Spirit Walker: J. D. Challenger And His Art

The images of Native Americans by JD Challenger are among the most popular paintings and prints being collected today. Spirit Walker, JD Challenger and His Art features more than one hundred paintings made during the past decade and brought together here for the first time. The book includes extensive commentary by E. Dan Klepper, who has collaborated with Challenger for many years. The text tells the story of the painter and his work and offers insights into its creation. Flint Carney, Tui-Bi-Tsi (Handsome Heart) of the Comanche Nation of Oklahoma, says this about Challenger: "Scholars of American History are now contemplating the ways in which Indian culture influenced the development of a national character that is uniquely American. JD's work captures that connection. His uncanny mixture of symbols from two worlds presses the viewer to look for the messages that might be found there. It's as if he is saying, "I don't necessarily want you to think what I think. I just want you to think." "JD understands as well the phenomenon of the Ghost Dance experience and the environment in which it developed. There was so much despair for Indian people, and they were looking for hope. There was so much anger, and they were looking for hope. There was so much anger, and they were looking for love. Perhaps JD's work serves as a bridge that links the past with the present, and Indian America with non-Indian. Or perhaps its value simply lies in the artist's extraordinary talent. I do not know. What I do know is that JD is, and always will be, my brother."