Clinton Work 'Thanks?' Print

'Raven Bringing Light to the World' is a familiar creation myth in many Native cultures and its story is often recaptured in different interpretations. Kwakwaka'wakw artist Clinton Work has chosen to see the story in both a positive and negative light in his first limited edition print titled Thanks?. The fractured image depicts the exact moment that Raven brought light to the world, showing the momentary transition from darkness to light. The formline switches from positive to negative, contrasting this change.

This piece shows how this transformation was a balance of positive and negative effects, stimulating thought about light and dark, about vanity and innocence. While light has the obvious advantage of allowing people to see their surroundings, its introduction has also caused differences of opinion on what is beautiful and what is not. Before there was light, in darkness everything was the same therefore there was no need to define things as beautiful or not; with light, now only some things are beautiful while others are not, and they are all exposed to judgment. People were able to see who had more, and who had less. Clinton has cleverly chosen the title, Thanks? to show his interpretation of the creation of light - thanks to Raven.

Northwest Coast Indian Artists Guild Series 1977

The 1977 Northwest Coast Indian Artists Guild Series was one of the first projects and publications on contemporary Northwest Coast design. Native Art Prints is constantly striving to attain prints from this series to pass on to our customers. Originally released at the Vancouver Art Gallery and promoted through a catalogue produced by the federal Canadian Indian Marketing Services, the guild graphics collection was generated and organized by the artists themselves.

The series included graphic artists such as Robert Davidson, Joe David, Gerry Marks, and Francis Williams who are now considered to be amongst the best designers of modern Northwest Coast Art. Many of the prints included in this collection were identified as iconic soon after publication. Screen-printing programs were offered during the early years at the Gitanmaax School of Northwest Coast art in Hazelton and established an interest among the artists and the potential for prints in the emerging market. For the first few years, because of the insignificant values the prints were being sold for, the artists were producing very large editions. Over time, galleries replaced tourist shops and graphics began to earn a respected position in the fine art market - and the artists began to realize that the only way to make the art collectable was to make smaller editions.

The Guild Series was produced in small editions on archival paper and played with grander scale images. In the words of Robert Davidson: “It was time to take prints from the back bedroom to the living room.” Native Art Prints has the above print - Raven-Finned Killerwhale by Robert Davidson - available for sale. A second series of prints was released in 1978 which did very well, and a third was released in 1979. These three publication projects established printmaking as a standard mode of production for First Nations artists on the West Coast.

Printmaking Terms

Here at Native Art Prints, we sell a variety of graphic works. The act of printing consists of transferring ink to any surface by means of mechanical pressure. This is a general definition, but it applies to the silkscreen, giclee, lithograph, and digital prints that we carry. Screenprinting became an established art form within the Northwest Coast Native market in the late 1970s as institutions such as the Gitanmaax School of Northwest Coast Indian Art and Emily Carr University began promoting printmaking courses to the First Nations community. Artists who are now considered to be masters in the field - such as Robert Davidson, Beau Dick, Joe David, and Lyle Wilson - were among the first to begin experimenting with prints in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Jay Simeon's Killerwhale Silkscreen

We have included some general printmaking terms that are regularly used within the Northwest Coast Native art market below:

Limited Edition Print - Any print that is signed and numbered

Open Edition Print - A print that is not numbered, or "limited", in its production. Open edition prints may be signed, but the number of them produced is often unknown

Giclée Print - This term is derived from the French verb gicler meaning "to squirt". In printmaking, this term is used to describe a fine art digital printing process combining pigment based inks with high quality paper or treated canvas. Giclées in the Northwest Coast Native art market are often limited edition

Silkscreen Print - Also known as a "serigraph", this type of print is made through a stencil method of printmaking in which a design is imposed on a screen of silk or other fine mesh, with blank areas coated with an impermeable substance, and then ink forced through the mesh onto the printing surface

Lithograph - A type of print that requires no etching or stencils but is formed through the process of printing from a plane surface (such as a smooth stone or metal plate) on which the image to be printed is ink-receptive and the blank area ink-repellent. This process results in a high level of detail and can produce works that appear to be hand-drawn or sketched

AP Print - Any print designated as an "artist proof". Artist Proofs are produced at the same time as a limited edition run and are usually 10% the size of the limited edition run from which they originate. AP prints are often given to the artist for personal use, but it is common for these to enter the market as well. They usually carry the same value as limited edition prints, but some people consider them to be more valuable

Printer's Proof - Also known as a "proof print" or "PP", these are small and often numbered editions produced before a large limited edition printing to check quality and design. These are often kept by the printing house, but are occasionally given to the artist

Remarque - A personalized drawing or symbol on a run of prints. Included as a special edition to the title, date, and number of a print, the remarque often adds value to a work