Chris Pappan

Kaw Nation/Osage/Lakota

Chris Pappan is an artist influenced by the Lowbrow art movement with its roots in 1970s underground comics, punk, and hot rod cultures. His art literally reflects the dominant culture’s distorted perceptions of Native peoples and is based on the Plains Native art tradition known as Ledger Art.


A graduate of the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe and an award winning painter and ledger artist, Chris’ work is in notable collections such as the National Museum of the American Indian, Washington D.C., DePaul Art Museum in Chicago IL, Block Museum of Art in Evanston IL, Newberry Library in Chicago IL, North American Native Museum of Geneva Switzerland, and the Spencer Museum of Art in Lawrence, Kansas.


Chris is a board member of the Illinois State Museum and is a co-founder of the Center for Native Futures. He lives and works in Chicago with his wife Debra Yepa-Pappan, and their daughter Ji Hae.