G. Peter Jemison’s career spans over six decades across a wide swath of diverse accomplishments with a worldwide impact. Through his art, Jemison has explored a variety of topics, from creating political works that portray contemporary social commentary to those that reflect his relationship with the natural world.
Widely shown and collected, Jemison’s works are rooted in the framework of Native American art. Known for his naturalistic paintings and series of works done on brown paper bags, his art embodies Orenda, the traditional Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) belief that every living thing and part of creation contains a spiritual force. His paintings, videos, and mixed media works have been exhibited in numerous solo and group exhibitions in the U.S., the U.K. and Germany. He is also an esteemed administrator, curator, editor, and writer. In 2004, he was elected Board Member at Large of the American Alliance of Museums (formerly the Association of Museums) and was the founding director of the American Indian Community House Gallery in New York City.
G. Peter Jemison
Sentinels (Large Yellow), 2006
"The purpose of art is to help people see."
G. Peter Jemison
From November 2017 through early 2018, Jemison’s works were featured in Unholding, a group exhibition at the Artists Space in New York City. During that time, he also was featured in related discussion programs at the venue. The exhibit received praise in reviews from The New Yorker, The New York Times, Artforum, and other art media.
Jemison’s works are included in such significant collections as The Modern Museum of Art (MoMA); The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; The National Gallery, Washington D.C.; AKG (formerly, Albright Knox Gallery), Buffalo, NY; The Heard Museum, Phoenix; The Institute of American Indian Arts Museum, Santa Fe; The Denver Art Museum, Denver; The British Museum, London, UK; and the Museum der Weltkultern, Frankfurt, Germany. Jemison was one of six winners of the prestigious 2012 Jennifer Easton Community Spirit Award fellowship from the First Peoples Fund in Rapid City, SD, for his Fine Art Painting and mixed Media accomplishments. 2013 Jemison’s works were exhibited in The Old Becomes the New: New York Contemporary Native American Art Movement and the New York School at New York City’s Wilmer Jennings Gallery at Kenkeleba. In 2023, he was awarded the Johnson Fellowship for transforming communities. Jemison had a solo booth at The Armory Show 2023 highlighting works from his vast career and was featured in the 2023 Fall edition of Art in America.
Jemison received his academic art education from the University of Siena in Siena, Italy, before earning a B.S. in Arts Education from Buffalo State College as well as an Honorary Doctorate. He also received an Honorary Doctorate from Hobart and William Smith Colleges.
A leading authority on the subject of Haudenosaunee history, Jemison co-edited the Treaty of Canandaigua 1794: 200 Years of Treaty Relations between the Iroquois Confederacy and the United States (Clear Light). He frequently contributes writings on the repatriation of sacred objects, cultural patrimony, and the human remains of the Haudenosaunee.
Summer Strike, 2002