Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas

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Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas
Born1954 (age 70–71)
Nationality Haida
Known for Painting,sculpture, carving
Notable workHachidori
Coppers from the Hood
Pedal to the Meddle
Movement Indigenous art, Haida manga
Website http://mny.ca

Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas is a visual artist, author, and public speaker. His work has been seen in public spaces, museums, galleries and private collections across globe. Institutional collections include the British Museum, the Quai Branly Museum, the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Seattle Art Museum, Vancouver Art Gallery, and the Humboldt Forum.

Contents

Yahgulanaas has a long history of environmental activism and political involvement. For many years he was an elected Chief Councillor of the Old Massett Village Council and a member of the Council of the Haida Nation.

Early life

Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas was born in Prince Rupert, British Columbia in 1954 and grew up alongside Delkatla, near the fishing village of Masset on Haida Gwaii, off the north coast of British Columbia. [1] He is a descendant of the influential Haida artists, Isabella Edenshaw and Charles Edenshaw. [1] [2]

As a child, Yahgulanaas was an avid comic book reader and cartoonist. A prolific young artist, he soon covered the walls and ceilings of his bedroom with drawings. [1]

At age 22, he began to direct his artistic endeavors outward, to effect change in the community and in relation to broader movements of environmental activism. [1]

Art career

Training

In 1978, Yahgulanaas his formal training in the classical forms of Haida art.

Haida manga

While Yahgulanaas trained under master carvers, his brief exposure to Chinese brush techniques with Cai Ben Kwan encouraged a departure from the typical expressions of the Haida art form and the development of a new genre of narrative art called "Haida manga." [3]

Haida Manga blends Pacific Northwest Indigenous iconographies and framelines with the graphic dynamism of Asian manga. Haida Manga is committed to hybridity as a positive force that opens a third space for critical engagement. It offers an empowering and playful way of viewing and engaging with social issues as it seeks participation, dialogue, reflection, and action. [4]

Sculpture

Yahgulanaas's works in metal include commissions from the British Museum (2010), The City of Vancouver (2011) and the 2010 Winter Olympics organizing committee. In 2015, his sculpture Sei, depicting a sei whale, was unveiled at the Vancouver International Airport. [5] In January 2016, his sculpture Yelthadaas from the Coppers From the Hood series joined the permanent collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. [6] This work was put on display in 2017. The piece hangs in Gallery 399, between the Modern and Contemporary Art wing and the Rockefeller Wing, where contemporary art borders Indigenous art. [7]

Selected exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

Group exhibitions

Published works

Hachidori has sold over 100,000 copies in Japan, with a single-day record sale of 20,000 copies. Flight of the Hummingbird, first published in North America and now available in five languages, is also a bestseller and includes essays contributed by the Dalai Lama and Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai. Declaration of Interdependence, written by Dr. David Suzuki, was illustrated by Yahgulanaas. [9] [10]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Levell, Nicola, 1967- (2016). Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas : the seriousness of play. Yahgulanaas, Michael Nicoll. London, United Kingdom. pp. 16, 20. ISBN   978-1-910433-11-9. OCLC   891618859.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  2. ↑ "Speaker: Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas – Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies – Simon Fraser University". www.sfu.ca. Retrieved 2019-03-04.
  3. ↑ "Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas Graphic Art Production", about Yahgulanaas's "Old Growth" gallery showing, at Grunt Gallery Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine . retrieved 2013-01-11.
  4. ↑ "On Comics: Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas, Red: A Haida Manga (2009) and Alan Moore & JH Williams III, Promethea #32 (2005)". The Vault of Culture. 26 August 2019. Retrieved 2019-11-16.
  5. ↑ "Michael Yahgulanaas's new art piece SEI unveiled at Vancouver airport". CBC News. 2015-07-09. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
  6. ↑ "Yelthadaas". The Metropolitan Museum of Art . Retrieved 3 Jan 2016.
  7. ↑ "Canadian Haida artist Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas finds a home at the Met". Globe and Mail. 2017-08-11. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  8. ↑ "Michael Nicoll: Artist Profile." Virtual Museum Canada. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
  9. ↑ The Declaration of Interdependence's web site, retrieved 2013-01-11
  10. ↑ Author bio at his publisher's web site, ISBN   1553653726, retrieved 2013-01-11.
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