Join us for an intimate conversation with American artist Jeffrey Gibson as we celebrate the publication of the monograph Jeffrey Gibson: POWER FULL BECAUSE WE’RE DIFFERENT.

A companion to Gibson’s installation of the same name commissioned by MASS MoCA, the project takes root in a 1988 Leigh Bowery performance and the 1990 reintroduction of the term Two-Spirit. Following his historic role as the first Indigenous artist to represent the United States in a solo exhibition at the Venice Biennale, Gibson looks to his ancestors and historic artists as much as to the next generation, in an unapologetic shout that is needed in this moment.

The publication gathers more than forty contributors Gibson invited through live events, talks, and a rotating resource room on themes like Two-Spirit, music, and futurism, becoming its own resource guide. Contributors include Denise Markonish, Evan Garza, Lou Cornum, Albert McLeod, Antonia Oliver, and Gibson himself, who writes on the importance of community.

A reception and book signing will follow in the Research & Development Store. Reserve your copy in advance for pick-up at the event, or pre-order and we’ll get your book signed for you.

About the Speakers:

Jeffrey Gibson (b. 1972, Colorado Springs; lives and works near Hudson, New York) is a multidisciplinary artist and citizen of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, half Cherokee, whose practice spans sculpture, painting, printmaking, video, and performance. A 2019 MacArthur Fellow, he represented the United States at the 60th Venice Biennale, the first Indigenous artist to do so with a solo presentation in the national pavilion.

Evan Garza is a writer, Fulbrighter, and curator at MASS MoCA. A former fellow in the museum’s Curatorial Exchange Initiative, they curated Steve Locke: the fire next time and edited Steve Locke: I Said What I Said (DelMonico Books, 2026). Previously, Garza was a Fulbright Scholar at the Irish Museum of Modern Art and Artistic Director of the 2021 Texas Biennial.

Denise Markonish is the Martin Friedman Chief Curator at Madison Square Park Conservancy in New York. Previously Chief Curator at MASS MoCA, she produced over 40 exhibitions in 18 years, including Jeffrey Gibson’s POWER FULL BECAUSE WE’RE DIFFERENT. She has edited and written for numerous exhibition catalogues, and her first commissions for Madison Square Park open in 2027.