Untitled (from the Imaginary Indian series)
104.1 cms x 104.1 cms x 17.78 cms (41 ins x 41 ins x 41 ins)
On verso signed and dated 2009
made in 2009
Lot offered for sale by Heffel, Vancouver at the auction event "August 2018 Online auction" held on Thu, Aug 30, 2018.
Lot 006
Lot 006
Estimate: CAD $5,000 - $7,000
Realised: CAD $5,000
Realised: CAD $5,000
Lot description - from the online catalogue*
Provenance:
Trench Gallery, Vancouver
Private Collection, Vancouver
Notes:
Nicholas Galanin’s multi-disciplinary work challenges the traditional versus contemporary binary that attempts to situate many of the discussions surrounding art made today by people of First Nations heritage. Raised in Sitka, Alaska, Galanin is of mixed Tlingit / Unangax ancestry and was trained in traditional forms of First Nations art making. He merges this background with a contemporary practice, remixing and expanding the definitions carved around each space.
In this piece, Untitled (from the Imaginary Indian Series), originally shown in 2011 at Trench Gallery in Vancouver, a red and cream wallpaper pattern is overlaid onto a transformation mask, camouflaging it on the two-dimensional backdrop. The pattern, which depicts idyllic scenes of Europeans engaged in pastoral leisure, alludes to the burgeoning middle classes that resulted from capitalistic expansion and colonial conquest during the eighteen and nineteenth centuries.
While for Galanin the transformation mask is still part of a living culture, its function and cultural significance in western culture was aestheticized and made to disappear. Used for ceremonial dances and rituals, the transformation mask would often be mechanically rigged so that the exterior could open to reveal a face within. This theatrically symbolized the transformation of the self and the community through time, from an ancestral, mythological past, to a synthesis with the present and a movement toward the future.
Trench Gallery, Vancouver
Private Collection, Vancouver
Notes:
Nicholas Galanin’s multi-disciplinary work challenges the traditional versus contemporary binary that attempts to situate many of the discussions surrounding art made today by people of First Nations heritage. Raised in Sitka, Alaska, Galanin is of mixed Tlingit / Unangax ancestry and was trained in traditional forms of First Nations art making. He merges this background with a contemporary practice, remixing and expanding the definitions carved around each space.
In this piece, Untitled (from the Imaginary Indian Series), originally shown in 2011 at Trench Gallery in Vancouver, a red and cream wallpaper pattern is overlaid onto a transformation mask, camouflaging it on the two-dimensional backdrop. The pattern, which depicts idyllic scenes of Europeans engaged in pastoral leisure, alludes to the burgeoning middle classes that resulted from capitalistic expansion and colonial conquest during the eighteen and nineteenth centuries.
While for Galanin the transformation mask is still part of a living culture, its function and cultural significance in western culture was aestheticized and made to disappear. Used for ceremonial dances and rituals, the transformation mask would often be mechanically rigged so that the exterior could open to reveal a face within. This theatrically symbolized the transformation of the self and the community through time, from an ancestral, mythological past, to a synthesis with the present and a movement toward the future.
Most realised prices include the Buyer's Premium of 18-25%, but not the HST/GST Tax.
(*) Text and/or Image might be subject matter of Copyright. Check with Heffel auction house for permission to use.
(*) Text and/or Image might be subject matter of Copyright. Check with Heffel auction house for permission to use.