"Beat Nation: Art Hip Hop and Aboriginal Culture" Vancouver Art Gallery, February 25 to June 3, 2012

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Shawn Hunt, "Master of Ceremony"

Shawn Hunt, "Master of Ceremony", 2011, acrylic on panel

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Photo by the Artist. Courtesy of Galerie Donald Browne.

Mark Igloliorte, "Untitled"

Mark Igloliorte, "Untitled", 2011, Video Projection on Skateboard

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Skeena Reece "Fuck the White Man"

Skeena Reece "Fuck the White Man" 2008 inkjet print

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Brian Jungen "Variant #2"

Brian Jungen "Variant #2" 2005 re-purposed Nike Jordan shoes

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Courtesy of the artist.

Nicholas Galanin, "TsuHeideiShugaxtutaan, part 1 & 2"

Nicholas Galanin, "TsuHeideiShugaxtutaan, part 1 & 2", 2011, still from video.

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Shawn Hunt, "Master of Ceremony"

Shawn Hunt, "Master of Ceremony", 2011, acrylic on panel

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Beat Nation: Art Hip Hop and Aboriginal Culture

Vancouver Art Gallery

February 25 to June 3, 2012

by Beverly Cramp

Northwest coast First Nations artists have long been known for their carving and weaving creations; from monumental totem poles to intricate basketry to designed woollens. They have also been lauded for their ongoing embracement of innovation in response to the changes of their times. What does that tradition look like today in an age of technology change and the influence of new media, new music and an explosion of fresh, contemporary expression?

“Beat Nation: Art, Hip Hop and Aboriginal Culture” looks into this cultural collision of urban youth culture and Aboriginal identity. It is at once shocking, exhilarating, humorous, excoriating, angry, poetic and full of beauty (if the old adage is true “truth is beauty and beauty, truth”). This leading-edge exhibition includes work from 27 artists from across North America who face the challenge of working with modern art practices while at the same time respecting and incorporating Aboriginal experiences. 

The first piece presented to viewers is a two-part experimental video by Alaska-based artist Nicholas Galanin, titled Tsu Heidei Shugaxtutaan (We Will Again Open This Container of Wisdom Which Has Been Left in Our Care), part 1 & 2, (2011). Part 1 depicts contemporary dancer David “Elsewhere” Bernal using the latest modern dance moves to the strains of traditional Tlingit drum and vocals. It’s an odd juxtaposition, hearing Tlingit songs set in a modern dance studio. But Bernal is mesmerizing with his liquid movements, as if his joints and bones are made of rubber. This is contrasted in part 2 with a costumed Tlingit dancer in traditional regalia, Dan Littlefield, moving to electronic music. The backdrop is a painted, wooden Tlingit screen carved by Galanin when he apprenticed to his uncle, carver Will Burkhart.

In the next room, we find contemporary paintings and sculptures by Shawn Hunt and rising art star, Sonny Assu. Hunt’s painting uses Aboriginal imagery and traditional formline language “with a difference” in his piece, Master of Ceremony, (2011). The abstract figure sports the hip hop accessories of diamond ear studs, a big gold necklace and teeth jewellery known as a “grill” and an Aboriginal talking stick as a microphone.

Sonny Assu’s Ellipsis (2012) follows in his practice of taking modern commodities and re-producing them in copper, a metal representing great wealth for his ancestors. Ellipsis is a series of 136 copper sculptures in the shape of vinyl records. The number represents the years the Indian Act has been law in Canada. The joke being in Sonny’s traditional community, a recording artist making it big would not have his album go gold or platinum, but rather copper.

Not surprisingly, there’s plenty of anger expressed about past injustices. A good example is Skeena Reece’s inkjet print, Fuck the White Man (2008) taken from a performance piece about female Aboriginal identities but with a narrative twist that puts the white man in a servile role.

A piece referencing minimalist forms of modern sculpture and also skateboard culture is Mark Igloliorte’s Untitled (Red Rail), (2004). The long narrow metal form represents a skateboard obstacle, which is painted bright red, a colour commonly found in Aboriginal communities. Red Rail is also perfectly positioned, being next to the carved skateboards (in the shape of snowshoes) of Newfoundland artist Jordan Bennett and acts as a pointer to Brian Jungen’s Variant #2 (2005). Variant #2 is a work in Jungen’s well-known series of re-purposed Nike Jordan shoes made into masks. This piece was made specifically for Michael Jordan, after whom the shoes were named.

All in all, Beat Nation, co-curated by Tania Willard and Kathleen Ritter, is a stunning exhibition of contemporary First Nations art. It would be a crime if this exhibition doesn’t travel across Canada and North America.