Background
Nathan Begaye was born in Phoenix, Arizona in 1969 to a Navajo father and a Hopi mother.
Nathan Begaye was born in Phoenix, Arizona in 1969 to a Navajo father and a Hopi mother.
His upbringing in the Navajo/Hopi communities was steeped in tribal traditions, and he was schooled in the lore, history, religion, symbolism, and customs of the Navajo and Hopi peoples. Begaye"s interest in pottery began early, at age 10, and he had his first public exhibition only one year later. He learned traditional techniques and pigment recipes from people in his tribal community, both Navajo and Hopi.
As they were tribal secrets, he kept these to himself even when he became a teacher later in life.
After receiving a SWAIA scholarship, he left home at age 14 to study ceramics at the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) in Sante Fe, New Mexico. Although his upbringing was very conservative, Begaye used unexpected and unorthodox techniques in his work. Said to utilize a "maverick sense of form, texture, color, and design," Begaye"s work was often personal and autobiographical.
Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Master of Arts
Robert Nichols Gallery, Sante Fe, New Mexico
Emerging Clouds, 1998 and Cloud, 2004 and untitled large jar, 2004, Master of Science"s-Stedelijk Museum "s-Hertogenbosch/Netherlands
Native American Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Master of Arts
November 20, 2010 – December 31, 2016
Passionate Journey: The Grice Collection of Native American Art
Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, North Carolina
July 18, 2009 – October 17, 2009
Intersections: Native American Art in a New Light
Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Master of Arts
June 24, 2006 – November 27, 2011
Free Spirit: The New Native American Potter
Stedelijk Museum’s, Hertogenbosch, Netherlands
2006
Dualities: Nathan Begaye + Les Namingha + Dusty Naranjo
Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, Santa Fe, New Mexico
May 12, 2006 – June 25, 2006
American Indian Art at the Spencer Museum of Art
Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas,Lawrence, Kansas
September 6, 2003 - October 19, 2003
Indian Market: New Directions in Southwestern Native American Pottery
Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Master of Arts
November 16, 2001 – March 17, 2002.