Invisible Forces and You are on Syilx Territory exhibitions open on June 7

What: Exhibition opening, by UBC Okanagan Gallery in collaboration with the Indigenous Art Intensive
Who: Krystle Silverfox, Tiffany Shaw, Sheldon Louis, Coralee Miller, David Wilson and Manuel Axel Strain
Opening Reception: Wednesday, June 7, 2023, 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM
Exhibition dates: June 7 to August 24, 2023, open daily from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM
Where: FINA Gallery, CCS Building, 1148 Research Road, UBC Okanagan campus

UBC Okanagan Gallery and the Indigenous Art Intensive are proud to open two exciting exhibitions of contemporary Indigenous art, Invisible Forces with works by Krystle Silverfox and Tiffany Shaw, and You are on Syilx Territory with works from UBC Okanagan’s Public Art Collection by Sheldon Louis, Coralee Miller, David Wilson and Manuel Axel Strain, both exhibitions will open with a public reception on Wednesday June 7 at the FINA Gallery on UBC Okanagan campus.

Yukon based, Selkirk First Nation artist Krystle Silverfox was recently shortlisted for the Sobey Art Award (2022) with an exhibition at the National Gallery of Canada, in Ottawa. Artworks from Silverfox’s National Gallery exhibition will be shown for the first time in Western Canada in Invisible Forces. Tiffany Shaw is a Métis architect, artist and curator based in Alberta, whose work has been shown at the Venice Architecture Biennale, and multiple public art commissions including Edmonton’s Indigenous Art Park, will reinterpret an ongoing series of work that was recently shown at the Surrey Art Gallery and the Southern Alberta Art Gallery.

Invisible Forces and You are on Syilx Territory are both curated by Dr. Stacey Koosel, UBC Okanagan Gallery curator and Indigenous Art Intensive co-ordinator. “You are on Syilx Territory features new acquisitions from UBC Okanagan’s Public Art Collection, and is a call to action, to Indigenize the university’s art collection that currently has only 8 works by Syilx artists, in an 800 piece collection that is less than 1%.”

You are on Syilx Territory is an exhibition that contains paintings by celebrated Syilx painters, Sheldon Louis, Coralee Miller, David Wilson and Manuel Axel Strain that are part of UBC Okanagan’s Public Art Collection.

The two exhibitions are part of the Indigenous Art Intensive, a month-long event that hosts leading Indigenous artists and scholars, with a free and open to the public program of talks, art making workshops, open studio day and events. UBC Okanagan’s Indigenous Art Intensive is a leader in showcasing Interior Salish specific artists, ideas and practices.