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Cannupa Hanska Luger’s exhibition “American Traditional” is on view at Garth Greenan Gallery in New York, presenting sculptures made from materials including ironstone clay, sumi ink and wood. Hyperallergic critic Hrag Vartanian reads the work as a confrontation with the mass slaughter of buffalo by European settlers during westward expansion. The supplied report does not give the exhibition’s dates or a complete list of works.
Artist Cannupa Hanska Luger is presenting “American Traditional” at Garth Greenan Gallery in New York, with sculptures that evoke the slaughter of buffalo by European settlers during westward expansion. Learn more about Cannupa Hanska Luger’s work. In a Hyperallergic review, editor-at-large Hrag Vartanian describes the exhibition as a more declarative direction for Luger and interprets its materials and forms as carrying the history of that violence.
The report describes an abstracted bison made from ironstone clay and sumi ink, positioned on a burned, blackened 19th-century American dining table. The imagery also resonates with Arthur Jafa’s elegy to America. Another work features a stack of bison skulls on a surface whose legs are made from vintage axes. The arrangements bring domestic furniture and tools together with imagery associated with the destruction of buffalo, a history also traced in the Buffalo Puppet Procession.
Vartanian writes that the sculptures’ visual appeal can almost distract viewers from the destruction they invoke, but says that history remains embedded in the works. He calls the exhibition Luger’s “strongest work yet”, an evaluation made by the critic rather than a factual description of consensus.
According to Vartanian, the exhibition marks a shift from the participatory, ceramics-heavy projects for which Luger is best known toward a synthesis of wood, ink and archival material. The supplied report does not provide the exhibition’s opening or closing dates, a full work list, or a statement from the artist about the specific pieces.
How the Sculptures Address Buffalo Slaughter
The exhibition places the history of buffalo slaughter within the familiar setting of the American home. A dining table, vintage axes and bison forms are brought into the same visual field, connecting everyday objects with the violence Vartanian says accompanied westward expansion. The work’s subject is not only an animal’s disappearance, but also the historical relationship between that destruction and the making of the United States.
Vartanian’s review also connects the show to questions about how museums present images of violence. He recalls seeing an 1892 photograph of two men beside a hill of buffalo skulls at the Baltimore Museum of Art. In an exhibition there, Yurok artist Stormi Turner placed a small curtain over the image, making viewers actively uncover it. Vartanian describes the intervention as a way to acknowledge the tragedy and care demanded by the image. That comparison gives readers one way to understand Luger’s sculptures: both artists use presentation—not just subject matter—to shape how audiences encounter a painful history.
The review is an individual critical response, not a formal account of the artist’s intentions or of how all viewers interpret the exhibition. Still, it makes the show’s reported materials and subject relevant to continuing discussions about historical memory, Indigenous perspectives and the way museums and galleries frame difficult images.
buffalo skull decorative sculpture
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From Museum Image to Gallery Sculpture
Vartanian’s review begins with an encounter from two years earlier at the Baltimore Museum of Art. There, a photograph from 1892 depicting two men beside buffalo skulls was partly covered by a curtain designed by Yurok artist Stormi Turner. The review says the curtain was part of “Preoccupied: Indigenizing the Museum,” an exhibition that considered how museums display material connected to painful histories.
That memory returned to Vartanian as he entered Luger’s “American Traditional” at Garth Greenan Gallery in New York’s Soho district. The comparison is the critic’s framing: Turner’s intervention changes how a historical photograph is viewed, while Luger’s sculptures use form, material and arrangement to call attention to buffalo slaughter. The supplied report identifies the exhibition and some works, but gives no further chronology for their creation or the gallery presentation.
““strongest work yet””
— Hrag Vartanian, Hyperallergic editor-at-large and reviewer
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Exhibition Dates and Artist’s Statement
The supplied report does not state when “American Traditional” opened or when it closes, nor does it provide a complete list of exhibited works. It also does not include a direct statement from Luger about the pieces or confirm how the artist describes their relationship to the history of buffalo slaughter. Vartanian’s interpretation is clearly presented as a review, and should not be mistaken for a quoted artist statement or a claim that all audiences will read the work in the same way.
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Gallery Details and Further Coverage
The report provides no announced next event, exhibition milestone or follow-up from Garth Greenan Gallery. Readers seeking practical details, including whether the exhibition is still open, will need to check the gallery’s current listings. Further reporting could clarify the show’s dates, the full selection of works and Luger’s own account of the ideas behind them.
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Key Questions
What is “American Traditional”?
It is an exhibition by Cannupa Hanska Luger at Garth Greenan Gallery in New York. The supplied report describes sculptures combining materials and forms including wood, ironstone clay, sumi ink and imagery of bison skulls.
What history does the exhibition address?
Hyperallergic reviewer Hrag Vartanian connects the work to the slaughter of buffalo by European settlers during westward expansion. That is the reviewer’s stated interpretation of the exhibition.
Which works are described in the report?
The review describes an abstracted bison made of ironstone clay and sumi ink on a blackened 19th-century dining table, and a stack of bison skulls on a surface with vintage axes for legs.
When can visitors see the exhibition?
The supplied report does not give opening or closing dates. Check Garth Greenan Gallery’s current listings for visitor information and whether the exhibition remains on view.
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