RE:counting coup
KC Adams, Jordan Bennett, James Luna, Archer Pechawis, Lisa Reihana
A Space Main Gallery
September 17 – October 30, 2010
Curated by: Cheryl L'Hirondelle
Copresented by: imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival
Archer Pechawis Performance: September 17, 7:30 PM
Curator Talk and 2nd reception: October 22, 5:30 to 7:30 PM
Artist Panel (Miles Nadal Centre): October 23, 10:00 – 11:15 AM
A Space Gallery and imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival are very pleased to present RE:counting coup, a new media exhibition that looks at the relational history of indigenous object making with that of a contemporary visual and new media art practice. Curated by Cheryl L’Hirondelle, this group exhibition profiles innovative works by KC Adams, Jordan Bennett, James Luna, Archer Pechawis and Lisa Reihana. These artists’ work attests to Indigenous ingenuity with the realization of performative objects, installations and events that move far beyond what has been over-simplified as solely an orally centered transmission processes to that of an ever-evolving and inventive multi-media tradition.
Biographies
Winnipeg-based artist KC Adams (Metis) is a BFA graduate of Concordia University. Her focus has been the investigation of the relationship between nature (the living) and technology (progress) with works sculpture, installation, drawing, painting, photography, ceramics, printmaking and kinetic art. http://www.kcadams.net/
Jordan Bennett (Mi’kmaq) is a multi disciplinary visual artist from Newfoundland whose work combines popular and board sport culture with that of traditional craft, ceremonial practices and language to push boundaries that explores the notion of the artifact in contemporary society. http://beatnation.org/jordan-bennett.html
James Luna is internationally recognized for his installation and performance art. A Puyokawichum (Luiseno) Indian and a resident of California’s La Jolla Indian Reservation, Luna creates his work for ‘a community of Indian tribes.’ He has received wide acclaim for his deconstruction of the stereotypes surrounding notions of Indian identity. His work confronts and challenges commonly held views of American Indians, museums, art, and life. He does this with irony, humour, sorrow, and a strong sense of storytelling in motion. Luna’s performances have been presented at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, the National Gallery of Canada, San Francisco’s Mexican Museum, and the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe. He represented the National Museum of the American Indian at the 2005 Venice Biennale.
Archer Pechawis (Cree) has been a practicing artist (performance, new media, film, writing), curator and educator since 1984 with particular interest in the intersection of Plains Cree culture and digital technology, often merging ‘traditional’ objects such as hand drums with ‘forward engineered’ devices. www.apxo.net
Lisa Reihana (Maori) graduated from Elam School of Fine Arts, Auckland University in 1987. Her practice includes sculpture, moving image, performance, costume and body adornment, photography, sound and text-based works. She is a leader in the area of installation and time-based works with an extensive exhibition history. www.lisareihana.com
Cheryl L’Hirondelle is an award winning mixed blood (Metis/Cree/German) multi and interdisciplinary artist, singer/songwriter and curator. Her work investigates the junction of a Cree worldview in contemporary time and space. www.cheryllhirondelle.com