Jungen Brian
Jungen Brian Carapace, 2009 Jungen is one of the Dane-zaa people, a First Nation of northern Canada. Growing up, he experienced the resourcefulness and material innovation of his people due to economic pressures, as well as the wider commercialization of traditional First Nation craft techniques in response to tourism and globalized consumerism. Jungen, who now lives in Vancouver, has made a number of sculptures that refashion box-fresh consumer goods, such as Nike trainers or golf bags, into objects resembling tribal masks and totem poles. Carapace is a giant turtleshell - inspired by the early science-fiction writings of Jules Verne - made entirely from rubbish bins. He has created a fantastical shelter from objects that were intended for the sanitary disposal of waste (of which Western culture now produces more than ever). Jungen’s sculptures undergo a process of re-mystification that sees consumer culture appropriated by a First Nations sensibility, and not the other way around. Brian Jungen b. Fort St. John, BC, Canada, 1970. Carpace. 2009. Black, blue and green industrial waste bins. h 370 x w670 x d640cm. h 144 x w 264 x d252 in Griffin, Jonathan, et al. The Twenty First Century Art Book, Phaidon Press Limited, New York, NY, 2014, p. 137 Press release BRIAN JUNGEN November 30, 2013 – February 2, 2014 Friday, November 29, 7 p.m. opening BONNER KUNSTVEREIN PRESS CONFERENCE: Thursday, November 28, 2013, 11 a.m. The artist is present BRIAN JUNGEN is regarded as one of Canada’s most important contemporary artists. Solo exhibitions of his works have been shown at such institutions as the New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York, 2005, Witte de With, Rotterdam, 2007, and the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, Washington DC, 2009, as well at dOCUMENTA 13 in Kassel.
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