Beau Dick, “Devoured by Consumerism”

The native people of the Pacific Northwest known as the Kwakwaka’wakw are renowned for gorgeously fiercesome masks and totems, the aesthetics of which figure prominently in the work of Kwakwaka’wakw activist and chief Beau Dick (1955–2017). Conceived shortly before Dick’s death, this solo exhibition (the artist’s first in New York) includes 15 carved and painted sculptural works made between 1980 and 2016. Together, they take wry note of the clash between indigenous and consumer culture by juxtaposing supernatural beings from tribal lore with products. Works such as a mask wrapped in a garbage bag or an effigy watching television from a lawn chair point to the difficulty of preserving native traditions in the face of globalism.