Activating the Archives

From the Archives

February 20, 1990

Anna Banana: Bananapost (Twenty Years of Fooling Around with A. Banana)

“A long-time player in the International Mail-Art Network, her current work focuses largely on the stamp as an art form. For this, her 20th anniversary of ‘going bananas,’ she has created a special limited edition stamp sheet and book, Twenty Years of Fooling Around with A. Banana. These publications offer visual highlights and a brief ‘itinerary’ of her activities, year by year, since 1970. A Master’s Degree of Bananaology will be awarded to all ‘graduates’ of her talk and screening sessions, or to contributors of banana anecdotes for her ongoing, work-in-progress, the Encyclopedia Bananica.” (grunt press release,1990)

From the Archives

February 3rd, 1987

Sammy Sammy: Funkie: The Legend of Hornby Island

“When well-rested and dressed up I have been taken for 40 years old. I am the father of 15 children and have had not strays -- I have been tempted, but I have strong will power. I’ve pulled my own teeth and sewed my own cuts -- as well as a few other people’s cuts.”

“I have been a good axe man and a fair lover. I am not conceited but love to brag the truth and I am considered a good story teller. Will that hold you, dear Reader?”

“As my life has been up and down like a yo-yo, I think you will get a kick out of it. I will try to express the humorous parts as they happened”

(George dePape, Smile Back, 1986)

30th Anniversary videos from grunt’s archive

Long time archives volunteer Alex Pimm has curated a selection of videos from our archive to celebrate grunt’s 30th anniversary. Check out the trailer for Neil Eustache’s Indian Art for Sale below and watch the full videos here:

http://grunt30th.tumblr.com/

From the Archives 

February 3rd 1987

Sammy Sammy: Funkie: The Legend of Hornby Island

I’m a rambler, I’m a gambler, I’m far away from home

If the people don’t like me they can leave me along

I eat when I’m hungry and drink when I’m dry

If the whiskey don’t kill me I will live till I die

At the age of seventy I was still a terror,

Still a live wire that began to know fame,

And my motor still runs with whiskey,

From the Archives

July 16 1996

Laiwan: Small, Medium and Not Large: Books and Collages

 “This exhibition traces the various strategies Laiwan has chosen over the years (from 1982 to present) in her investigation of categorized identity. These works don’t posit right/wrong, us/them dichotomies, nor do they get washed away in liberal post-modern ambiguities. Using language as a primary source of engagement, Laiwan draws the viewer into a position that only self examination of our own “uniqueness” and sense of moral responsibility can complete. With just ourselves to consider, these art works become powerful reminders of the limits of our constructed perceptions.” (Brice Canyon, July 1996)

“I like the media of books and print as they convey ideas succinctly and intimately while being less intrusive to the ideas they contain. Perhaps it is because we have been with books for many generations that we are used to them and their intrusion.” (Artist’s Statement, Small, Medium and Not Large: Books and Collages, 1996)

From the Archives

February 17 1987

Paul McDonald: Ornamental Renegade

“McDonald’s craft responds to the need for humanistic furnishings in a high-tech age and echoes a frustration at modern, mass-produced furniture. Each piece is finished by hand, each is individual.” (grunt press release, 1987)

“Paint is usually the main ingredient in McDonald’s surface designs, but it is often combined with other substances to achieve the effect he is looking for. He won’t reveal the formula that he uses to create certain finishes, such as the textured stone surface of a long table and mirror frame featured in the show. But he would reveal one bizarre list of ingredients he hit upon for gold trim that has the metallic lustre of gold leaf, used on a table by Vancouver furniture designer Francis Lemieux. It’s a combination of powdered bronze, gum arabic, and honey.” (The Vancouver Sun, February 20, 1987)

From the Archives

February 6 2004

Sonny Assu, Peter Morin, and Daina Warren: Futuristic Regalia

“The three artists work with the wearable costume as a means to represent an indigenous body, while dealing with the stereotypes and realities of aboriginal communities.”

“Collecting soil from favored places on his reserve, Peter kneaded the dirt into a chose business suit. In this creative act he is collecting parts of his land, gathering memories of Tahltan life, and bringing those ephemeral aspects together with his everyday existence in a world of cement, buildings, glass, and work.”

“Sonny (Assu) chooses the entity of Spider Man/Peter Parker to connect with because of Spiderman’s organic ‘powers’. The mixture of spider and human attributes contrasts well with many the figures in West Coast folklore; many spirits are a combination of abilities that can shift from animal to human forms, have incredible spiritual powers and watch over the community, teaching the individuals social and survival skills...The fusion of West Coast Native and pop culture is a mirror of Sonny’s own cultural background.”

“Sonny, Peter, and myself are example of Native culture sustaining itself and utilizing traditional aspects to provide a spiritual or emotional strength. The traditional clothing still stands for security, for taking that security out into the public and using it to exude confidence and poise no matter what the situation, while remaining grounded to our ancient beliefs.”

“On this day in...”

March 9 2002

Robert Burke’s Aboriginal Immersion: obscuring the lines

“I realized that as a Métis with Negro ancestry, my view would follow a different line than the First Nation or white people. I painted these images so they could become real for me. I wanted to make some form of connection to ideas and concept that I am unfamiliar with. I did not know that there was a culture that I as a Métis could relate to....I come from a nation of people who roamed this land thousands of years ago, and there is a nation of people roaming, looking for some positive aspect of their past, they are called Métis. Their connection to the land goes deep. It is just finding the recognition, that they too are concerned with identity.” (Artist’s Statement, Aboriginal Immersion, 2002)

Settler Sites 

George Sawchuk's Yard Work and New Work

March 15 1988 grunt gallery & Western Front

"I cannot speak for all, but it seems to me that there comes a time in every life when one must step out of the traces of commercialism and then, without too much preparation or direction, be set loose. For me that time came early, unexpectedly, and was not entirely of my own making. One of the very first things I realized in my new situation was that the there is no invention that more greatly shrinks the physical and mental capabilities of the human being than the rocking chair; seated in one, I saw my world closing in on me." (Artist's Statement, Yard Work, 1988)

"George Sawchuk's 'something other' is his life's experiences as a labourer and handyman, combined with his youthful indoctrinations in both Catholicism and Bolshevism. These alone would account for Sawchuk's individual perspective. As an artist, though, Sawchuk is also amoung a minority of individuals - those for whom the biographical element is pre-eminent if not pre-emptive to the conditions of being an artist, and for whom pragmatism is more important than specialization." (Ron Glowen, Arbour and Object: Sawchuk's Forest Site Works, Yard Work, 1988)

"On this day in..."

February 13 1990

Mike MacDonald's 7 Photographic Works

"MacDonald's work has covered environmental issues and native people for many years and this exhibition of seven photographic works continues in this tradition. The works deal with totem poles and sustainability. Using mirror or reverse printing and multiple shots of a single pole gives the works a wider dimension. The works in this exhibition are from the Gitksan territory near Hazelton and are among the oldest still standing in their original environment." (grunt, 1990)

"His extensive knowledge of Northwest Coast Indian Art and Indian Music nudge his filming instincts. He has experimented with rock video, especially with Vancouver punk rock group D.O.A. He is interested in recycling, incorporating the concept into his lifestyle and work. Mutual concern has resulted in video tapes with Vancouver recycle artist Evelyn Roth." (The Hazelton Sentinel, 1986)

"On this day in..." December 12 2012

Mark Mizgala's Remains "Artist Mark Mizgala presents posters of pop bottles and other containers coated in slip, creating a look of ancient clay vessels in this off-site exhibition entitled, Remains.  Mizgala investigates contemporary food and beverage packaging, represented as mock archaeological findings.  The artwork appears in a form that is intrinsic to advertising: posters printed on commercial-grade paper and displayed in bus shelters across the city of Vancouver." (grunt)

"On this day in..." December 8th 2004

"On this day in..." November 22nd 1988 David Ostrem's Social Criticism - a display of generational rage by a guy born in 1945

Captain Dave in Ostremtime - Art Perry

"On this day in..."

November 14th 2004

Laurie Anderson's - The End of the Moon

"On this day in..." Blue Moon - October 31st 1989

Kootchie Willard Charlie

grunt gallery wishes our condolences to the friends and family of artist Kootche Williard Charlie. He passed away on April 20, 2014.

Obituary via Bridge River Lilooet News.

“I get my ideas from my mind. I like to think about things, and make comedy pieces out of different situations.

Now that I have more time, I can take my time with pieces. I’d like to have my own studio; I need space to do my art.

When I first started carving and learning how to do stone sculptures, I didn’t know that you had to take measurements and do a model first. I didn’t do that, I just carved away. Later, I learned how to draw it out and make sure everything was even.

The one part of my culture I include in most of my pieces is my clan, the Frog clan. I always have a frog in my art. Everything else is contemporary or added on.”

"From the Archives"