Patrick Dean Hubbell

Front Gallery

Nina Johnson is pleased to present Patrick Dean Hubbell's You Guide Me Through, an exhibition of all new works that exist as a personal exploration of the interdependent relationship of self to the foundations of Indigenous cultural knowledge and cultural fundamental philosophy.

"PDH is a father, and a cattle rancher and a painter. His work is born from this context, but it is also born from a foundation of Indigenous cultural knowledge and Dine cultural philosophy. At Times It Felt Like I was Alone, But You Were Always There By My Side, both deeply personal, a reference to family, to love, to community and broadly about cultural teachings and Navajo traditions, an ancestral presence that is ever present. In the context of this exhibition, Patrick is first and foremost a painter, an individual pre-occupied with gesture and color, line and the boundaries of the picture plane. An artist in his studio navigating the intersection of personal inquisitive exploration, with a heavily felt engagement dealing with what is thought of as 'indigenous art' in relationship to the context of 'contemporary painting.'

You Guide Me Through is Patrick's second solo exhibition at the gallery and comes after a fruitful period of exhibitions, travel and exploration. Ideas of perseverance, resiliency and survival are explored by incorporating every possible material used and not wasted through the studio process, found objects, and repurposed materials. Reverence of the natural world and spiritual entities rendered through elemental transformational use of drawing and painting materials, natural earth pigment collected from ancestral homelands and the tactility of the natural materials. Navigating life's personal moments; from sensitive times of loss and healing to experiences of joy, love, family, growth, ceremony, and thankfulness; these reflections are translated throughout the work."

—Nina Johnson

Patrick Dean Hubbell (b. 1986, Dine’) He is To'ahani'(Near to Water Clan), Born for Dibe'lizhini (Black Sheep), Maternal Grandfather is Kinyaa'aanii (Towering House People), Paternal Grandfather is Hona'ghaahnii (One Who Walks Around Clan). He is originally from Navajo, New Mexico, located near the Northeast region of the Arizona, New Mexico border of the Navajo Nation, in the Southwest region of the United States. Hubbell’s work has been exhibited at galleries, museums and institutions nationally and internationally and can be found in numerous public and private collections. In 2017, Hubbell was awarded the Pollock-Krasner grant. He is the recipient of the New Artist Society Award (SAIC, 2019), The James Nelson Raymond Fellowship (SAIC, 2021), and is a recent graduate from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He currently lives and works on the Navajo Nation.