Davidson, Robert

Robert Charles Davidson, also called Guud San Glans, is a Haida artist who was born November 4, 1946 in Hydaburg Alaska. He moved with his family to Massett on Haida Gwaii, Queen Charlotte Islands in 1947 and lived there until moving to Vancouver to pursue his education. It was in Vancouver that he first learned the fundamentals of silk-screening, drawing and design skills but it was not until 1966, when he began an eighteen month apprenticeship with Haida artist Bill Reid, that he launched his career as an artist.

Davidson constantly challenges himself to expand his knowledge and understanding of Haida art and culture. He has learned about Haida art from both living and ancestral Haida artists through his close community ties and work with museums and anthropologists. Davidson was surrounded by fine carving from an early age as his father Claude Davidson, Grandfather Robert Davidson Sr, and Great Grandfather Charles Edenshaw were respected carvers in Massett. Robert began carving during his early teens to carry on the family artistic tradition. Since that time, he has continued to explore the carved form in a variety of traditional and non-traditional media.

Robert Davidson was one of the first northwest coast artists to apply two dimensional design to limited edition prints. As a young artist he learned to cut his own screens and hand pull prints from them. His first editions were not numbered or signed. In 1970 he began numbering and signing his editions. He progressed from single color prints of traditional Haida crest designs to two color original images developed from his own work in wood and silver.

Davidson’s inquiry into Haida concepts of abstraction opens up the visual language, form, and tradition of Haida art. In his more recent work of the last decade, Davidson highlights shifts between abstract and representational images, often blurring the boundary between the two. Work opens up the discussion about the place of indigenous, community-based knowledge within the realm of contemporary art practice.

Grizzly Bear
by
Davidson, Robert

Education

Apprenticeship, Master Artist Bill Reid

Vancouver School of Art, Vancouver, BC

Selected Exhibitions

1971, Solo Exhibition, Vancouver Museum and Planetarium, Vancouver, BC

1978 Solo Exhibition,  Bent Box Gallery, Vancouver, BC

1979 Solo Exhibition, Cycles – The Graphic Art of Robert Davidson: A Retrospective, UBC Museum of Anthropology, Vancouver, BC

1980, Group Exhibition, The Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona

1982, Group Exhibition, Legacy – Contemporary BC Indian Art, BC Provincial Museum, Victoria, BC

1983, Solo Exhibition, Fachwerk Gallery in Bad Salzuflen, West Germany

1983, Group Exhibition, BC Arts and Artists 1931 – 1983, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, BC

1983, Group Exhibition, BC Printmakers, Victoria Art Gallery, Victoria, BC

1989, Group Exhibition, Collector’s Vision, Barrie Art Gallery, Barrie, Ontario

1989, Solo Exhibition, Eagle Song, The Derek Simpkins Gallery of Tribal Art, Vancouver, BC

1989, Group Exhibition, Masks, The Inuit Gallery, Vancouver, BC

1990, Group Exhibition, Meridian Gallery, San Francisco, CA

1993 Solo Exhibition, Eagle of the Dawn, The Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, BC

1993, Solo Exhibition, Eagle of the Dawn, The Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hull, Québec

1999, Group Exhibition: Arrows of the Spirit, Mingei International Museum, San Diego, CA

2006 Group Exhibition, Raven Travelling: Two Centuries of Haida Art, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, BC

2006, Solo Exhibition, Robert Davidson:The Abstract Edge, McMichael Gallery, Toronto, On

Work Cited

http://www.robertdavidson.ca/  

http://www.alcheringa-gallery.com/artists.html/v1/view/v3/42/

http://www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/en/info/pressreleases/119z15.html

http://coghlanart.com/robert.htm

http://www.trentu.ca/admin/artcollection/htmlfinearts/2001.001.1-2.htm

Iquilq, Tuna

Tuna Iquliq was born in 1935 near Baker Lake, where he currently lives and works. Tuna's wife Sarah is a carver and textile artist, and their children, Johnny, Louie, and daughter Camille, are well known carvers as well.  

He is a carver with a wide range of expression. His sculptures include depictions of isolated rounded figures and people, but he is probably best known for his images of polar birds.  While Iquliq’s early work was quite representational, however his worked evolved into more abstract forms by the 1980s. These abstract works are often free of surface details and feature multiple figures in a jointed single form.

He has been carving for over 40 years and his works can be found in major collections such as those of the Canadian Museum of Civilization and the National Gallery of Canada. Since the 1960s, Tuna has taken part in many exhibitions in North America and across Europe, in Belgium, France, Germany and England.

Untitled 
by
Iquliq, Tuna

Selected Exhibitions

2010, Major Sculpture: Summer

The Marion Scott Gallery, Vancouver, Canada.

Work Cited

http://www.marionscottgallery.com/EXHIBITIONS/CLASSIC/201007-MAJR/Iquliq.asp

http://www.spiritwrestler.com/catalog/index.php?artists_id=149

http://www.coastalpeoples.com/index.php?mpage=artist&aid=303

Wison, Lyle

Lyle Wilson is a Haisla artist from Kitamaat Village, British Columbia, Canada. The Haisla tribe is often referred to as Northern Kwakiutl. Haisla historic artistic style merges distinctive qualities of their own influences with influences from other sources like Kwakiutl and Tsimshian.

The Haisla Clan system is matrilineal and, although he was born into the Beaver Clan, Lyle was formally adopted into his father's Eagle Clan to help ensure the continuation of the Eagle Clan during a period of high death rates. This was a small but important event, which helped, shape Wilson's view of Haisla culture and his subsequent artistic engagement with it.

Wilson was always interested and passionate of Haisla art. Sam Robinson, his uncle and a celebrated carver, was one of Wilson’s earliest influences. Under Robinson’s direction, he began to informally study the form and practice of carving. After attending the University of British Columbia he began a career in art education that would eventually give way to a full time course of study at Emily Carr College of Art and Design.

Wilson graduated with a diploma in printmaking.  This artistic style has its roots in graphics, but also envelops his three-dimensional works in wood and jewelry. His work replicates and infuses historic Haisla art with his personal style to create pieces to aid future generations in understanding and visualizing Haila art.

Wilson has been involved with many important private and public commissions and group and solo exhibitions since 1981, both locally and abroad. He has acted as the Artist in Residence at the University of British Columbia Museum of Anthropology and while he continues to work closely with this institution, Wilson prefers working by himself, believing that the individual personality shows itself in the finished work --- thus he is reluctant to involve others in his artistic projects unless absolutely necessary. Even his larger carvings remain mostly his own efforts.



The Eagle and Shadows
by
Wilson, Lyle

Education

 

1987: 5th year, Secondary Art Education, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC.

 

1988 Graduated in Print-making, Emily Carr College of Art and Design, Vancouver, BC.

 

1976 - 1979: Native Indian Teacher Education Program, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC.

Commissions & Projects

1995: "Haisla House-Post"

~ 6 ft. Red Cedar replicated carving of old artifact at the Museum of Anthropology at UBC ---- artist donated the carving to the Haisla Community School, Kitamaat Village, BC.

1992: "Eulachon: A Fish to Cure Humanity"

~ Co-curated this catalogued exhibition documenting the historical and contemporary usage of the eulachon fish; opened at the UBC Museum of Anthropology, Vancouver, BC

1988: "Image Recovery Project"

~Using an infra-red camera, historical images were photographed, archived and replicated; this is the intesive documentation of painted images of historical work undertaken to this date.

1987: "Northwest Coast Traditional Longhouse Project"

~Assistant Co-ordinator/Liason for the planning, building of 6 different Northwest Coast Longhouses at the UBC Museum of Anthropology; the longhouses were installed at the Canadian Museum of Civilization, Quebec

Selected Group & Solo Exhibitions

2009: Challenging Traditions : Contemporary First Nations Art of the Northwest Coast.

McMichael Museum of Canadian Art, Ontario

2009: North Star : The Art of Lyle Wilson Solo Show, West Vancouver Musuem, West Vancouver, BC

2004: Totems to Turquoise American Museum of Natural History, New York

2003: Northwest Coast Collections Inuit Gallery, Vancouver, BC

2001: Raven Stories Inuit Gallery, Vancouver, BC

2001: Northwest Innovations: Transforming Traditions Evergreen Cultural Centre Art Gallery, Coquitlam, BC

  

2000: Time & Tide Inuit Gallery, Vancouver, BC

1999: Arrows of the Spirit Mengei International Museum, San Deigo, California

1999: Prints on the Horizon Inuit Gallery, Vancouver, BC

1998: Transitions Spirit Wrestler Gallery, Vancouver, BC

1997: Enduring Vision Inuit Gallery, Vancouver, BC

1997: Redefining Tradition: A Selection of First Nations Artist and Their Work Whatcom Museum, Washington 

1997 & 1996: Jewelry of the Northwest Coast Inuit Gallery, Vancouver, BC

1992: Seattle International Art Fair Los Angeles, California

1990: Painted Drums of the Northwest Coast Inuit Gallery, Vancouver, BC 

1989 - 1991: When Worlds Collide, National Travelling Solo Show  

1989: Masks: An Exhibition of Northwest Coast Native Masks Inuit Gallery, Vancouver, BC

1989: First Nations Art of the Oceans Exhibit at the Canada - Japan Bilatreal Symposium, Vancouver, BC

1989: Beyond the Revival: Contemporary Northwest Native Art Charles H. Scott Gallery, Vancouver, BC

1988: The Transforming Image: Painted Arts of the Northwest Coast Museum of Anthropology at UBC, Vancouver, BC

1986: What Is Native American Art? Vancouver, BC 

1986: International Works on Paper London Ontario Regional Art Gallery, Ontario

1981: Native American Arts '81 Philbrook Art Centre, Tulsa

1980: Northwest Renaissance Burnaby Art Gallery, Burnaby, BC

Work Cited

http://www.spiritwrestler.com/catalog/index.php?artists_id=223

http://www.haisla.ca/community/artist/wilson

http://www.stoningtongallery.com/artistselect.php?fn=Lyle&ln=Wilson&artist=93&artType=0&topic=bio

http://www.coastalpeoples.com/index.php?mpage=artist&aid=116