Jeffrey Gibson’s the space in which to place me at The Broad hit me right in the spiritual Indigiqueer feels, leaving me quite literally breathless, speechless.
Gibson (Mississippi Choctaw and Cherokee) has never played by the rules of what people expect “Native art” to be. With this exhibit, he throws every assumption into a whirlwind of color, texture, and unapologetic truth-telling, creating a beautifully choreographed riot of identity, resistance, and joy without a single wolf howling at the moon or warrior with oiled-up abs staring stoically into a sunset from his war pony.
From the moment you walk in, you’re enveloped by more than 30 works that feel like ceremony and protest at the same time. Every corner you turn is another conversation, another confrontation with history, with survival, with celebration. It’s the kind of exhibit that speaks with you, not at you.
Let’s talk about one of the pieces that gutted me—in the best way:
THE RETURNED MALE STUDENT FAR TOO FREQUENTLY GOES BACK TO THE RESERVATION AND FALLS INTO THE OLD CUSTOM OF LETTING HIS HAIR GROW LONG.
That title alone comes from a 1902 letter by the U.S. Commissioner of Indian Affairs. It’s the kind of language designed to target, shame, and sever Indigenous identity. But what does Gibson do? He flips it. He drapes it in power, dresses it in vivid color and bold geometry, and throws it back in the face of colonialism with defiance and sarcasm.
Then there’s WE WANT TO BE FREE, a towering sculpture glittering with jingles and fringe, referencing the Civil Rights Act of 1866. You can feel the movement in it. It pulses and demands your attention. It makes you remember that our bodies and our freedom are non-negotiable.
Gibson’s work isn’t afraid to be soft, loud, beautiful, joyful, or messy. And that’s what makes it revolutionary. It reflects the full spectrum of what it means to be Indigenous and queer in a world that wants nothing more than for us to be silent, invisible, and gone. His work isn’t a whisper but an ear-splitting scream that, against all the odds, we’re still here and still dancing.
The title, the space in which to place me, borrows from Layli Long Soldier’s poem “Ȟe Sápa,” and it’s a gentle challenge. Where do we belong in a world that’s tried to erase us? The answer, according to Gibson, is everywhere and in every moment where we choose to take up space with pride.
Jeffrey Gibson is creating worlds where we don’t have to explain who we are, and our stories are already known. Where our beauty and rage, our joy and sorrow are welcome, and where we are not just placed or displaced but rooted.
I highly recommend you take the time to explore the space in which to place me. You won’t leave the same, and that’s precisely the point.
Jeffrey Gibson: the space in which to place me
📍 The Broad, Los Angeles
🗓️ May 10 – September 28, 2025
🎟️ $15 general admission | Free Thursday nights after 5 PM
🔗 thebroad.org
