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Cannupa Hanska Luger’s exhibition American Traditional is on view at Garth Greenan Gallery in New York. A Hyperallergic review describes the 2026 works as a synthesis of wood, ink and archival material that connects the mass killing of bison to the destruction of Indigenous lifeways on the Great Plains.
Cannupa Hanska Luger’s American Traditional, a 2026 exhibition at Garth Greenan Gallery in New York, brings together wood, ink and archival references to address the mass slaughter of bison and its consequences for Indigenous communities of the Great Plains. In a review, Hyperallergic critic Hrag Vartanian describes the show as a more declarative direction for Luger, whose work has often involved participatory projects and ceramics.
The review centers on “Requiem” (2026), which places an abstracted black bison on a blackened representation of a 19th-century American wood dining table. The pairing connects an animal central to Plains life with objects and histories associated with settler society. Vartanian writes that the work’s forms can be visually appealing while carrying a history of destruction within them.
Other works named in the review include “American Traditional” and “Shoots Today, Kills Tomorrow,” both dated 2026. The source material does not provide a complete checklist or detailed descriptions of every piece. It identifies Luger as born on the Standing Rock Reservation and an enrolled citizen of the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation.
Vartanian frames the exhibition through the 19th-century campaign that drove bison populations toward collapse. He draws on writer Mari Sandoz’s account of the animal’s importance to Plains communities and on Cree scholar Tasha Hubbard’s argument that the destruction of bison was tied to violence against Indigenous peoples. Those historical interpretations are cited in the review; they are not claims made by the gallery in the supplied material.
Bison History at the Center
The exhibition’s subject is not only the loss of an animal population. As Vartanian explains through Hubbard’s scholarship, bison were kin and a foundation of Plains Indigenous life, providing food, clothing, shelter and fuel. Their destruction damaged the material and cultural relationships that sustained communities. The review presents the killing of bison as intertwined with the displacement and subjugation of Indigenous peoples, rather than as a separate conservation story.
That framing gives the show contemporary relevance: it asks viewers to see familiar historical images and objects as evidence of deliberate violence and lasting consequences. The review compares Luger’s approach with an intervention by Yurok artist Stormi Turner, who placed a curtain over an image of a mound of buffalo skulls at the Baltimore Museum of Art. Both works, in different settings, address how museums and audiences encounter images of destruction.
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From Bison Herds to Industrial Slaughter
Before large-scale settler expansion, bison were abundant across North America and central to many Plains nations. The review cites Sandoz’s 1954 book, The Buffalo Hunters: The Story of the Hide Men, on the animal’s importance to Plains life. It describes how settlers’ access to horses, firearms and railroads enabled slaughter on an industrial scale during the 19th century.
The review also recalls statements by U.S. military figures that linked killing bison to weakening Indigenous resistance. It quotes Colonel Richard Irving Dodge advising hunters that “every buffalo dead is an Indian gone,” as cited by Hubbard. Vartanian also recounts General Philip H. Sheridan’s opposition to a proposed Texas bill to protect bison in 1875, using a passage recorded by hunter John R. Cook. These historical quotations are presented through the review and its cited sources.
“The artist sets aside the participatory, ceramics-heavy projects he’s best known for and arrives at something more declarative — a synthesis of wood, ink, and archive.”
— Hrag Vartanian, Hyperallergic reviewer
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Exhibition Details Still Limited
The supplied report does not state the exhibition’s opening and closing dates, its full list of works, or whether the gallery has issued a separate statement about the show. It also does not give visitor numbers or other measures of the exhibition’s reception. The review offers an interpretation of the artworks and their historical references; the source material does not establish that every viewer or institution shares that reading.
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Gallery Dates and Further Response
American Traditional is identified as a 2026 exhibition at Garth Greenan Gallery in Soho, New York. The source material provides no additional programming schedule or future milestones. Readers seeking current visiting information will need to check the gallery’s latest listings; any further response from the artist or gallery is not included in the report provided here.
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Key Questions
What is American Traditional?
It is a 2026 exhibition by Cannupa Hanska Luger at Garth Greenan Gallery in New York. Hyperallergic describes works combining wood, ink and archival history.
What is the exhibition about?
The review connects the mass killing of bison to the destruction of lifeways and communities among Indigenous peoples of the Great Plains.
Which work does the review discuss in detail?
It describes “Requiem” (2026), an abstracted black bison positioned on a blackened rendering of a 19th-century American dining table.
Where and when can the exhibition be seen?
The review identifies the venue as Garth Greenan Gallery in Soho, New York, and dates the exhibition to 2026. The supplied material does not give exact opening or closing dates.
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