‘The Beat’ in New Britain: ‘Harmony and dissonance’

John Hitchcock’s “We Are Defined by the Beat’’ show at the New Britain (Conn.) Museum of American Art, through Nov. 29.

The museum says:

“Home to artist, educator, and musician John Hitchcock (b. 1967), the Kiowa, Comanche, and Apache tribal lands of Medicine Park, Oklahoma, lie between the sacred Wichita Mountains and Wildlife Reserve—a refuge for buffalo, deer, and elk—and Fort Sill, a United States Army post and artillery range established in 1869 during the Indian Wars.

“Within this environment, the sounds of cicadas, birds, and wildlife mingle with the percussion of artillery and helicopters, while the songs of Kiowa and Comanche people echo in counterpoint to military anthems. This coexistence of harmony and dissonance—of nature, culture, and conflict—is central to Hitchcock’s evocative work.

“For over three decades, Hitchcock has transformed the sonic and cultural rhythms of his homeland into a distinct visual language. An enrolled member of the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma with Comanche and Northern European ancestry, Hitchcock merges personal expression with references to intertribal powwows, the Wichita Mountain landscape of his youth, and the symbols and languages of Great Plains Native populations. Working across printmaking, neon, textiles, sound, and video, he merges traditional and contemporary art forms to pay homage to his ancestors, confront histories of Indigenous displacement and trauma, and celebrate community, resilience, and survival.’’