Wolves: The Art of Dempsey Bob

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RACHEL TOPHAM PHOTOGRAPHY Rachel Topham Photography Ltd.

Dempsey Bob, “Wolf Chief’s Hat,” c. 1993

red cedar, acrylic paint, operculum, horse hair, leather, ermine. (Collection of Eric Savics) (Rachel Topham Photography)

Wolves: The Art of Dempsey Bob charts the progression of Dempsey Bob, from his early days starting out as a young carver from the Tahltan-Tlingit First Nations in the early 1970s, until today. 

This exhibition offers a personal encounter with one of the leading carvers of British Columbia’s Northwest Coast, and an immersive experience of the Tahltan and Tlingit mainland cultures. The show surveys the artist’s development from his early days as a student of legendary female carver Freda Diesing through to his late career masterworks, which advance the traditions of carving in the 21st century.

Viewers will have the rare opportunity to see a collection of Bob’s beautiful masks, wall sculptures, vessels, and regalia, which have been brought together for the first time from the walls of private collectors as well as from the vaults of public art museums.

Dempsey Bob was born into an artistic family in Telegraph Creek, on the Stikine River in the northwest corner of BC. His mother was from the Wolf clan, which means in the matriarchal lineage, he is as well. As a young man, he studied with the legendary Haida artist Freda Diesing (1925–2002), who is one of the few women to carve totem poles.

Through his training in the mainland Indigenous practices of mask and pole carving, Bob developed his own exquisite sense of line, which invests his works with an almost uncanny vitality. His subjects – such as wolves, eagles, bears, ravens, and killer whales – seem to peer right out of his sculptures.

Dempsey Bob has been one of the most important teachers of his generation and is a founder of the Freda Diesing School of Northwest Coast Art in Terrace, BC, where he lives and teaches today. For his contributions, he has been invested as an Officer of the Order of Canada (2013), received the Artistic Achievement Award at the Governor General’s Awards in Visual and Media Arts (2021), and has been awarded three honorary doctorates.