Beau Dick: Devoured by Consumerism

"Devoured by Consumerism" is Beau Dick's aesthetic response to Western capitalist values and an overt critique of the unchecked commercialism of capitalist society. The intention with this hardcover publication is to contrast the Kwakwaka'wakw's economic and legal system of potlatching, which also functions as a way of maintaining and preserving oral history, against Western society's system of capitalism. The book references the Hamatsa (cannibal) ceremony during potlatch, wherein the Hamatsa cannibals' insatiable hunger and consumption is 'tamed' ritually through the dance. The power to control one's hunger is considered much greater than the power of hunger itself. This book works to critique the West's ravenous need to devour and consume by presenting works that highlight this Kwakwaka'wakw worldview. The works featured in this publication are foundational and essential to understanding the ways in which Beau Dick reacted to both his Western and Kwakwaka'wakw cultural experiences. They span several decades with pieces ranging from 1985 to 2017. The works demonstrate Beau's great breadth of style and his deep knowledge of his culture and the customs of his people. The book will feature text contributions by contracted essayists John Cussans (Ruskin School of Art, Oxford) and Candice Hopkins (writer and curator). LaTiesha Fazakas (Director, Fazakas Gallery) will provide a forward for the book and Linnea Dick (Beau Dick's daughter, poet, and activist), will contribute a poem. Along with the text, the book will feature images of Beau Dick's works, both from the exhibition in New York at the White Columns Gallery and from other points in his career, stills from the recent documentary film about his life and career ("Maker of Monsters: The Extraordinary Life of Beau Dick"), as well as shots of masks being danced in traditional potlatch ceremonies. The contributing writers have been asked to consider the ways in which this publication challenges ideas of capitalism by viewing these concepts through the lens of the traditional potlatch ceremony, and to examine how Beau's work fits into this Indigenous critique of consumption. Beau took much of his inspiration and technique from Kwakwaka'wakw traditions while also embracing contemporary influences. He was born and raised in Alert Bay, which because of its geographic isolation became a sanctuary from the federal government's ban on indigenous Potlatch customs, in place until 1951. Tapping into the collective memory of his community, Beau actively perpetuated ceremonial traditions, creating transformative masks of mythical Kwakwaka'wakw lore. Carving and ceremony were equal parts of his practice, the masks becoming evidence of ongoing and living cultural practices. Beau is recognized as the top mask maker on the Northwest Coast by academics and art enthusiasts alike. His work can be found in institutional and private collections around the world, including the National Gallery of Canada, Museum of Anthropology (UBC), and the Museum of Civilization. From 2013 to his passing in 2017, Beau was Artist-in-Residence at the UBC Department of Art History, Visual Art and Theory. Most recently, his work was exhibited at documenta 14, Athens and Kassel, (2017).