Jeffrey Gibson started the year with the honor of being the first Indigenous and openly queer artist to have a solo representation of the U.S. Pavilion in Venice Biennale. Titled “The Space In Which To Place Me”, the Colorado-born artist’s take-over spanned paintings, sculptures, flags, and a video, all of which engaged with the resilience of First Nation cultures, and their efforts to preserve and celebrate their many colors and textures against colonialist agendas.

The lucrative year continued for Gibson with the announcement of signing with Hauser & Wirth and the opening of another ambitious outing at MASS MoCA. “Power Full Because We’re Different” is the largest single museum installation in Gibson’s career and features paintings, videos, installation, and seven garments, some of which are worn by the artist in a video piece.

Spread across multiple galleries at the Massachusetts museum’s large campus, the show builds on Gibson’s project of celebrating Native heritages and lineages, as well as gender expressions such as Two-Spirit, this carries over through nods to Abstract Expressionism, Indigenous craft techniques, and club culture. After unveiling the show at the beginning of November with a performance by Anohni, Gibson will keep the discussion kinetic until May, through collaborations with a long suite of musicians and writers, such as Martha Redbone and Laura Ortman.

Here, the artist looks back at 2024 and what he expects from the year ahead.

Installation view of Jeffrey Gibson: “Power Full Because We’re Different”, MASS MoCA, North Adams, MA (November 3, 2024–May 2025). Courtesy of the artist, made with MASS MoCA. Photo: Tony Luong

What moment or project stands out as a personal highlight of 2024?

2024 has been a whirlwind and although it has been a ton of work, it has also been filled with many personal highlights. I would choose the opening events of the Venice Biennale because of the sheer joy felt by myself and many other Native and Indigenous people who travelled to Venice to celebrate together and bring life to the installation through music, dance, poetry and performance. To see how the images ricocheted through Indian Country in the U.S. was thrilling.

What was the best show you saw in your local city in 2024?

I would say that “Indian Theater: Native Performance, Art, and Self Determination since 1969“, organized by Candice Hopkins, at the Hessel Museum of Art was one of the best exhibitions that I saw in 2024. It is the kind of exhibition that I have been waiting for and it established a fresh starting point for many when considering the history of Native American Art.

Tell us about the best show you saw abroad in 2024.

I was lucky to see Pope.L’s solo exhibition “Hospital” at The South London Gallery just after he had passed. It was so good and a reminder of what a brilliant thinker and maker Pope.L was.

What are you looking forward to most in 2025?

There is a lot of programming that will happen throughout the year as part of my installation “Power Full Because We’re Different”. I continue to be humbled by the incredible artists who agree to contribute their vision to activate the installation and keep things fresh during the run of the exhibition. I am also looking forward to debuting four new bronze sculptures as part of the Genesis Façade Commission at The Met in the fall.

Installation view of Jeffrey Gibson: “Power Full Because We’re Different”, MASS MoCA, North Adams, MA (November 3, 2024 – May 2025). Courtesy of the artist, made with MASS MoCA. Photo: Tony Luong

If you could see one change in the art world next year, what would it be?

I would like to see more exhibitions that encourage artists to experiment and think critically about the world we are living in. I have been really excited by poets like Layli Long Soldier and Natalie Diaz and would love to see more poets being given public platforms outside of publishing. We need really strong writers to put words to the experience of contemporary life, and also to develop strong critical dialogues that offer new models for how we can cope with challenging times.

What is the one piece of advice you would give yourself at this time last year?

Trust yourself and surround yourself with people who have already shown support to you.

Who is the art professional you have your eye on for 2025, and why?

Philip J. Deloria is an author, scholar and historian, who has written numerous books that explore American and Western history to pull out threads of Native American narratives that are often overlooked. His thinking and writing mirror the ways that I think about formally making an artwork through the process of collage. We have worked together for the book An Indigenous Present and, he has written for the forthcoming catalog for the Biennale. I really enjoy his take on my practice and how it reflects American history, inclusive of many different cultural narratives and not only Native American ones.

“Jeffrey Gibson: Power Full Because We’re Different” is on view at MASS MoCA through May, 2025.