18th and 19th century versions of the White French Cross bead in the foreground of this installation view of Wendy Red Star’s solo show at Sargent’s Daughters in Tribeca were harder for Venetian glassmakers to produce, and therefore worth more in the North American fur trade. Trade routes that brought the beads from Europe to the North American interior as well as historic exchange values (3-4 could trade for a prime winter beaver pelt in the 1800s) are part of the information accompanying Red Star’s alluring display of much enlarged glass beads placed on Hudson Bay blankets. A grid of watercolor paintings features the beads and their names (e.g. Padre, Watermelon), enlarging the tiny forms that generated big demand in exchange between Native Americans and Europeans. (On view in Tribeca through April 18th).
