Opening Reception:
July 12, 6 - 9 pm
Artists in attendance
Opening Song by Elder Talenny Heavyhead
Music by MC Good Medicine
Snacks from Kokum's Bannock Kitchen
Artist Talk:
July 13, 12 - 1:30 pm
Audie Murray and Nico Williams in conversation with Judy Anderson
Neo-Capitalism Meets Post-Colonialism In The Ikea Food Court
Recognizing colonial extraction through contemporary consumption
For Audie Murray and Nico Williams' dual exhibition, Eat It Up, the artist's use identifiable aesthetics to recapitulate how Indigeneity and Land Back can be recognized in and understood through hyper-public spaces, such as retail stores, restaurants, and art institutions.
Eat It Up is a visually playful exhibition that navigates current settler-colonialism perceptions regarding Indigenous identity and art, specifically beadwork. Using salient references to highly obtrusive yet deeply empty settler creations, such as Ikea and highly decorative cakes, Murray and Williams' focus the spotlight on how their work is often neglected to be seen as the historically-rich and contemporarily-influential art forms they are. The referential choices directly reflect the extractive relationship settlers have with land and Indigenous communities, and leverage capriciously the darkness of these colonial realities (consumption, excess, greed) against the appearance of fanciful objects (cakes, branded shopping bags) meant to charm viewers. What results is an exhibition that complicates our understanding of how Indigeneity traditionally functions within the public sphere, and challenges viewers to consider how consumption influences the relationships to the world around them.
Eat It Up also has a public program component, curated and organized by artist Morgan Black. Black has developed programs that span widely in activity but all are tied to Indigenous storytelling and decolonial narrative practices. These workshops will take place throughout the duration of the exhibition's presentation, and will be open to the public with limited capacity.
