David Anthony Neel (born April 7, 1960) is a Canadian writer, photographer, and artist who is a member of the Kwakwaka'wakw First Nation of coastal

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

Background

Neel was born on April 7, 1960, in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

. He is a Canadian multi-media artist from

Fort Rupert, British Columbia Fort Rupert is the site of a former Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) fort on the east coast near the northern tip of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The unincorporated community on Beaver Harbour is about by road southeast of Port Hardy, British C ...

, known for his ability to work in number of media. He trained as a professional photographer in the United States for several years before returning to Vancouver in 1987. This was a turning point as he soon began working in the style of his father's people, the Kwakwaka'wakw. From 1987 to 1989, he apprenticed with Kwakwaka'wakw carvers,

Beau Dick Beau Dick (November 23, 1955 – March 27, 2017) was a Kwakwaka'wakw Northwest Coast artist and Chief who lived and worked in Alert Bay, British Columbia, Canada. He was a contemporary artist, activist, and hereditary Chief from the Namgis Firs ...

and Wayne Alfred. He was following in the footsteps of his late father, Dave Neel Sr. (1937–1961), who was trained by his mother, Ellen Neel (1916–1966), who was trained by her uncle,

Mungo Martin Chief Mungo Martin or ''Nakapenkem'' (lit. ''Potlatch chief "ten times over"''), ''Datsa'' (lit. ''"grandfather"''), was an important figure in Northwest Coast style art, specifically that of the Kwakwaka'wakw Aboriginal people who live in the ...

(1881–1962) and her grandfather, Charlie James (1875–1938). In this way he was carrying on a long-standing family tradition. Native American canoe in Venice Italy

Artwork

In the 1990s he went on to develop a highly personalized and controversial style of carving, using masks to comment and editorialize contemporary history and society. He came to believe that "tradition is a foundation to build upon, not a set of rules to restrain creativity." Examples of these masks are the "Mask of International Commerce," which was exhibited in

London, England London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, for the Royal Opening of Canada House, and the "Mask of the Injustice System," which was exhibited at the 1999

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...

. For the Biennale, Neel exhibited his contemporary masks in a site-specific installation and did a performance on the Grand Canal using his 26-foot dugout canoe, the "Walas-Kwis-Gila" (Travels Great Distances). Following the publication of ''The Great Canoes'' in 1995, he carved two canoes; a 26-foot and 32-foot, which were used on a number of canoe journeys. Also in the 1990s Neel produced a number of limited edition prints, some of traditional Kwakwaka'wakw subjects and others of dealing with contemporary history, much like the masks. The best known of these is Life on the 18th Hole, which portrays a Mohawk warrior from the 1990

Oka Crisis The Oka Crisis (), also known as the Mohawk Crisis or Kanehsatà:ke Resistance (), was a land rights, land dispute between a group of Mohawk people and the town of Oka, Quebec, Canada, over plans to build a golf course on land known as "The Pin ...

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, Canada. His original media, photography, resulted in two books about Native culture: ''Our Chiefs and Elders'' in 1992 and ''The Great Canoes'' in 1995. Like the prints and masks, these also dealt with contemporary Native history. He continued to work as a professional photographer, specializing in contemporary Native people. Major commissions include a series of portraits for the

National Museum of the American Indian The National Museum of the American Indian is a museum in the United States devoted to the culture of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas. It is part of the Smithsonian Institution group of museums and research centers. The museum has three ...

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, in 1992, and a permanent installation of his portraits in the

Mashantucket Pequot The Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation is a federally recognized American Indian tribe in the state of Connecticut. They are descended from the Pequot people, an Algonquian-language tribe that dominated the southern New England coastal areas, and ...

Museum,

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(2001–2008). In 1991 he began hand engraving jewelry in the Kwakwaka'wakw style, working in silver, gold and platinum. From 1998 to 2000 he did a series of elaborate gold and silver boxes, inspired by traditional bentwood cedar chests. He continues to work in jewelry, working primarily with gold and diamonds. His work came full circle in 2000 when he began painting on canvas, the media of choice of his late father. The paintings, oil and acrylic paint on canvas, originally dealt with traditional legends in a highly personalized style. Following this series he evolved into abstractions and later stylized depictions of masks from museum collections. Neel continues to be an active artist, working primarily in jewelry and painting.

Honors

In both 1987 and 1988, Neel earned the Mungo Martin Memorial Award. In 1991 Canada Council Explorations provided him with a grant for his Contemporary Mask Series. The

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

awarded him a Community Scholar Grant in 1992. ''The Way Home'', his memoir of his experience reconnecting with his indigenous heritage, was shortlisted for the 2020

Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction The Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction is a Canadian literary award, presented annually by the Writers' Trust of Canada to the best work of non-fiction by a Canadian writer. Canada's most lucrative non-fiction prize, the winner re ...

.Craig Takeuchi
"Gil Adamson, Jessica J. Lee win Writers’ Trust literary prizes"
''

Now Now most commonly refers to the present time. Now, NOW, or The Now may also refer to: Organizations * Natal Organisation of Women, a South African women's organization * National Organization for Women, an American feminist organization * Na ...

'', November 19, 2020.

Bibliography

* Neel, David (1991) ''To Speak for Ourselves: Portraits of Chiefs and Elders''. Canadian National Archives. . * Neel, David (1992) ''Our Chiefs and Elders: Words and Photographs of Native Leaders.'' Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press. . * Neel, David (1995) ''The Great Canoes: Reviving a Northwest Coast Tradition.'' Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre. . *Neel, David (2019) " The Way Home: David A Neel." Vancouver: UBC Press. .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Neel, David 1960 births Living people Artists from Vancouver Canadian photographers 20th-century Canadian non-fiction writers First Nations jewellers 20th-century First Nations painters 20th-century Canadian painters 20th-century First Nations writers Kwakwaka'wakw people Writers from Vancouver 20th-century Canadian male writers Canadian male non-fiction writers 21st-century First Nations writers 21st-century Canadian male writers 21st-century Canadian non-fiction writers 20th-century Canadian artists 21st-century Canadian artists