Opening June 20th at Canada Gallery, Canada House, Trafalgar Square.

Visitor Information (June 21st – October, 2019)

From sci-fi to superheroes, interdisciplinary artist Sonny Assu investigates what it means to be an Indigenous Canadian today. Raised in North Delta BC, a suburb of Vancouver, it wasn’t until Assu was eight years old that he learnt of his Liǥwildaʼxw/Kwakwaka’wakw roots. His work is informed by a deep understanding of his heritage, radically remixing Kwakwaka’wakw iconography with western and pop aesthetics. Assu uses humour and irony to unsettle misconceptions of Indigenous peoples and expose enduring legacies of colonization.

Grappling with autobiography, family history, indigenous visual culture and the crosscurrents that shape his worldview, Assu proposes a radical mixing that is politically charged and deeply personal.

Curated by The Baldwin, this is the first solo presentation of Assu’s work in the UK and coincides with his residency at The Sainsbury Center for Visual Arts in Norwich.

• Co-curated by Dennison Smith, Oceana Masterman-Smith and Verity Seward.
• Organised in conjunction with Canada House, Equinox Gallery, Vancouver and Art Mur, Berlin.

 * This exhibition is a part of  Border Crossings Origins Festival of First Nations, click here to view their full programming.