Earl Biss
Information on Earl Biss from
artnet.com
Born in Renton, Washington, on September 29, 1947 Earl Biss was given his
child name of Meadow Lark Boy and later as a man named Spotted Horse, as
with the tradition of his people, the Chippewa. He spent his childhood
in the Northwest.
He attended the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, NM, under
the guidance of Fritz Scholder from 1965-1966. He later completed his
studies at the San Francisco Art Institute in California from 1966-1972.
Biss then traveled to Europe for a year of independent studies. He
maintained a studio in the Netherlands countryside, using his spare time
to learn from the works of the Old Dutch Masters. He then traveled down
through France to settle for six months on the Isle of Corfu in Greece.
He attributes most of his work’s influences to Turner, Monet, Whistler,
Munch and Kokoschka. Biss discovered his own style, incorporating old
styles with modern styles. He combined America’s Abstract Expressionism
and Europe’s Old Age Masters to create an expression of his cultural
heritage. His subject matter is drawn from the landscape and rich
spiritual background of his people.
He died in the American Southwest in 1998.
Selected Exhibitions:
1992 Creativity Is Our Tradition, Institute of American Indian Arts
Museum, Santa Fe, New Mexico
1991 One With the Earth, organized by the Institute of American Indian
Arts and Alaska Culture and Arts Development, Santa Fe, New Mexico
1989 Paint, Bronze and Stone, Mitchell Indian Museum, Kendall College,
Evanston, Illinois
1987 San Jose State College, San Jose, California
1984 - 1985 Indianascher Kunstler (traveling, Germany), organized by the
Philbrook Museum, Tulsa, Oklahoma
1983 Heard Museum, Phoenix, Arizona
1982 Buscaglia-Castelani Art Gallery, Niagara University, Niagara Falls,
New York
1981 Buffalo Bill Historical Center, Cody, Wyoming
1979 The Real People, International Native American Council of Arts,
Casa de las Americas, Havana, Cuba
1978 Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian, Santa Fe, New Mexico
1975 - 1977 Elaine Horwitch Gallery, Scottsdale, Arizona
1975 Sun Spirits Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
1973 Amon Carter Institute of American Indian Arts, Fort Worth, TX
1972 Museum of the Plains Indian, Browning, Montana
1971 San Jose Museum of Fine Art, San Jose, California
1970 World's Fair, Osaka, Japan
1968 American Indian Historical Society, San Francisco
1968 Spring Show, San Francisco Art Institute
1967 Center for the Arts of Indian America, Washington, D.C.
1967 Alaskan Centennial, Anchorage, Alaska
1966 Edinburgh Festival, Edinburgh, Scotland
1966 Berlin Festival, West Berlin, Germany
1965 New Mexico Museum of Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM Institute of
Contemporary Indian Art, Washington, DC.