Ankhou Graphic Design

Web development, graphic design, and photography by Ian Houghton, based in Revelstoke, BC.

Featured Artist: Brian Jungen

2 Comments | posted 6/08/10

I was walking around downtown with a friend who was passing through Vancouver from Australia on his way to study on the East Coast. We had an hour to kill, so we decided to head to the Vancouver Art Gallery. Unfortunately, entry was rather expensive at $19.50, so instead we decided to browse the gift shop, which is essentially a smaller-scale, more commercial version of the gallery. I found a beautiful native print which I sent home as a gift, but I also came across a book of 24 detachable postcards by an artist called Brian Jungen.

Jungen is an artist from Fort St. John, BC and specialises in found art. The work featured on the postcards is from his Prototype for New Understanding series; basing the forms of his creations on Pacific North-West aboriginal masks, Jungen has repurposed Nike Air Jordans into incredibly striking works which combine traditional artforms and commercial products to create a compelling dichotomy. The shapes and colours he uses are distinctly aboriginal, but the Nike swooshes and jumping Jordan silhouettes which intermittently dot the pieces are unmistakeable markers of the origins of the material.

Jungen has also used hanging black human hair in a number of these sculptures, which give them an eery life of their own. As soon as I picked up the book I knew I was going to be buying it; I’m not sure I’m going to send any of the postcards though, they’re too beautiful! I’ve featured a selection of his pieces below.

Brian Jungen - Prototype for New Understanding series

Prototype for New Understanding #8, 1999

Brian Jungen - Prototype for New Understanding series

Prototype for New Understanding #11, 2002

Brian Jungen - Prototype for New Understanding series

Prototype for New Understanding #12, 2002

Brian Jungen - Prototype for New Understanding series

Prototype for New Understanding #14, 2003 (detail)

Brian Jungen - Prototype for New Understanding series

Prototype for New Understanding #22, 2005

Brian Jungen - Variant series

Variant 1, 2002

Brian Jungen - artistic process

An image capturing a segment of Jungen’s process

Does anyone know any other artists who meld the past and present in such a striking way? I’d love to hear about them!

2 responses to “Featured Artist: Brian Jungen”

  1. I like how the swooshes are upside down when they’re front and center in the frame.

  2. Brian Jungen remixes the music of the Universe, and laces it with the tongue of the street, tying the wholeness of Spirit to the unique patterns in our Soul.

    Brian Jungen remembers the dream hidden in a shoe made by a shoeless child who has forgotten how to dream.

    Brian Jungen deconstructs news stories about really mean people who commit senseless violence in their quest for status, and reconstructs them into new storyies that awakens the senses, and reminds people that our status should be to commit ourselves to things of real meaning.

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