Yam Magazine!

The museum welcomes visitors to its major exhibition, Orcas: Our Shared Future, it has released a new hardcover book to accompany the exhibit. 

The book, Spirits of the Coast: Orcas in Science, Art and History, is a fascinating and moving tribute to these magnificent mammals.

Veronica Cooper speaks with Kwakwaka’wakw multimedia artist Rande Cook, above, who contributed a carving, and also re-told an ancestral story, for the book.

LEAF MODERN GALLERY: PUSHES THE PERCEPTION OF INDIGENOUS ART

Rande Cook (a Kwakwaka’wakw artist) and his partner Mona Elliott developed Leaf Modern as another avenue for the artist to explore and share new approaches to his works.

“As an Indigenous artist, I like that my work can now be accessible to more people and reach them on another level,” he says. “To make a difference and be part of the solution in unifying our environment, people, and the world.”

ARTIST RANDE COOK: A GENTLE REBEL

A portrait of Tin Tin, the fictional young Belgian reporter depicted in the cartoon series by Hergé, isn’t what you’d expect from an Aboriginal artist steeped in First Nations traditions. Riding a bull in New York’s financial district doesn’t come to mind either, but Rande Cook bucks the stereotype.

Cook likes to mix genres. “I ask myself what can I do to turn heads and get people’s attention,” he says from his Bridge Street studio, ready to jump into whatever medium strikes his fancy. Pop art? No problem. Tin Tin was part of a series inspired by modern culture.

STYLE WATCH: BETWEEN WORLDS

I was introduced to Rande’s work two years ago at an Art Gallery of Greater Victoria exhibition called Urban Thunderbirds/Ravens in a Material World. What struck me was that instead of featuring his masks as disembodied carvings on gallery walls, Rande brought them to life. While studying in New York, he created a cedar mask with gold inlay and a Louis Vuitton logo on it. Then, accompanied by artist and photographer Luke Marston, Rande wore the mask to Wall Street where he climbed on the famous bull statue, the ultimate symbol of material excess.

4. BEYOND TRADITIONAL
Photo: Jeffrey Bosdet/YAM magazine
Article: “Rande Cook: Gentle Rebel” by John Thomson
Painter and sculptor Rande Cook invited YAM into his studio for this shoot to discuss his cheeky and original style and how he is attempting to redefine ‘traditional Native art.’

Rande Cook returned to the Netherlands to attend the official unveiling and exhibition opening of “The Story of the Totem Pole” an interactive exhibition at the Museum Volkenkunde Leiden. The central element of the exhibition, which exhibits first nations traditions of the American Pacific Northwest and Canada, is the massive 8-meter thunderbird and orca totem pole designed by Cook and completed by him, along with a core team of fellow Kwakwaka’wakw carvers and painters. This is the first and only totem pole in the Netherlands. The opening was commemorated by Her Royal Highness Princess Margriet and included opportunities to share traditional costumes and dances with attendees