Oklahoma Contemporary presents the first major retrospective of Oklahoma City-based artist Edgar Heap of Birds (b. 1954, Wichita, Kansas; Cheyenne and Arapaho Nation), known internationally for conceptual artwork that addresses Indigenous rights, sovereignty and relationships to place. Hock E Aye Vi Edgar Heap of Birds: Honor Song is a landmark for American art, for the region and for the city: the artist’s first institutional survey in his home-state of the last 40 years.

Honor Song runs Feb. 20 – Aug. 4, 2025, spread throughout both the Eleanor Kirkpatrick Main Gallery and the Mary LeFlore Clements Oklahoma Gallery. An outdoor installation of two half-basketball courts, titled Neufs for Oklahoma Autumn, will occupy the grounds of Campbell Art Park, and open on April 25, 2025.

Curator Pablo Barrera has been working to bring this exhibition to life for years, since he and Heap of Birds first crossed paths in 2020. “I think the important part about this exhibition is the fact that he is an internationally renowned artist who is little known in Oklahoma, of all places, which is his home state. We are now in a position to have an incredible retrospective of an important figure who is arguably our best-known artist based in Oklahoma City.”

Heap of Birds, in addition to being a prolific artist, taught at the University of Oklahoma for 30 years before retiring. “He’s been embedded in the community and embedded in the educational system and the art practice of many artists here,” Barrera said. “Edgar is first and foremost a conceptual artist. His artistic approach is crucial for fully appreciating his use of the language of advocacy, the way that he really advocates for Indigenous rights of sovereignty, and the ways in which he tries to draw attention to unresolved histories – things that we tend to overlook, but also things that we purposely try to erase, from a colonial perspective, out of the history of the United States, especially with regards to Indigenous people.”

The campus-wide installation includes archival materials, original printing plates and new works commissioned for a workshop this fall leading up to the show that is part of Getty’s The Paper Project initiative for curatorial innovation in the graphic arts. The totality of work reveals a through-line: Heap of Birds harnesses conceptual art approaches to address the treatment of Native American communities and to advocate for the agency of Indigenous identity toward stewardship of the earth we all share.

“We’re honored to present the work of Edgar Heap of Birds, whose art challenges and inspires through its deep engagement with Indigenous history and culture,” said Trent Riley, Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center executive director. “This dynamic exhibition features a compelling collection of more than 90 artworks in various media spanning four decades of Heap of Birds’ trajectory from the 1970s to the present, including colorful prints, abstract paintings, drawings, glassworks, sculptures and public works, offering visitors the opportunity to learn and reflect on the vibrant cultural narratives that inform his practice.”

Hock E Aye Vi Edgar Heap of Birds: Honor Song also provides, for many, the first opportunity to see the artist’s ongoing, yet lesser-known, abstract acrylic paintings. Begun as a daily practice in 1981, when Heap of Birds moved to Oklahoma tribal and ancestral lands, the imagery in his paintings involves repeated and layered diagonal shapes of color with jagged edges that seem to vibrate with earthly energy. Titled Neuf, the Cheyenne language word for performing actions in sets of four, each composition is shaped formally by the ritually and cosmologically significant tetrad, regardless of scale or where the artist created the painting.

This exhibition project is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. To find out more about how the National Endowment for the Arts grants impact individuals and communities, visit www.arts.gov.

A special workshop connected to this exhibition is made possible with support from the Getty Foundation through its Paper Project Initiative

This project is also supported by a grant from the Henry Luce Foundation. The Henry Luce Foundation seeks to deepen knowledge and understanding in pursuit of a more democratic and just world. Established in 1936 by Henry R. Luce, the co-founder and editor-in-chief of Time, Inc., the Luce Foundation advances its mission by nurturing knowledge communities and institutions, fostering dialogue across divides, enriching public discourse, amplifying diverse voices and investing in leadership development. A leader in arts funding since 1982, the Luce Foundation’s American Art Program advances the role of American art in realizing more vibrant and empathetic communities. Through support for innovative projects, it empowers institutions to celebrate creativity, elevate underrepresented voices, challenge accepted histories and seek common ground.

Admission to Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center is always free. Guests may walk in any time galleries are open and may enjoy Campbell Art Park any time. Gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday; and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Thursday. Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center galleries are closed on Tuesday.

About the Artist

Hock E Aye Vi Edgar Heap of Birds (b. 1954, Wichita, Kansas) is a multidisciplinary artist and citizen of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Nation, for which he serves as headsman of the Elk Warrior Society, instructing ceremony on tribal lands near Geary, Oklahoma. He received his BFA from the University of Kansas (1976), undertook graduate studies in painting at the Royal College of Art, London (1977), and received an MFA from the Tyler School of Art, Temple University (1979). Heap of Birds has participated in over 200 national and international exhibitions since the early 1980s and his works are part of museum collections worldwide. He has been the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including being honored as an Awards in Art recipient by the American Academy of Arts and Letters (2024), as well as induction as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2020). From 1988 to 2018, Heap of Birds was a professor at the University of Oklahoma; served as visiting lecturer in over 14 countries; and was invited to teach at Yale University and Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of Cape Town, South Africa. He is now Professor Emeritus in the University of Oklahoma Native American Studies Department and continues to live and work in Oklahoma City.

About Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center

Oklahoma Contemporary, formed in 1989 as City Arts Center by Christian Keesee and Kirkpatrick Foundation director Marilyn Myers, is a nonprofit organization committed to providing quality, accessible and affordable arts programming. With a mission to encourage artistic expression in all its forms through education, exhibitions and performance, Oklahoma Contemporary is committed to instilling in the public a lifetime appreciation of the arts and enthusiasm for creative practice. For more information on free exhibitions, class schedules and public programs, visit oklahomacontemporary.org.