Items Similar to "The only thing more pathetic than Indians on TV is Indians watching Indians...
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 7
Sonny Assu"The only thing more pathetic than Indians on TV is Indians watching Indians...2015
2015
$3,200
£2,481.88
€2,813.12
CA$4,579.75
A$5,004.32
CHF 2,594.41
MX$59,783.73
NOK 33,015.41
SEK 30,910.25
DKK 21,006.13
About the Item
The title "Interventions On The Imaginary" is a clear reference to Marcia Crosby’s essay, "The Construction of the Imaginary Indian", and situates itself within the realm of remix culture—as digital interventions onto works that contain the colonial gaze.
These interventions participate in the growing discourse of decolonization, acting as “tags” to challenging the colonial fantasy of terra nullius and confronting the dominant colonial culture’s continued portrayal of Indigenous peoples as a vanishing race.
With the insertion of ovoids, s-shapes and u-shapes into the images, both the landscape paintings and the Northwest Coast design elements are changed. The landscapes become marked by the spectre of Native presence and the NWC design elements, traditionally two-dimensional in appearance, acquire the illusion of depth through association with Western principles of perspective. I see these bold interruptions of the landscapes as acts of resistance towards the colonial subjugation of the First People.
Through museum interventions, large-scale installations, sculpture, photography, printmaking and paintings, Sonny Assu merges the aesthetics of Indigenous iconography with a pop art sensibility in an effort to address contemporary, political and ideological issues. His work often focuses on Indigenous issues and rights, and the ways in which the past has come to inform contemporary ideas and identities. Assu infuses his work with wry humour to open the dialogue towards the use of consumerism, branding and technology as totemic representation. Within this, his work deals with the loss of language and cultural resources, and the effects of colonization upon the Indigenous people of North America.
His work has been accepted into the National Gallery of Canada, Seattle Art Museum, Vancouver Art Gallery, Museum of Anthropology at UBC, Burke Museum at the University of Washington, Hydro Quebec, Lotto Quebec, The Audain Museum and in various other public and private collections across Canada, the United States and the UK.
Assu is Ligwilda'x_w (We Wai Kai) of the Kwakwaka'wakw nations. He graduated from Emily Carr University (2002) and was the recipient of their distinguished alumni award in 2006. He received the BC Creative Achievement Award in First Nations art in 2011 and was long-listed for the Sobey Art Award in 2012, 2013 and 2015. Assu is an MFA candidate at Concordia University, while he currently works and lives in South Surrey.
- Creator:Sonny Assu (1975, Canadian)
- Creation Year:2015
- Dimensions:Height: 30.5 in (77.47 cm)Width: 22.5 in (57.15 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:Montreal, CA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU4761035693
Sonny Assu
Sonny Assu (Liǥwildaʼx̱w of the Kwakwaka’wakw Nations) was raised in North Delta, BC, over 250 km away from his home ancestral home on Vancouver Island. Having been raised as your everyday average suburbanite, it wasn’t until he was eight years old that he discovered his Liǥwildax̱w/Kwakwaka’wakw heritage. Later in life, this discovery would be the conceptual focal point that helped launch his unique art practice. Assu’s artistic practice is diverse: spanning painting, sculpture, photography, digital art and printmaking. Sonny negotiates Western and Kwakwaka’wakw principles of art making as a means of exploring his family history and the experiences of being an Indigenous person in the colonial state of Canada. Having cut his teeth in Vancouver’s art scene, Assu packed up and moved to Montreal to be with the love of his life. Five years later, along with his wife and beautiful daughter, Sonny moved back to BC, eventually settling back “home” in unceded Liǥwildaʼx̱w territory (Campbell River, BC.). Assu received his BFA from the Emily Carr University in 2002 and was the recipient of their distinguished alumni award in 2006. He received the BC Creative Achievement Award in First Nations art in 2011 and was thrice long-listed for the Sobey Art Award. He received his MFA from Concordia University in 2017 and was one of the Laureates for the 2017 REVEAL – Indigenous Art Awards. His work has been accepted into the National Gallery of Canada, Seattle Art Museum, Vancouver Art Gallery, Museum of Anthropology at UBC, Burke Museum at the University of Washington, Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Hydro Quebec, Lotto Quebec and in various other public and private collections across Canada, the United States and the UK.
About the Seller
5.0
Vetted Professional Seller
Every seller passes strict standards for authenticity and reliability
Established in 1996
1stDibs seller since 2014
105 sales on 1stDibs
Typical response time: <1 hour
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Shipping from: Montreal, Canada
- Return Policy
More From This Seller
View AllWe shall reassert our inherent rights
By Sonny Assu
Located in Montreal, Quebec
The title "Interventions On The Imaginary" is a clear reference to Marcia Crosby’s essay, "The Construction of the Imaginary Indian", and situates itself within the realm of remix culture—as digital interventions onto works that contain the colonial gaze.
These interventions participate in the growing discourse of decolonization, acting as “tags” to challenging the colonial fantasy of terra nullius and confronting the dominant colonial culture’s continued portrayal of Indigenous peoples as a vanishing race...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Abstract Prints
Materials
Archival Paper, Digital
Yeah... shit's about to go sideways. I'll take you to Amerind. You'll like it...
By Sonny Assu
Located in Montreal, Quebec
The title "Interventions On The Imaginary" is a clear reference to Marcia Crosby’s essay, "The Construction of the Imaginary Indian", and situates itself within the realm of remix cu...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Abstract Prints
Materials
Archival Paper, Digital
It was, like, a super long time ago that ppl were here, right?
By Sonny Assu
Located in Montreal, Quebec
The title "Interventions On The Imaginary" is a clear reference to Marcia Crosby’s essay, "The Construction of the Imaginary Indian", and situates itself within the realm of remix cu...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Abstract Prints
Materials
Archival Paper, Digital
PRESERVER ONE: Well, looks like we got them all. See, don’t you feel GREAT...
By Sonny Assu
Located in Montreal, Quebec
The title "Interventions On The Imaginary" is a clear reference to Marcia Crosby’s essay, "The Construction of the Imaginary Indian", and situates itself within the realm of remix cu...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Abstract Prints
Materials
Archival Paper, Digital
It was, like, a super long time ago that ppl were here, right?
By Sonny Assu
Located in Montreal, Quebec
The title "Interventions On The Imaginary" is a clear reference to Marcia Crosby’s essay, "The Construction of the Imaginary Indian", and situates itself within the realm of remix cu...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Abstract Prints
Materials
Archival Paper, Digital
The Value of Comic Sans
By Sonny Assu
Located in Montreal, Quebec
The title "Interventions On The Imaginary" is a clear reference to Marcia Crosby’s essay, "The Construction of the Imaginary Indian", and situates itself within the realm of remix culture—as digital interventions onto works that contain the colonial gaze.
These interventions participate in the growing discourse of decolonization, acting as “tags” to challenging the colonial fantasy of terra nullius and confronting the dominant colonial culture’s continued portrayal of Indigenous peoples as a vanishing race...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Abstract Prints
Materials
Archival Paper, Digital
You May Also Like
BITS AND PIECES OF A CULTURE
Located in Aventura, FL
Lithograph on paper. Hand signed and numbered by the artist. Edition of 300.
Certificate of Authenticity Included. Artwork in Excellent Condition. All reasonable offers will be ...
Category
Late 20th Century Contemporary Figurative Prints
Materials
Paper, Lithograph
$80 Sale Price
36% Off
Detention at the Border of Language
By Enrique Chagoya
Located in Lyons, CO
Color lithograph, Edition 30.
The artist describes this project:
“In this work I defang the stereotypes of Native Americans depicted as primitive savages in the painting by Wimar. The mask and the Mayan head team up with a third character to form a fictitious, original, trans-continental Border Patrol. This work is a humorous reminder that all nations in the Americas were created by undocumented immigrants from Europe. Today, some politicians call refugees from Central America and other countries “illegal aliens” but for me they are no different from the Pilgrims or Daniel Boone...
Category
2010s Contemporary More Prints
Materials
Lithograph
UNTITLED - 1
Located in Aventura, FL
Lithograph on paper. Hand signed and numbered by the artist. Edition of 300.
Certificate of Authenticity Included. Artwork in Excellent Condition. All reasonable offers will be ...
Category
Late 20th Century Contemporary Figurative Prints
Materials
Paper, Lithograph
$80 Sale Price
36% Off
Ambivalent. From The Rectangular Composition Series
Located in Miami Beach, FL
Almo wonders about his identity, the countries he has lived in, his daily routine and how he creates himself. An outsider who has made the world his home, skin, and citizenship, and ...
Category
2010s Contemporary Abstract Paintings
Materials
Paper, Acrylic
Unwilling. From The Rectangular Composition Series
Located in Miami Beach, FL
Almo wonders about his identity, the countries he has lived in, his daily routine and how he creates himself. An outsider who has made the world his home, skin, and citizenship, and ...
Category
2010s Contemporary Abstract Paintings
Materials
Paper, Acrylic
Maurice Esteve, The Reaper, from Painters of Today, 1961 (after)
By Maurice Estève
Located in Southampton, NY
This exquisite heliogravure after Maurice Esteve (1904–2001), titled Le Faucheur (The Reaper), from the folio Maurice Esteve, Peintres d'aujourd'hui (Maurice Esteve, Painters of Toda...
Category
1960s Modern Abstract Prints
Materials
Lithograph
$716 Sale Price
20% Off
Free Shipping