Emmi Whitehorse Joins White Cube

Born in 1957 in Crownpoint, New Mexico, Emmi Whitehorse is a member of the Navajo Nation who grew up speaking only the Navajo language. Her grandmother, a traditional weaver, was a key artistic mentor, instilling in her the Navajo philosophy of Hózhó—a concept of harmony and balance with nature that remains central to her work. As a student at the University of New Mexico in the late 1970s, Whitehorse was part of the groundbreaking "Grey Canyon Group." This collective of contemporary Native American artists challenged expectations by using modernist abstraction to convey Indigenous themes and worldviews. Whitehorse’s abstract works are created with oil paint, pastels, and graphite on paper, which she lays flat and works on from all sides. Her deliberately apolitical art focuses on the intricate details of the natural world, capturing what she calls "being completely, micro-cosmically within a place." White Cube, established in London in 1993 by Jay Jopling, is a leading global gallery with spaces in New York, Paris, Hong Kong, and Seoul. The gallery rose to prominence by giving early shows to the Young British Artists, including Tracey Emin and Damien Hirst. The gallery's roster includes influential artists like Theaster Gates, Anselm Kiefer, Julie Mehretu, and Doris Salcedo. Representation by such a gallery provides artists with significant market protection, career stability, and access to an international network of collectors and institutions. Whitehorse's work is already in the collections of major institutions like the Whitney Museum of American Art and the National Gallery of Art. Her market has seen a dramatic rise, with an auction record set in March 2025 when a piece sold for $387,700, more than doubling her previous record from May 2024.