Larry McNeil, X’áant xwaanúk Tléil yee ushk’é, I'm angry you are bad
Larry McNeil
1955-
Tlingit / Nisgáa
Date
2010
Medium Specific
digital photograph
Classification
Photograph
Dimensions
23 1/2 x 33 1/2 in. (59.7 x 85.1 cm)
Accession Number
2010.35.10.02
Credit
Gift of Phillip Rudnick
Memo / Artist Statement
I have been working on a global climate change project for [more than a decade]. In my opinion, that is one of the big stories of our generation. I think a lot of people don’t perceive global climate change as pertaining to them because they can’t see it. … I want to make things that are hidden out in the open.
Using multiple layers is a simple game plan for making work that may have complex ideas driving them. For an example, the triangles on the right are from ancient Tlingit weaving designs that represent Killer whale teeth. It was important to use black and white, because with photography it infers a sense of craft, and it has an overt dark feel, even though the background has mostly light values, which is why the use of silhouettes were important.
It took four or five weeks to gather the images and to compose. I had
a preconceived idea of what I wanted generally, but not specifically. For example, I knew I wanted a beat-up, ragged-looking wall from a deserted city or factory. I found it in south San Francisco in a World War II shipyard, which they closed because it was radioactive. I was walking around there—I think radiation was emanating out. Part of it is finding places. Part of it is happenstance, and part of it is absolutely trying to seek something out.
Using multiple layers is a simple game plan for making work that may have complex ideas driving them. For an example, the triangles on the right are from ancient Tlingit weaving designs that represent Killer whale teeth. It was important to use black and white, because with photography it infers a sense of craft, and it has an overt dark feel, even though the background has mostly light values, which is why the use of silhouettes were important.
It took four or five weeks to gather the images and to compose. I had
a preconceived idea of what I wanted generally, but not specifically. For example, I knew I wanted a beat-up, ragged-looking wall from a deserted city or factory. I found it in south San Francisco in a World War II shipyard, which they closed because it was radioactive. I was walking around there—I think radiation was emanating out. Part of it is finding places. Part of it is happenstance, and part of it is absolutely trying to seek something out.
Biography
Larry McNeil Xhe Dhé is a member of the Tlingit and Nisgaá nations. As an artist and scholar his work is about the global climate crisis, intersection of cultures, American mythology, irony, satire, and generally making art with a distinctive sense of American identity. McNeil is a contributing author for a number of publications and recently won an Arts and Humanities Fellowship that will allow him to take a year-long leave of absence to dedicate to his photographic research about the global climate crisis.
McNeil’s art has been exhibited at numerous national museums and galleries for over twenty years, and he earned the prestigious Eiteljorg Fellowship for Native American Art, the National Geographic All Roads Photography Award, and the En Foco New Works award for photography. He has recently participated in numerous high profile arts projects, such as the American Arts in Embassies Project and the international Te Waka Toi/Creative New Zealand–Evergreen Longhouse Indigenous Residency.
McNeil is a Full Professor in the Art Department at Boise State University and he taught at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe prior to that. He earned his M.F.A. from the University of New Mexico, and the esteemed Van Deren Coke Fellowship in Photography as a graduate student.
McNeil’s art has been exhibited at numerous national museums and galleries for over twenty years, and he earned the prestigious Eiteljorg Fellowship for Native American Art, the National Geographic All Roads Photography Award, and the En Foco New Works award for photography. He has recently participated in numerous high profile arts projects, such as the American Arts in Embassies Project and the international Te Waka Toi/Creative New Zealand–Evergreen Longhouse Indigenous Residency.
McNeil is a Full Professor in the Art Department at Boise State University and he taught at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe prior to that. He earned his M.F.A. from the University of New Mexico, and the esteemed Van Deren Coke Fellowship in Photography as a graduate student.
Inscription
Signed & titled by the artist.