A conversation between Neal Ambrose-Smith and Dr. Maryam Ohadi-Hamadani about the artist, activist, educator and curator Jaune Quick-to-See Smith and Fruitmarket’s new exhibition Jaune Quick-to-See Smith: Wilding
Born January 15, 1940 Jaune Quick-to-See Smith was an enrolled Salish member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Nation, Montana.
Smith created complex abstract paintings and prints for over five decades. Known for her poetic, curious, and profound interpretations of America’s particular forms of bigotry toward Native peoples, the artist’s sharp humour pierced through the heavy topics of race, colonialism, pollution, genocide, and survival.
Wilding is showing at the Fruitmarket until February 2026. The exhibition was conceived in conversation with the artist before her sad and sudden death at the beginning of 2025 and will be the first time her work has been seen in Scotland. The exhibition’s title came from the artist, who from our earliest conversations wanted the exhibition to engage with the history and politics of land stewardship.
The exhibition includes paintings and a large canoe sculpture made by Jaune Quick-to-See Smith especially for Fruitmarket, together with a selection of paintings from throughout her career. The exhibition is an opportunity to get to know the compelling work of this artist attuned to the importance of paying attention and taking action.
While the show is running pictures and video of the work are available on our website. In future this material will be available in our online archive.
The book produced by Fruitmarket to accompany Wilding is available from our online bookshop.
Neal Ambrose-Smith, Jaune’s son, collaborated with his mother from the 1990s until her death, including on many of the works featured in Wilding.
Neal is a descendent of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Nation. A renowned painter, sculptor, Ambrose-Smith formerly served as professor and department chair at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe.
A descendant of the Mvskoke (Creek) and Osage nations, Dr. Maryam Ohadi-Hamadani is an art historian and curator specialising in modern and contemporary art of the global diasporas, focusing on the postcolonial histories of African, Afro-Caribbean, Asian and Black British art in Britain and beyond.
A free, public space for culture in the heart of Edinburgh, Fruitmarket provides inspiration and opportunity for artists and audiences. We programme, develop and present world-class exhibitions, commissions, publications, performances, events and engagement activities, opening up the artistic process.
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