About Urban Shaman

*Above image Urban Shaman as it pretty much is today at 290 McDermot Ave location

MISSION STATEMENT
Urban Shaman is an Aboriginal artist-run centre dedicated to meeting the needs of artists by providing a vehicle for artistic expression in all disciplines and at all levels by taking a leadership role in the cultivation of Indigenous art.

VISION
Urban Shaman presents contemporary Indigenous Aboriginal art with integrity while remaining rooted in our diverse Aboriginal cultures.

MANDATE
Urban Shaman Contemporary Aboriginal Art is a nationally recognized leader in Aboriginal arts programming and one of the foremost venues and voices for Aboriginal art in Canada. Our focus on developing new programming and new ways of presenting it have resulted in increased exposure and the expansion of our activities. Urban Shaman is dedicated to the Aboriginal arts community and arts community at large.

• Committed to serving the needs of emerging, mid-career, and established Aboriginal artists through exhibitions and associated programming, workshops, residencies and curatorial initiatives.
• Dedicated to contributing to art historical and cultural critical discourses on a local, national, and international level.
• Committed to facilitating artistic production, education, and appreciation of contemporary art as an important and empowering tool for Aboriginal peoples.

Admission to the gallery is free.

NEW! Urban Shaman Santa Fe Satellite Gallery Location

Artist Statement
The urban environment and the cityscape are reflected in aspects of my work. Materials and process are interwoven with the narrative. Indigenous research methodologies are what inform my aesthetic. With lightning fast Internet and social media platforms it’s hard for one to distinguish what is real in this day and age. Indigenous aesthetic is at the heart of my object making…in the form of simulacrum. I’ve replaced the real for the hyper real by utilizing latex for skin, polyurethane for bone, acrylic and neon for pigment. Indigenous motifs and iconography are ever present in my output.

Biography
Kevin McKenzie is Cree/Métis, born in Regina, Saskatchewan. He is a member of the Cowessess First Nation of Saskatchewan, Treaty 4. McKenzie earned his BFA and is currently enrolled in the MFA program, at the Department of Visual Arts, University of Regina. He has participated in residencies at the Banff Centre for the Arts, the Indian Art Centre, Sakewewak First Nations Artist Collective Inc. and the Department of visual Arts, University of Regina.

McKenzie has exhibited nationally and internationally, notable exhibitions include, Changing Hands: Art Without Reservation II, Museum of Arts and Design, New York. He also participated in Don’t Stop Me Now, National Gallery of Canada. If We Never Met, Pataka Art Gallery Museum, New Zealand. His work is represented in Transformer: Native Art in Light and Sound, at the National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institute, New York. McKenzie’s artwork is represented in the collections of; the National Gallery of Canada, the MacKenzie Art Gallery, Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada, Manitoba Hydro Corporation, First Nations University of Canada, Comox Valley Art Gallery and the Saskatchewan Arts Board. He has a permanent public sculpture in Whistler B.C. commissioned by VANOC Cultural Olympiad 2010.

Kevin currently lives and works in Regina, Saskatchewan, where his multi-disciplined art practice is constantly evolving.

Special thanks to our friend Amber Dawn Bear Robe for her efforts bringing the satellite location to fruition and Vital Spaces for hosting.

https://www.vitalspaces.org/