Cole Speck spent more than a decade alongside his mentor Chief Beau Dick (Walas Gwa'yam). They would carve together, often well into the night, eventually sleeping in makeshift cots next to their work. Cole worked tirelessly to complete the masks Beau had envisioned for his presentation at documenta 14 after he suddenly passed in 2017.
On learning Fazakas was bringing Beau to the Independent, Cole immediately took it upon himself to 'intrude' and invited himself into the booth-a gesture that would have made Beau laugh. The cheeky intervention is emphasized by the artist's decision to insert an Intruder mask. Known by the Tsimshian word 'Gadaxanis', Intruder masks were part of a humorous social dance originally performed by Tlingit communities when depicting their Athapaskan neighbors. The dance and its associated mask eventually found their way into the Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw winter ceremony.
Emerging from diffuse cultural interactions, Intruder masks highlight the complex networks of mimicry and exchange that persist throughout Pacific Northwest regions today. In the context of the Independent, this mask becomes a different kind of intrusion, marking the often-missing voices of Indigenous artists from critical contemporary art spaces.
Known by the Tsimshian word ‘Gadaxanis’, Intruder masks were part of a humorous social dance originally performed by Tlingit communities when depicting their Athapaskan neighbours. The dance and its associated mask eventually found their way into the Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw winter ceremony.
Emerging from diffuse cultural interactions, Intruder masks highlight the complex networks of mimicry and exchange that persist throughout Pacific Northwest regions today. This mask was part of Fazakas Gallery’s booth at the Independent Art Fair in New York (March 5 - 8, 2020), where it became a different kind of intrusion, one that marks the often-missing voices of Indigenous artists from critical contemporary art spaces.