Three opening receptions Friday, June 29th

Urban Shaman’s Main Gallery

"Ominjimendaan / to remember" by Charlene Vickers

Friday, June 29 to August 2, 2012

Opening Reception at 8pm, Artist Talk at 9pm, Friday, June 29, 2012

Artist Statement: This exhibition is comprised of a range of sculptural objects including wrapped grasses, sturdy spear forms, and stylized turtles. At the heart of this exhibition, Vickers evokes a healing space for those who have experienced loss or who are looking for someone who is missing. Within each grass stalk, spear, and turtle, memory is a source of experiential meaning both historical and personal, for maker and viewer. History, healing and growth are themes of the early wrapped grass and fabric works. By wrapping and binding grasses and hair together with cotton and linen strips, the grasses begin to resemble bone-like forms to evoke vulnerability and recovery. The most recent wrapped grasses stand facing the viewer in relation to their own body. Emphasis on how the body and experiences of the viewer are incorporated in the meaning of the work is crucial. Tall lengths of pointed, sharpened cedar stand balanced against a wall waiting for someone to employ them with purpose; a story, a history, an action. Resembling spears or tipi poles, one thinks of weaponry, hunting, or traditional shelters that provide protection and sustenance. The initial idea for the form of the work began when thinking of the porcupine quill and its elegant and efficient functionality as deterrent to predators. The clan of turtles is the searchers of things lost: people, culture, languages, and histories. The clan shuffles, floats, dreams and searches to find lost sisters and family members, then slowly re-enters the land and the rivers from where they came.

Biography: Charlene Vickers is an Anishinabe artist based in Vancouver, BC. She graduated from the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design (94) and is currently an MFA candidate at Simon Fraser University (2013). Born in Kenora, Ontario and raised in Toronto her art explores her Ojibway ancestry and her experiences living and working in urban spaces. Vestige Vagabond, a performance and collaboration with Maria Hupfield was recently presented at the 2011 Santa Fe Indian Art Market hosted by the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts.

www. charlenevickersvisualartist.blogspot.com

Urban Shaman’s Marvin Frances Media Gallery

"Disparity" by Tania Willard

Friday, June 29 to August 2, 2012

Opening Reception at 8pm, Artist Talk at 9pm, Friday, June 29, 2012

Artist Statement: In Disparity Willard investigates Interior Salish basketry as a way of knowing and seeing, a skill linked to the worldview and the territory of Secwepemc culture, she translates birch bark basketry patterning into 3D glasses, 3D images, fast food baskets and basket bling. Interested in the 3D glasses as a symbol of changing viewpoints and cultural viewing habits, Willard attempts to convey disparate ideas of value and economy.

Biography: Tania Willard, Secwepemc Nation, works within the shifting ideas about contemporary and traditional, often working with bodies of knowledge and skills that are conceptually linked to her interest in intersections of Aboriginal and other cultures. Willard has worked as an artist in residence with gallery gachet in Vancouver’s Downtown East Side, the Banff Centre's visual arts residency, fiction and Trading Post and as a curator in residence with grunt gallery. Collection's of Willard's work include the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade and Kamloops Art Gallery. Her recent work with Stanley Park's environmental art project focuses on Aboriginal presence and absence in Stanley Park through the philosophy of the Cedar Tree as the tree of life. Willard’s recent curatorial work includes Beat Nation: Art Hop Hop and Aboriginal Culture, featuring 27 contemporary Aboriginal artists.

Urban Shaman’s AND Gallery

"I Shall Listen For You" by Ndinawe Youth Exhibition

Friday, June 29 to August 2, 2012

Opening Reception at 6:30pm on Friday, June 29, 2012

Snacks & Refreshments served between 5-6pm, Opening Prayer 6:15pm at Urban Shaman Gallery 203-290 McDermot Ave

Project Description: The Ndinawe Youth Resource Centre is proud to present an art and sound art exhibition entitled, I Shall Listen For You, created by the Inner City Youth of Winnipeg, Manitoba. A tactic approach inspired through the Spirit of Third Generation Artists artistic expressions about the affects of Canadian Aboriginal Historical Trauma and Intergenerational Impacts.

Ndinawe Youth Resource Centre (NYRC) is a drop-in for our youth to call their own, the resource centre provides services and programs to help youth get their primary needs met, gain skills and see their potential. It is a place where youth are given the ability to develop into the leaders of tomorrow.

Urban Shaman: Contemporary Aboriginal Art gratefully acknowledges the support of our friends, volunteers, community and all our relations, the Winnipeg Arts Council, the Manitoba Arts Council, the Canada Council for the Arts, Manitoba Hydro and (CAHRD) Centre for Aboriginal Human Resource Development Inc., The Winnipeg Foundation. ~GITCHI MIIGWETCH

Exhibition Hours

Tues - Sat 12pm - 5pm

Closed Sundays & Mondays

Office Hours

Mon – Fri 11am – 5pm

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