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Nicholas Galanin
2011-5-7 nicholas galanin photo by lia chang (16).jpg
Nicholas Galanin in May 2011
Background information
Native name
Yéil Ya-Tseen
Also known as Silver Jackson
Born 1979 (age 45–46)
Sitka, Alaska
Origin Sitka, Alaska
Genres Electronic
Years active 2006-present
Labels
  • Home Skillet Records
  • Unbound Records of the Anchorage Museum
Associated acts
  • Indian Agent
  • Otis Calvin III
  • Zak Dylan Wass
  • OCnotes

Nicholas Galanin (pronounced gah-LANN-in) is a talented artist and musician from the Sitka Tribe of Alaska. He is part of the Tlingit and Unangax̂ peoples. His art often explores how Native and non-Native cultures interact and change.

About Nicholas Galanin

Nicholas Galanin was born in Sitka, Alaska, in 1979. When he was young, he learned how to make jewelry and work with metals from his father and uncle. His grandfather, George Benson, was also a famous carver.

When Nicholas was 18, he worked at the Sitka National Historical Park. One day, he was drawing Tlingit art. He was told he could only read Russian history books at work. So, he quit his job to focus on art. He says that was his last job that wasn't creative.

Nicholas studied silversmithing in England at London Guildhall University. He earned a special degree in Jewelry Design & Silversmithing in 2003. In 2007, he got a Master's degree in Indigenous visual arts in New Zealand at Massey University. He also learned from master carvers and jewelers.

Exploring Artworks

First Exhibitions

Nicholas Galanin's first art show was in 2004. It was called Totems to Turquoise. It was held at the Museum of Natural History in New York City.

In 2006, he made a series of book sculptures called What Have We Become?. He used blank pages and pages from old books about people from the 1800s. He carved, cut, and laser-engraved these pages.

Tsu Heidei Shugaxtutaan

In 2008, Galanin's art was shown in an exhibit called "Beat Nation: Art, Hip Hop and Aboriginal Culture." This show was at The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery.

His artwork, Tsu Heidei Shugaxtutaan, is a two-part video. It mixes traditional Tlingit dance and hip hop music. In the first video, a dancer named David "Elsewhere" Bernal does "popping" moves to a traditional Tlingit song. In the second video, Dan Littlefield wears traditional Tlingit clothes and dances to electronic music. The title Tsu Heidei Shugaxtutaan means "We Will Again Open This Container of Wisdom That Has Been Left in Our Care." This artwork was also shown in 2012 at the Peabody Essex Museum.

S’igeika’awu: Ghost

In 2009, Galanin's piece S’igeika’awu: Ghost was shown at the Anchorage Museum. This artwork looked like both a Native mask and a piece of Delftware (a type of fancy porcelain). This mix reminded people of a time when Native masks were not valued, but fine porcelain was very expensive.

Things are Looking Native, Native’s Looking Whiter

This artwork was a main piece in an exhibit called "Unsettled" at the Nevada Museum of Art. It's a photo print that combines two pictures. The left side shows a 1906 photo by Edward S. Curtis called "Tewa Girl." It's a picture of a Hopi-Tewa girl with a traditional "squash blossom" hairstyle. The right side shows Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia from the 1977 movie Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. She has her famous "cinnamon roll" hairstyle.

Galanin's artwork talks about cultural appropriation in popular media. This means when one culture takes ideas or styles from another culture without understanding or respecting them.

Edward S. Curtis was a photographer who tried to record the lives of many Indigenous tribes between 1906 and 1926. He took thousands of photos. Galanin believes that Curtis's photos often created stereotypes and romanticized Indigenous people. He said that taking things from a community's art without understanding their meaning is like "thievery."

Galanin wasn't sure if Princess Leia's hairstyle was copied on purpose. But he felt the influence was clear. He wants people to understand that Indigenous people are not limited by old ideas about what "Indian-ness" means.

Artworks from 2013-2017

In 2013, Galanin's art was shown at the Alaska State Museum.

In 2015, he designed a logo for Tribal Sports. This brand was created by the Sitka Tribe of Alaska. The logo appears on Alaskan school basketballs and baseballs.

In 2016, his work You Are on Indisneyian Land was shown in an exhibit called "Race and Revolution." The same year, Kill the Indian, Save the Man was shown at the Anchorage Museum.

In 2017, his art was displayed at the Venice Biennale's Native American Pavilion. He also led the carving of a totem pole that was put up in Savikko Park on Douglas Island.

Dear Listener: Works by Nicholas Galanin

In 2018, a big show of Galanin's art called "Dear Listener: Works by Nicholas Galanin" was held at the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona. It was the largest modern art show at the Heard Museum in over ten years.

The exhibition featured more than fifty of Galanin's works. This included famous pieces like We Dreamt Deaf and Things Are Looking Native, Native's Looking Whiter.

One powerful artwork was A Supple Plunder. Nicholas Galanin worked on this with his brother, Jerrod Galanin. It has nine body forms made of ballistic gel. It remembers twelve Unangan men who were shot by Russian settlers to see how many people one bullet could go through.

God Complex is a "crucifix" made from porcelain police riot gear. It makes people think about how police and religion have been used in history to control cultures.

The American Dream is Alie and Well shows an American flag shaped like a bear hide. It has bullets for claws and gold teeth. This piece, and others, show the different views on the American dream from Native and non-Native perspectives.

Another artwork, Indian Children's Bracelet, is a set of child-sized handcuffs with engravings. It represents Indigenous children who were forced into American boarding schools. These schools tried to make them forget their own culture and become more like Europeans. This piece is one of three pairs that will never be shown together. This symbolizes how Indigenous families were broken apart by the boarding school system.

Artworks from 2019

In 2019, Galanin's The Value of Sharpness: When It Falls was shown at the Open Source Gallery in New York. His work We Dreamt Deaf was displayed at Macalester College. This piece features a stuffed polar bear whose back half is not filled. It criticizes hunting for sport and shows how climate change harms animals. The melting polar bear suggests global warming.

Carry a Song / Disrupt an Anthem

The Peter Blum Gallery in New York showed two series of prints by Nicholas Galanin in 2020. These artworks were made using a process called printmaking.

One series, Everything We’ve Ever Been, Everything We Are Right Now, refers to an old Tlingit dance where faces are shown, not hidden. This shows that Tlingit art is not stuck in the past; it keeps changing and growing.

In 2018, Galanin also had a solo show at Peter Blum Gallery called Carry a Song / Disrupt an Anthem. This show featured six major artworks that explored how American culture sometimes tries to change Indigenous identity. Pieces like White Noise, American Prayer Rug and The Imaginary Indian (Totem Pole) talked about how American culture can distract people and force them to fit in. Other works, like Architecture of return, escape and Land Swipe, explored how Indigenous cultural items were taken from their communities and put into museums.

Shadow on the land, an excavation and bush burial

Nicholas Galanin was one of the main artists chosen for the 22nd Biennale of Sydney in Australia in 2020. The exhibit focused on hidden histories and Indigenous communities.

Galanin presented Shadow on the land, an excavation and bush burial. This was a grave dug in the shape of the statue of Captain James Cook's shadow in Hyde Park. Galanin said this work suggests burying the statue itself. It also suggests burying harmful ways of governing and treating Indigenous land, people, and knowledge.

The year 2020 was 250 years since Captain James Cook arrived in Australia, which was already inhabited. Galanin believes that statues honoring colonial settlers should be removed. He feels they represent harmful ideas. However, he also believes that removing statues is not enough. It should be followed by economic fairness for Indigenous people.

Galanin was involved in the removal of a statue of Alexander Baranov in Anchorage.

Music Projects

Nicholas Galanin also makes music under the name Silver Jackson. He is part of a music group called The Black Constellation.

He started his own record label and a music festival called Home Skillet Festival. He released his first music, an extended play called Moves Like Music, in 2007. His first full album, Silver Jackson, came out in 2008. He has released several other albums and singles, including It's Glimmering Now and Starry Skies Open Eyes.

Silver Jackson's music was featured on an Indigenous Futurism Mixtape. He also produced music for a documentary called Lineage: Tlingit Art Across Generations.

In 2017, Galanin formed a band called Indian Agent with Otis Calvin III and Zak Dylan Wass. They released their first album, Meditations in The Key of Red, in 2017.

Activism and Important Causes

Galanin often speaks out about issues like colonialism (when one country takes control of another) and environmentalism (protecting the environment).

In 2019, Galanin was chosen as one of 75 artists for the Whitney Biennial at the Whitney Museum of American Art. Being chosen for this show means an artist is considered very important in American modern art.

However, on July 19, 2019, Galanin and three other artists asked for their work to be removed from the exhibition. They were protesting against Warren Kanders, who was a vice chair on the Whitney Board of Trustees. Kanders owned a company that made tear gas. More artists joined the protest. Kanders eventually resigned, and the artists decided to let their work be shown.

Galanin explained his decision to participate: "For me, the reason for both decisions was to fight erasure." He said that museums have not always been safe places for Indigenous people. But he believes it's more powerful to be part of the conversation than to avoid it.

Personal Life

Nicholas Galanin has three children.

Notable Public Collections

Nicholas Galanin's art can be found in many important museums and collections, including:

Awards and Fellowships

Nicholas Galanin has received many awards and fellowships for his work:

  • 2003 Goldsmiths Commendation London, England
  • 2008 Best Experimental Film, ImagineNATIVE Film & Media Arts Festival, Toronto
  • 2012 United States Artists Fellowship, USA
  • 2013 Eiteljorg Contemporary Art Fellowship
  • 2014 Rasmuson Foundation Fellow
  • 2017 NACF Mentor Fellow
  • 2018 Rasmuson Fellow
  • 2018 Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center Fellow
  • 2019 YBCA 100 Honoree
  • 2020 Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence award, The American Academy of Arts and Letters
  • 2020 Open Society Foundation Soros Arts Fellowship
  • 2023 Joan Mitchell Fellowship
  • ArtReview Power 100 List: Most influential people in 2023 in the contemporary artworld
  • 2024 Guggenheim Fellowship in Fine Arts

Filmography

Short Videos

Year Title Role Notes
2016 Envoy Producer
2020 Wé tlʼátk áwé át sa.áx̱ - Listen to the land Writer, Director

Discography

Studio Albums

  • Silver Jackson (2008)
  • Thought I Found Gold (2009)
  • It's Glimmering Now (2012)
  • Starry Skies Open Eyes (2014)
  • Meditations in The Key of Red (2017) (with Otis Calvin III and Zak Dylan Wass, as Indian Agent)
  • Ya Tseen - Indian Yard (2021)

Extended Plays

  • Moves Like Music (2007)

Singles

  • "Wild Woman" (2011)
  • "Perfect Mistake" (2014) (with Iska Dhaaf and OCnotes, as Silver Jackson)
  • "You and I Should Try Again" (2014) (with OCnotes, Benjamin Verdoes, and Samantha Crain, as Silver Jackson)
  • "Impetus Epoch" (2016)
  • "Life Keeps On Spinning" (2017) (with Otis Calvin III and Zak Dylan Wass, as Indian Agent)
  • "All I Sea" (2018) (with Otis Calvin III and Zak Dylan Wass, as Indian Agent)
  • "All Over Town (Ear Dr.umz Rxndition)" (2019) (with Otis Calvin III and Zak Dylan Wass, as Indian Agent)

Guest Appearances

  • Leanne Betasamosake Simpson - "Under Your Always Light - Silver Jackson Remix" from Under Your Always Light (Remixes) (2017)

Concerts

  • Sealaska Heritage Celebration: Red Carpet Concert
  • The Heard Museum

See also

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