Beau Dick

Beau Dick was born in Kingcome Inlet, BC, a Kwakwaka’wakw village north of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. When Dick was six years old he moved with his family to Vancouver, BC, . From a young age, he was heavily influenced by the customary woodcarving of both his grandfather and father. Dick assisted his grandfather and father in carving one of the world's tallest totem poles located in Alert Bay.

At only 17 years of age Dick was asked to apprentice under artist Tony Hunt in Victoria, BC. Eventually returning to Vancouver, he continued to hone his carving techniques under the influence of Doug Cranmer.{{cite web|title=Beau Dick|url=http://projects.vanartgallery.bc.ca/publications/75years/pdf/Dick_Beau_38.pdf|publisher=Vancouver Art Gallery|accessdate=June 14, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071217000507/http://projects.vanartgallery.bc.ca/publications/75years/pdf/Dick_Beau_38.pdf|archive-date=December 17, 2007|url-status=dead}}

In 1986, Dick was commissioned to carve a mask to be showcased in Expo 86 in Vancouver. The Canadian Museum of History (formerly the Canadian Museum of Civilization) in Gatineau, Quebec, acquired Dick's mask, and it remains on display there.{{cite web |url=https://www.historymuseum.ca/cmc/exhibitions/aborig/grand/gh13eng.html|title=The Transformation Mask |website=Canadian Museum of History |access-date=22 September 2021}} In 1998, he was one of only seven Canadian artists to be invited to the reopening of Canada House in London, England, in the presence of Prime Minister Jean Chretien and Queen Elizabeth II.{{cite web|title=Artists - Beau Dick|url=http://www.lattimergallery.com/artistbio.php?a=12|publisher=Lattimer Gallery|accessdate=June 14, 2013}}

His work has been featured in a number of international exhibitions, introducing his pieces to a more contemporary audience. Beau's work was featured alongside that of artist Neil Campbell in the 2004 exhibition Supernatural: Beau Dick and Neil Campbell at the Contemporary Art Gallery in Vancouver, followed by the 2005 "Totems to Turquoise" exhibit in both New York and Vancouver. In 2009, the McMichael Canadian Art Collection showcased Dick's work in their exhibit entitled "Challenging Traditions: Contemporary First Nations Art of the Northwest Coast". Dick participated in the 17th Biennale of Sydney in 2010 and in the Sakahán exhibition at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa in the summer of 2013.

Dick's work is rooted in Kwakwaka´wakw aesthetics and practices. His craftsmanship and artistry have been noted for being strongly influenced by traditional pieces and techniques, but are particularly unique for their incorporation of contemporary and Western influences. As noted by artist Roy Arden, many of Dick's designs "reminds [me] of Japanese anime characters and commercial Halloween masks... An influence from a European painting, or a Japanese Noh mask, are equally likely to inflect on one of his works."{{cite web|url=http://ccca.concordia.ca/c/writing/a/arden/arden008t.html/|title=Supernatural - Neil Campbell and Beau Dick|last=Arden|first=Roy|date=|website=|publisher=Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver|accessdate=July 8, 2013}}

Dick's masks were created for both ceremonial uses in the communities (to be danced) as well as for collecting. In fact, according to Dick, if the masks are not danced, they are not fully activated. They are living cultural objects. For him, the way light shifts over the surface of the carvings is an integral element of his contemporary aesthetic, as Roy Arden also noted. The activation of the masks in dance makes for interesting conceptual relationships within a gallery installation context and extends conceptual framework of both sculptures and the products of performance.

On February 10, 2013, Dick performed a First Nations copper-cutting ceremony on the steps of the BC Legislature in Victoria in conjunction with a variety of activists, including local members of Idle No More. Having embarked on a 10-day, 500 km walk from Alert Bay to Victoria, the gesture was intended to bring attention to the abuse of Native treaties by the federal government, as well as highlight the negative repercussions of commercial fish farms on Vancouver Island.{{cite web|title=Beau Dick Copper Cutting Ceremony in Victoria to "Shame" Government|date=February 11, 2013 |url=http://warriorpublications.wordpress.com/2013/02/11/beau-dick-copper-cutting-ceremony-in-victoria-to-shame-government/|publisher=Warrior Publications|accessdate=June 14, 2013}}{{cite web|last=Hopper|first=Tristin|title='Copper cutting' shaming ritual a 'threat' and 'challenge' by B.C. First Nations against provincial government|url=http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/02/11/copper-cutting-shaming-ritual-a-threat-and-challenge-by-b-c-first-nations-against-provincial-government/|publisher=National Post|accessdate=June 14, 2013}} A documentary film was made in 2017 by LaTiesha Fazakas and Natalie Boll, titled Maker of Monsters: The Extraordinary Life of Beau Dick,{{Cite web|url=https://gem.cbc.ca/media/films/maker-of-monsters-the-extraordinary-life-of-beau-dick/38e815a-00ebd987a27|title=CBC Gem|website=gem.cbc.ca}} which filmed Dick and other activists during the copper-cutting ceremony, while also examining Dick's artistic practice.{{Citation|title=Meet Beau Dick: Maker of Monsters|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4757648/|access-date=2020-04-22}}

The ceremony was noted as being the first time such a shaming practice had been used by the Kwakwaka'wakw in decades. Beau Dick stated: "The copper is a symbol of justice, truth and balance, and to break one is a threat, a challenge and can be an insult. If you break copper on someone and shame them, there should be an apology."{{Cite news |last=Lavoie |first=Judith |date=February 9, 2013 |title=First Nations chief to perform rare shaming right on legislature lawn |work=Times Colonist |url=https://www.timescolonist.com/local-news/first-nations-chief-to-perform-rare-shaming-rite-on-legislature-lawn-4578414 |access-date=July 8, 2013}}

Dick died on March 27, 2017 months after experiencing a stroke that caused his health to gradually deteriorate. A potlatch, the ceremony for which his art work was often used, was held in his memory at Alert Bay.{{cite news |last=Thomas |first=Megan |title=Renowned B.C. Indigenous artist Beau Dick has died |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/renowned-b-c-indigenous-artist-beau-dick-has-died-1.4044014 |access-date=22 September 2021 |publisher=CBC News |date=28 March 2017}}

• Supernatural: Neil Campbell and Beau Dick, Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver, 2004{{cite web|last=Arden|first=Roy|title=Supernatural|url=http://ccca.concordia.ca/c/writing/a/arden/arden008t.html/|publisher=Center for Canadian Contemporary Art Concordia|accessdate=July 8, 2013}}
• Totems to Turquoise, New York and Vancouver, 2005{{cite web|title=Totems to Turqoise: Native North American Jewelry Arts of the Northwest and Southwest|url=http://www.culturekiosque.com/travel/item5122.html|publisher=Culture Kiosque|accessdate=July 8, 2013}}
• Challenging Traditions: Contemporary First Nations Art of the Northwest Coast, 2009{{cite web|last=Thom|first=Ian|title=Challenging Traditions: Contemporary First Nations Art of the Northwest Coast|url=http://www.washington.edu/uwpress/search/books/THOCHA.html|publisher=University of Washington Press}}
• 17th Biennale of Sydney, Sydney, Australia, 2010{{cite web|title=Artists - Beau Dick|url=http://www.bos17.com/biennale/artist/29|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130708233249/http://www.bos17.com/biennale/artist/29|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 8, 2013|publisher=17th Biennale of Sydney|accessdate=July 8, 2013}}
• National Gallery of Canada, Sakahàn exhibition, 2013James Adams, [https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/national-gallerys-summer-blockbuster-to-showcase-contemporary-native-artists-from-around-the-world/article8635785/ "National Gallery’s summer blockbuster to showcase contemporary native artists from around the world"], Globe and Mail, February 13, 2013.{{Cite web|url=https://www.gallery.ca/whats-on/exhibitions-and-galleries/sakahan-international-indigenous-art|title=Sakahàn: International Indigenous Art|website=www.gallery.ca}}
• "The Box of Treasures: Gifts from the Supernatural, The Bill Reid Gallery, Vancouver BC", 2015 {{Cite web|url=https://www.gallerieswest.ca/api/content/39489b54-097b-11e5-b67b-22000b078648/|title=BEAU DICK and other master carvers, "The Box of Treasures: Gifts from the Supernatural," Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art, Vancouver, March 4 to Sept. 27, 2015|first=Portia|last=Priegert|date=June 8, 2015|website=Galleries West}}
• Lalakenis/All Directions: A Journey of Truth and Unity, Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery, 2016{{Cite web|url=http://canadianart.ca/reviews/vancouver-entrances-lawrence-paul-yuxweluptun-and-beau-dick/|title=Vancouver Entrances: Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun and Beau Dick|last=Hogue|first=Tarah|date=July 14, 2016|website=Canadian Art|access-date=March 1, 2017}}
• "Learning From Athens, documenta 14, Athens GR and Kassel DE", 2017 {{Cite web|url=http://www.documenta14.de/en/|title=documenta 14|website=www.documenta14.de}}

Dick received the 2012 VIVA award.{{Cite web|url=http://artdaily.com/news/54717/Audain-Prize-goes-to-Marion-Penner-Bancroft--Viva-Awards-to-Beau-Dick---Ron-Tran|title=Audain Prize goes to Marion Penner Bancroft, Viva Awards to Beau Dick & Ron Tran|last=Villarreal|first=Ignacio|website=artdaily.com|language=en|access-date=March 20, 2017}}

{{Reflist}}

• [https://douglasreynoldsgallery.com/artist/jim-hart/ Douglas Reynolds Gallery (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada)]
• [https://vancouversun.com/news/staff-blogs/lalakenis-recounts-indigenous-journey-that-shamed-the-federal-government Vancouver Sun Article]
• [https://www.straight.com/news/89071/first-nations-copper-cutting-ceremony-ottawa-will-be-challenge-all-canadians Georgia Straight]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20170530170911/http://www.metronews.ca/news/vancouver/2017/04/24/beau-dicks-informal-agent-reflects-on-artists-impact.html Metro News]
• [http://www.timescolonist.com/news/local/obituary-hereditary-chief-beau-dick-renowned-for-his-art-1.13342077 Times Colonist]
• [http://fazakasgallery.com/artists/beau-dick/#1474558360939-147d58dd-c818 Fazakas Gallery (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada)]
• [https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/beau-dick-master-carver-created-haunting-indigenous-works/article34714196/ Globe and Mail]
• [https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/beau-dick-master-carver-created-haunting-indigenous-works/article34714196/ Green Peace]

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Category:1955 births

Category:2017 deaths

Category:Artists from British Columbia

Category:Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw woodcarvers

Category:20th-century First Nations sculptors

Category:20th-century Canadian sculptors

Category:Canadian male sculptors

Category:20th-century Canadian male artists

Category:21st-century Canadian sculptors

Category:21st-century Canadian male artists

Category:People from Alert Bay