Sky Hopinka: Kicking the Clouds

Sky Hopinka: *Kicking the Clouds* examines the relationships among language, landscape, family memory, and contemporary Indigenous life. Through photography, poetry, video, and sound, Hopinka reflects on personal histories and broader Native experiences, showing how spoken, written, and visual forms of language can shape an understanding of place.

The exhibition takes its name from Hopinka’s 2021 film *Kicking the Clouds*, which draws on a rare audio recording of the artist’s grandmother. The presentation also includes photographs bearing poems etched into their surfaces and a calligram whose arrangement of words creates a symbolic image.

When: April 11–December 6, 2026

Venue: National Gallery of Art, West Building, Ground Floor, Gallery G22

Tickets: Free. Admission is always free, and passes are not required.

Artist: Sky Hopinka, a photographer, filmmaker, and poet affiliated with the Ho-Chunk Nation and Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians

Works: The exhibition includes photographs, poems, and film, including *Dickson Mounds* (2022), an inkjet print with hand-etched text; *Kicking the Clouds* (2021), a single-channel color video with sound; *Cahokia* (2022), an inkjet print with hand-etched text; *Protected* (2022), an inkjet print with hand-etched text; and the 2020 inkjet print with hand-etched text beginning “Free me from this body, my voice can carry only so far.”

Film run time: *Kicking the Clouds* runs for approximately 15 minutes and 6 seconds.

Organization: Organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington

Curator: Andrea Nelson, associate curator of photographs

Support: The exhibition is supported by Daniel W. Hamilton.