Kota Ezawa* & Julian Brave NoiseCat
LOT 4
Alcatraz is an Idea, 2023
Transparency in light box
16 x 22 x 2 in.
Edition 1 of 5
Courtesy of the artists and Fraenkel Gallery
Suggested retail value: $12,000
Starting bid: $6,000
About the Artwork
Alcatraz is an Idea is a manually drawn graphic image in a light box depicting a scene from the Alcatraz Canoe Journey, held in San Francisco Bay on Indigenous Peoples’ Day in 2019. The voyage and gathering honored the 50th anniversary of the 1969 Occupation of Alcatraz by Indians of All Tribes. The Alcatraz Occupation was one of the most important protests in United States history, marking a turn toward the recognition of Indigenous rights. Indigenous peoples from up and down the West Coast participated. This graphic image is from a video animation of the same title, created by Kota Ezawa (Headlands Artist in Residence ‘11) and co-directed by Julian Brave NoiseCat through a commission for the 49 South Van Ness Video Art Program. Organizers of the Alcatraz Canoe Journey intended for the gathering to be seen, in part, as a work of performance art; however, the patina of news and social media obscured the artwork from being seen as such. By manually redrawing the archival footage of the journey into frame-by-frame illustrations that distilled the images to their essential colors and shapes, Ezawa gave viewers the opportunity to see and experience this important piece of recent Indigenous history as it was intended. Ezawa worked closely with Julian Brave NoiseCat, who co-organized and co-directed the Alcatraz Canoe Journey, to ensure that the animation–including the single-frame graphic image shown here—depicted the event, people, and performance the way they wanted to be seen. Julian Brave NoiseCat is a writer, filmmaker, and activist who is an enrolled member of the Canim Lake Band Tsq’secen of the Secwepemc (Shuswap) Nation in the Canadian province of British Columbia. He is a public thinker and advocate on issues of climate justice and Indigenous rights in North America. Kota Ezawa is a Japanese-German American artist and arts educator. His artwork responds to current events from sources in the news, pop culture, and art history.
HOW TO BID:
Bidding is available from May 19-June 6.
1) Text 'READY TO BID' or call 628-279-6010.
OR
2) Visit the Headlands Auction Exhibition to see the artwork and bid via pencil & paper.