim cultural context.”¹ —Norman Akers

Akers made a conscious decision to depart from Flatstyle or Oklahoma Style painting so that he could paint in a way that was not restricted by representational stereotypes or other binaries found within Native American art. Akers has had solo exhibitions at the Lawrence Arts Center (Lawrence, Kansas), the Jan Cicero Gallery (Chicago), and the Gardiner Gallery of Art, Oklahoma State University. Akers’s paintings and prints are in the collections of numerous institutions, including the Heard Museum (Phoenix), the Eiteljorg Museum (Indianapolis), the National Museum of the American Indian (Washington, D.C.), and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (Kansas City).

—Jordan Poorman Cocker, Henry Luce Foundation Curatorial Scholar for Indigenous Painting Collection Research, 2021

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¹ Norman Akers, interview by Jordan Poorman Cocker, January 13, 2021.