Urban Shaman Santa Fe Satellite Gallery

Kevin McKenzie, “ASAP,” April 25 to June 29, 2019
NEW LOCATION in USA: Urban Shaman Santa Fe Satellite Gallery Location: Vital Spaces at 220 Otero Street, Santa Fe, New Mexico Opening Reception: April 25 at 7pm

Artist Statement
The urban environment and the cityscape are reflected in aspects of my work. Materials and process are interwoven with the narrative. Indigenous research methodologies are what inform my aesthetic. With lightning fast Internet and social media platforms it’s hard for one to distinguish what is real in this day and age. Indigenous aesthetic is at the heart of my object making…in the form of simulacrum. I’ve replaced the real for the hyper real by utilizing latex for skin, polyurethane for bone, acrylic and neon for pigment. Indigenous motifs and iconography are ever present in my output.

Biography
Kevin McKenzie is Cree/Métis, born in Regina, Saskatchewan. He is a member of the Cowessess First Nation of Saskatchewan, Treaty 4. McKenzie earned his BFA and is currently enrolled in the MFA program, at the Department of Visual Arts, University of Regina.

He has participated in residencies at the Banff Centre for the Arts, the Indian Art Centre, Sakewewak First Nations Artist Collective Inc. and the Department of visual Arts, University of Regina.

McKenzie has exhibited nationally and internationally, notable exhibitions include, Changing Hands: Art Without Reservation II, Museum of Arts and Design, New York. He also participated in Don’t Stop Me Now, National Gallery of Canada. If We Never Met, Pataka Art Gallery Museum, New Zealand. His work is represented in Transformer: Native Art in Light and Sound, at the National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institute, New York.
McKenzie’s artwork is represented in the collections of; the National Gallery of Canada, the MacKenzie Art Gallery, Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada, Manitoba Hydro Corporation, First Nations University of Canada, Comox Valley Art Gallery and the Saskatchewan Arts Board. He has a permanent public sculpture in Whistler B.C. commissioned by VANOC Cultural Olympiad 2010.

Kevin currently lives and works in Regina, Saskatchewan, where his multi disciplined art practice is constantly evolving

Torry Mendoza // Kris Snowbird

Main Gallery
Torry Mendoza “Traffic Is Murder”

Marvin Francis Media Gallery
Kris Snowbird “Dancing in the Dark”

Running dates of both shows: April 5 to May 11, 2019
Opening reception: Friday April 5 at 8pm (open for viewing at 5pm for First Fridays event)

Torry Mendoza’s work focuses on the re-appropriation, co-optation,  and deconstruction of Aboriginal identity in popular culture. His video and two-dimensional work challenges dominant society’s portrayal and long standing constructs of Native Americans through digital editing, re-presentations, and satirical juxtapositions in order to call attention to the accepted mis-perceptions of Indigeneity. Currently, he is focusing on his experimental film background and addressing issues much more personal and spiritual. In the Marvin Francis Media Gallery, Kris Snowbird’s practice is a continuous questioning and understanding of the way in which her tradition as a First Nation woman influences the way she conceptualizes art. Ultimately she is interested in art as a process of making a difference in the understanding of the culture she comes from, with its stories, traditions, and the historical and personal trauma. One pivotal aspect of the work she creates is the traditional beading and how it can be applied to different mediums of art. She researches these approaches through film, photography and performance.