Benjamin Harjo, Jr.

Benjamin Harjo Jr. (born September 14, 1945 – May 20, 2023) was a Native American painter and printmaker based in Oklahoma.

Background Benjamin Harjo Jr. was an enrolled citizen of the Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma and a descended of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma. His ancestry was half-Seminole and half-Shawnee. Harjo's father was the late Benjamin Harjo Sr., a full-blood Seminole. Harjo's mother, Viola Harjo, was from Byng, Oklahoma. Her father was William F. Harjo, who graduated from Chilocco Indian School in 1939. His maternal grandparents were Emmett and Ruth Wood.

The name Harjo means "crazy" in the Muskogee language, which was spoken by both the Muscogee and the Seminole. The word is part of a military title, Chitto Harjo, meaning "crazy snake".

After his family moved back to Oklahoma, Harjo lived with his maternal grandparents from the age of 10 to 18.

Education and military service Harjo's first passion was drawing comics, and he sold comics to his high school newspaper. Interested in pursuing a professional career in cartoon animation, Harjo went to the Institute of American Indian Arts in 1966. There he discovered that they had discontinued their animation program at IAIA. He expanded his studies and earned his Associate of Arts degree. His classmates included T. C. Cannon and Linda Lomahaftewa, who have become noted artists. Seymour Tubis was his most influential teacher, and taught him low-tech but highly effective printmaking techniques.

In 1969 Harjo was drafted into the US Army; he served honorably in the Vietnam War

Style Benjamin Harjo Jr. (Absentee Shawnee/Seminole), artist, shows a painting to art collector Travis D. Day. Harjo typically painted geometric forms composed of blocks of highly saturated color that form both abstract and highly stylized representational figures. The mosaic nature of his painting is reminiscent of Seminole patchwork clothing. He also worked in pen and ink, allowing his comic influences to show through. Through printmaking, Harjo was able to experiment with texture and subtler palettes. His work is known for its humor, either in comical imagery or in witty titles.

His smallest miniature paintings were not much larger than postage stamp but still featured highly detailed portraits. Harjo's chosen media was gouache on paper but he also used oil, acrylic, watercolor, conté crayons, pencil, pen and ink, pastel, printmaking,

Harjo said: "When you're traveling down the highway, you see an image whether it's dirt on the back of a truck or a splat on a windshield or two birds sitting by the side of the road picking at something. All those things have inspired me at some point in my creativity."

Public collections His artwork can be found in many public collections, including the following: Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, Oklahoma Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art, Shawnee, Oklahoma Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, Norman, Oklahoma US Embassy, Mogadishu, Somalia Sequoyah National Research Center, Little Rock, Arkansas Oklahoma State University Museum of Art Stillwater, Oklahoma Haskell Cultural Center and Museum, Lawrence, Kansas

Awards and honors Harjo was the 2005 poster artist for SWAIA's Santa Fe Indian Market.

Oklahoma Governor David Walters honored Harjo for his selection by Absolut Vodka to represent Oklahoma in its USA Today advertising campaign.

Exhibitions 1992, Franco-American Institute in Rennes, France. 2023: Patterns of Knowing at Oklahoma Contemporary in Oklahoma City, three-person exhibition, May 18 – October 23, 2023. 2025: The Haskell Cultural Center and Museum held, Chromatic Vibrance, a solo exhibition of his work from June 3 – October 31, 2025.