Indigenous Movie Monsters
Jay Soule aka CHIPPEWAR
A Space Windows
September 27 – October 29, 2016
Artist Talk as part of Art Crawl Friday, Oct 21, 5:30pm
The exhibition is proudly presented by A Space Gallery and imagineNATIVE.
As the season changes and the nights get longer, look out for the Indigenous Movie Monsters! As part of his clever, whimsical series, multimedia artist Jay Soule, aka CHIPPEWAR, indigenizes the classic horror movie poster. In a subversive nod to the overwrought and simplistic roles Indigenous peoples and cultures have played in the horror genre, Soule places Indigenous people and imagery at its front and centre.
This showcase presents four works in the Monsters series featuring such fictional stars as Honey Featherheart and Max Thunderbird. Transcending their obvious humour, each work offers a genre-specific commentary on the representation of Indigenous peoples on the silver screen in the early decades of cinema. The Monsters themselves are visual reminders of Hollywood’s treatment of Indigenous bodies and cultures on screen; their images “remix" an era where Indigenous people were cast as cinematic “monsters" of a different sort: Western savages or barely-human primitives. The horror genre itself has emerged as a potent medium for contemporary Indigenous filmmakers to explore and comment on the horrors of colonial disruption to the Indigenous experience. While making this commentary subversively, Soule’s Indigenous Movie Monsters remind us to never be afraid.
Biographies
Jay Soule, aka CHIPPEWAR, is a multimedia artist from the Chippewas of the Thames First Nation (Deshkaan Ziibing Anishinaaberg). The name CHIPPEWAR reminds us about the importance of the traditional warrior role, which survives into present day. In addition to painting, Jay is a clothing designer, spending spring through fall on the powwow trail showcasing his art and apparel.
Paintings in the Indigenous Movie Monsters series are available for sale. Contact the artist directly via www.chippewar.com