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Yuxweluptun

Yuxweluptun

In 1868 the Canadian government passed the Indian Act to subdue Native peoples by confining them to reservations, outlawing their languages, destroying land rights and denying them a vote. Yuxweluptun: Man of Masks opens at the Bisley Rifle Range in Surrey, England, where Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun is shooting the Indian Act, a performance piece to protest the ongoing effects of the legislation on Aboriginal people. Back in Canada, "An Indian shooting the Indian Act" opens at Vancouver's Grunt Gallery where framed copies, riddled with bullet holes, are on display.

Yuxweluptun is a modernist whose artistic influences come from his home in Vancouver, British Columbia. His surrealist canvases deal with ozone depletion, land claims, Aboriginal rights, clear-cut logging and racism.

One of Canada's most important painters, this Salish artist has exhibited in Paris, Zurich, Barcelona and Switzerland. Interviews with Yuxweluptun, striking images of his paintings and a visit to his virtual reality longhouse provide a glimpse into contemporary First Nations art making and the politics of the artist.