Yuxweluptun’s Neo-Native Style

Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun, of Coast Salish heritage, is a Vancouver-based purveyor of politically activist indigenous art. His latest work was on exhibit at Macaulay Fine Art, Vancouver, in a solo show, Indian World.  In vivid colors, he merges traditional native iconography with statements about aboriginal issues – from the environment to land claims.  His political roots come partly from his father, a founder of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs.  His style has been called neo-Native. (Above: New Chiefs on the Land)

My work is very different from traditional art work.  How do you paint a land claim? You can’t carve a totem pole that has a beer bottle on it . . . I paint this for what it is – a very toxic land base. This is what my ancestral motherland is becoming. -From National Gallery of Canada  notes for the painting Shaman Coming to Fix (above).

Money, Power, Greed

The Impending Nisga’a Deal. Last Stand. Chump Change.

Killer Whale Has a Vision. Comes to Talk to Me about Proximological Encroachments of Civilizations in the Oceans

Red Man Watching White Man Trying to Fix Hole in Sky  (Below: the artist, from Montecristo Magazine)

See more on his website, here.