James Luna is a Pooyukitchum (Luiseño) and Mexican-American performance artist and multimedia installation artist, living on the La Jolla Indian Reservation in California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

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Background

James Luna was born in Orange, California

Orange, California

Southern California is well-known for year-round pleasant weather: - On average, the warmest month is August. - The highest recorded temperature was in 1985. - On average, the coolest month is December. - The lowest recorded temperature was in 1950...

 in 1950 and grew up in Orange County. He earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at the University of California, Irvine

University of California, Irvine

The University of California, Irvine , founded in 1965, is one of the ten campuses of the University of California, located in Irvine, California, USA...

 and a Master of Science degree in counseling at San Diego State University

San Diego State University

San Diego State University , founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, is the largest and oldest higher education facility in the greater San Diego area , and is part of the California State University system...

. He moved to the La Jolla Indian Reservation in 1975 and lives there today.

Artwork

Initially Luna began his art career as a painter, but he branched out into performances and installation, which he has explored for over three decades. His own body has been a major component in his work. For instance, in the 1987 Artifact Piece at the San Diego Museum of Man

San Diego Museum of Man

The San Diego Museum of Man is a museum of anthropology located in Balboa Park, San Diego, California and housed in several historic landmark buildings.-Exhibits:...

, Luna lay still in a display case filled with sand and artifacts, such as Luna's favorite music and books, as wall as legal papers and labels describing his scars.

In 2005 the National Museum of the American Indian

National Museum of the American Indian

The National Museum of the American Indian is a museum operated under the auspices of the Smithsonian Institution that is dedicated to the life, languages, literature, history, and arts of the native Americans of the Western Hemisphere...

 sponsored him to participate in the Venice Biennale

Venice Biennale

The Venice Biennale is a major contemporary art exhibition that takes place once every two years in Venice, Italy. The Venice Film Festival is part of it. So too is the Venice Biennale of Architecture, which is held in even years...

. The piece he created, Emendatio, included three installations, Spinning Woman, Apparitions: Past and Present, and The Chapel for Pablo Tac, as well a personal performance in Venice, Renewal dedicated to Pablo Tac

Pablo Tac

Pablo Tac was a Luiseño Indian who provided a rare contemporary Native American perspective on the institutions and early history of Alta California. Tac was born of Luiseño parents at Mission San Luis Rey de Francia and attended the Mission school...

 (1822–1841), a Luiseño Indian author and scholar, who went to study in Rome, where he died.

Academic work

Luna has taught art at the University of California, San Diego

University of California, San Diego

The University of California, San Diego, commonly known as UCSD or UC San Diego, is a public research university located in the La Jolla neighborhood of San Diego, California, United States...

. Currently, he is a full-time academic counselor at Palomar College

Palomar College

Palomar College is a community college with one campus and six education sites in San Diego County, California. The main campus is located in San Marcos, while the six education sites are located elsewhere throughout north San Diego County. The largest of these is the education center located in...

 in San Marcos, California

San Marcos, California

San Marcos is a suburb of San Diego in the North County section of San Diego County, California. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 83,781. Outside the San Diego region, it is best known as the home of California State University, San Marcos...

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Honors

During his career, Luna has received innumerable awards, including Best Live Short Performance at the American Indian Film Festival

American Indian Film Festival

The American Indian Film Festival is an annual non-profit film festival in San Francisco. It is the world's oldest venue dedicated to Native American films and prepared the way for the 1979 formation of the American Indian Film Institute....

 and a Bessie Award from the Dance Theater Workshop

Dance Theater Workshop

Dance Theater Workshop, colloquially known as DTW, is a New York City performance space and service organization for dance companies. Located as 219 West 19th Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, DTW was founded in 1965 by Jeff Duncan, Art Bauman and...

 of New York. In 2007 he was awarded the Eiteljorg Fellowship for Native American Fine Art.

Quote

I truly live in two worlds. This 'two world' concept once posed too much ambiguity for me, as I felt torn as to whom I was. In maturity I have come to find it the source of my power, as I can easily move between these two places and not feel that I have to be one or the other, that I am an Indian in this modern society.

External links

• The Performance Art of James Luna
• James Luna, Emendatio, National Museum of the American Indian
• James Luna, Vision Project, by Shanna Ketchum-Heap of Birds