BOOKS
COVER
Inquiry
into Slaughter of Dogs Announced
BOOKS
New Editions from Carr Collection
Bill Reid Lives on in Artistry Debate
BUSINESS
Island-Wide
Haida Protest May Drag for Months
New
Cruise Line Visits High Artic
Female
Urban Planner Sets Eyes on 2010 Olympics
HISTORY
A
Soldier's Story: Frank "Smokey" Stover
MODERN TREATIES
Fraud
and Theft of Saskatchewan Lands Uncovered in ICC Investigation
WOMEN
Pimps and Drug Traffickers
Target First Nations School Girls
Book
Reviews
Reviewed
by Chiara Snow
Bill
Reid and Beyond: Expanding on Modern Native Art
Edited by Karen Duffek, and Charlotte Townsend-Gault
Twenty authors collaborated to provide a variety of perspectives to understanding
British Columbia's unique modern artist. Haida leaders, art and cultural
historians, anthropologists and artists share their opinions - both critical
and positive - on the lasting legacy of the famed Haida artist.
Bill Reid's work has long been acknowledged for its astute and eloquent analysis of Haida tradition, and for the paradox of making modern art from the old Haida stories. It expanded the understanding of Haida art and ideas, complicated notions of authenticity and tradition, and helped to make the so-called "renaissance" of Northwest Coast Native art visible to all.
The book is divided into four sections focused on Haida art, community, the revival of west coast art, and the parallels between aboriginality and modernity.
The Will to be Haida is a touching essay written by Doris Shadbolt, Reid's most well known biographer who passed away prior to the publishing of the book. In it she describes her many visits to Bill's first workshop in his house in Kitsilano, where she would see the small items he made such as cufflinks. As Bill grew as an artist, so did his studios and Doris would visit with him wherever he moved. Reflections on these visits are the foundation for her story:
I learned something about the Native history of this country, of which my education up to that point had left me in ignorance, and I had the privilege of seeing at first hand the evolution of his wonderful pieces, either on one of the benches or as he would take them out of his pocket on one of him visits to my office.
Doris shares bits and pieces of conversations she had with Bill - which provide a personal connection to the artist for the reader.
Another personal account of Bill is from Guujaaw, who worked with the artist and shared many an adventure in Gwaii Haanas. In Man, Myth or Magic? Guujaaw writes:
I think that Bill must be the most dissected thing outside of a laboratory
- and when you start chopping things up, the more pieces you put it in,
and the smaller it gets, the harder it is to recognize what it original
was.
While the book makes an important contribution to the ongoing exchange
of ideas about modern art - Guujaaw makes no disguise of his respect for
Bill Reid:
We don't need to dissect Bill. We don't even need to try to understand him. We should just be happy he came amongst us.
Bill Reid and Beyond, published in paperback, includes 37 black-and-white photos.