| James Luna | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1950 Orange, California, US |
| Nationality | La Jolla Luiseño-Mexican-American |
| Field | Performance, installation |
| Training | BFA University of California, MS San Diego State University |
| Works | Artifact Piece (1987), Take A Picture With A Real Indian (1993), Emendatio (2005) |
| Awards | Venice Biennale, 2005 |
| Website | http://www.jamesluna.com |
James Luna (born 1950) is a Pooyukitchum (Luiseño) and Mexican-American performance artist and multimedia installation artist, living on the La Jolla Indian Reservation in California.
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James Luna was born in Orange, California in 1950 and grew up in Orange County. He earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at the University of California, Irvine and a Master of Science degree in counseling at San Diego State University.[1] He moved to the La Jolla Indian Reservation in 1975 and lives there today.[2]
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.[3] 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, 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.[4]
In 2005 the National Museum of the American Indian sponsored him to participate in the Venice Biennale.[5] 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 (1822–1841), a Luiseño Indian author and scholar, who went to study in Rome, where he died.[4]
Luna has taught art at the University of California, San Diego. Currently, he is a full-time academic counselor at Palomar College in San Marcos, California.[6]
During his career, Luna has received innumerable awards, including Best Live Short Performance at the American Indian Film Festival and a Bessie Award from the Dance Theater Workshop of New York. In 2007 he was awarded the Eiteljorg Fellowship for Native American Fine Art.[4]
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.[7]
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