"Once he gets started, Jay Laber can twist, turn, carve, cut and weld abandoned cars into spectacular images with so much detail it’s possible to see the nose hair on a buffalo.
Now any visitor to the Missoula Art Museum can look closely at Laber’s work outside on the north side of the building - and see the texture of the buffalo’s tongue.
He wasn’t always that committed to detail.
Laber, a Blackfeet artist who lives on the Flathead Reservation, used to look at a junked, rusted car and imagine the infinite possibilities - wild hair swirling above the head of a dancing warrior, a horse running on an open plain, an eagle soaring above the antlers of a bugling elk.
He has succeeded in capturing time and sealing the moment in steel.
The MAM is displaying Laber’s work as part of its “Elk Dogs” exhibit, which continues through Feb. 21. It’s being displayed in the Lynda M. Frost Contemporary American Indian Gallery.
A gallery talk and artist reception is scheduled on Dec. 5.
The “Elk Dogs” installation features four invited artists, including Laber, Damian Charette, David Dragonfly and Jeneese Hilton. Additional “elk dog” art was chosen from the museum’s contemporary Indian art collection."
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