BIOGRAPHY
Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas is an award-winning visual contemporary artist, author and professional speaker. His work has been seen in public spaces, museums, galleries and private collections around the world. Institutional collections include the British Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Seattle Art Museum and Vancouver Art Gallery. His large sculptural works are part of the public art collections of the Vancouver International Airport, City of Vancouver, City of Kamloops and University of British Columbia. Yahgulanaas's publications include national bestsellers Flight of the Hummingbird and RED, a Haida Manga. When not writing or producing art, Yahgulanaas draws from his 20 years of political experience in the Council of the Haida Nation and speaks to businesses, institutions and communities about social justice, community building, communication and change management.
Yahgulanaas became a full-time artist after many decades working as part of the Haida Nation's successful campaign to protect its biocultural diversity. However, his artistic activity started much earlier: as the descendant of iconic artists Isabella Edenshaw, Charles Edenshaw, and Delores Churchill, he had early training from exceptional creators and master carvers. In the late 1990s, after exposure to Chinese brush techniques and under the tutelage of Cantonese master Cai Ben Kwon, he consciously began to merge Haida and Asian artistic influences into his self-taught practice and created the art form called "Haida Manga."
Haida Manga blends North Pacific Indigenous iconographies and framelines with the graphic dynamism of Asian manga. It is committed to hybridity as a positive force that opens a third space for critical engagement. That hybridity becomes woven through the artist's art, books and speeches, and offers an empowering and playful way to view and engage with social issues.
Yahgulanaas's visual practice encompasses a variety of art forms including large-scale public art projects, mixed media sculptures and canvases, re-purposed automobile parts, acrylics, watercolours, ink drawings, ceramics and illustrated publications. Exploring themes of identity, environmentalism and the human condition, he communicates a worldview that is, while particular to his ancestral North Pacific archipelago of Haida Gwaii, also relevant to a contemporary and internationally-engaged audience.
Yahgulanaas's practice is celebrated for its vitality, relevancy and originality.
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Profile
Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas is a contemporary visual artist with works in institutional, public, and private collections.
Institutional collectors include the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the British Museum, Humboldt Forum in Berlin, and the Seattle Art Museum.
Large sculptural works are in the public art collections of the City of Vancouver, City of Richmond, City of Kamloops, and University of British Columbia.
Works are in private collections in Canada, France, Germany, Israel, Japan, Korea, Qatar, UK, and USA.
Author of bestsellers Flight of the Hummingbird and RED: A Haida Manga; subject of Mischief Making: Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas, Art, and the Seriousness of Play (UBC Press 2021) by Dr. Nicola Levell.
Grants and Awards
2017 - BC Achievement Foundation, First Nations Art Award
2017 - Hnatyshyn Foundation, REVEAL Award
2015 - American Museum of Natural History, Artist in Residence
2012 - University of Victoria, Audain Professor of Contemporary Art Practice of the Pacific Northwest
2006 - Canada Council for the Arts, Visual Arts Major Award
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2022 - New Works, Madrona Gallery, Victoria, Canada
2021 - Making Mischief, Gallery Jones, Vancouver, Canada
2019 - Carpe Fin, Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, USA
2018 - A Tale of Two Shamans, Haida Gwaii, Canada
2017 - Seriousness of Play, Two Rivers Gallery, Prince George, Canada
2015 - Seriousness of Play, Bill Reid Gallery, Vancouver, Canada
2015 - Musing of Manga in the Museum, Haida Gwaii, Canada
2014 - Solo 4, Douglas Udell Gallery, Vancouver, Canada
2013 - Emily Carr and Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas, Masters Gallery, Calgary, Canada
2012 - Solo 3, Douglas Udell Gallery, Vancouver, Canada
2012 - Craft, Audain Gallery, University of Victoria, Victoria, Canada
2011 - Old Growth, grunt gallery, Vancouver, Canada
2011 - Solo 2, Douglas Udell Gallery, Vancouver, Canada
2011 - RED, a Haida Manga, Thunder Bay Art Gallery, Thunder Bay, Canada
2010 - RED Undone, Haida Gwaii Museum at Ḵay Llnagaay, Haida Gwaii, Canada
2010 - Solo, Douglas Udell Gallery, Vancouver, Canada
2009 - Mastering Manga, Masters Gallery, Calgary, Canada
2009 - Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas: Exploring Haida Manga, Glenbow Museum, Calgary, Canada
2009 - Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas and Edward Burtynsky (project) , Glenbow Museum, Calgary, Canada
2009 - Haida Manwha Bang, Glenbow Museum, Calgary, Canada
2007 - Meddling in the Museum, Museum of Anthropology, Vancouver, Canada
Selected Group Exhibitions
2023 - Outsider Art Fair, Metropolitan Pavilion, New York City
202 - Past/Present/Future at Thomas J. Watson Library, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
2022 - Comic Sans, Art Gallery of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
2019 - Sding K'awXangs, McCord & Stewart Museums, Montreal, Canada
2017 - Upholding Balance, Ketchikan Museums, Ketchikan, Alaska, USA
2017 - Udell Xhibitions, Edmonton, Canada
2017 - Unceded Traditions. Unceded Territories. Vancouver Civic Theatres, Vancouver, Canada
2015 - Toronto Art Fair, Toronto, Canada
2015 - Tokyo Design Week, Tokyo, Japan
2015 - Seattle Simplified, Seattle, USA
2015 - Seattle Art Fair, Seattle, USA
2015 - Papier 14, Montreal, Canada
2015 - Indigenous Beauty, Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, USA
2014 - Live Auction, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada
2012 - Bundeskunsthalle, Art & Exhibit Hall of the Federal Republic of Germany, Bonn, Germany
2012 - Treasures of the World's Cultures, Manarat al Saadiyat Gallery, Abu Dhabi, UAE
2012 - Extraordinary Stories from the British Museum, Western Australian Museum, Perth, Australia
2012 - Beat Nation, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada
2011 - Shore, Forest and Beyond, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada
2011 - Haida Manga Reading Room, Gendai Gallery, Toronto, Canada
2010 - Challenging Traditions, Reach Art Gallery and Museum, Abbotsford, Canada
2010 - Visions of British Columbia: A Landscape Manual, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada
2010 - Haida Made: New Collaborations in Design, Harbourfront Centre, Toronto, Canada
2010 - Ethnographic Terminalia 2010, New Orleans, USA
2009 - Continuum: Vision and Creativity on the Northwest Coast, Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art, Vancouver, Canada
2009 - BC Scene, National Arts Centre, Ottawa, Canada
2009 - Challenging Traditions, McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg ON, Canada
2009 - Challenging Traditions, Olympic Museum, Lausanne, Switzerland
2008 - Comox Valley Art Centre, Comox, Canada
2008 - Evergreen Centre Art Gallery, Coquitlam, Canada
2008 - What Use Art History? Art Gallery of the South Okanagan, Penticton, Canada
2008 - Equinox Gallery Vancouver, Canada
2008 - Haida Gwaii Museum at Ḵay Llnagaay, Haida Gwaii, Canada
2006 - Raven Travelling, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada
2005 - A World’s Children Picture Book, Seoul, Korea
2005 - Exhibition of Paintings, Expo 2005, 7th World Comic Artists Conference, Bucheon, Korea
2005 - Live Painting Exhibit, Expo 2005 Canadian Pavilion, Nagoya, Japan
2005 - Stripburger, Du Monde Aux Balkans Festival, Milan, Italy
2005 - Word on the Street, Vancouver Public Library, Vancouver, Canada
2004 - Red White 100% Design, Canada House, London, UK
2004 - 7th Annual International Cartoon Book Festival, Bucheon, Korea
2004 - Word on the Street, Vancouver Public Library, Vancouver, Canada
2003 - The Last Voyage of the Black Ship, Museum of Anthropology, Vancouver, Canada
2003 - No Apologies Necessary, Tokyo Design Week (top 10 ranking), Prince Takamodo Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
2003 - Word on the Street, Vancouver Public Library, Vancouver, Canada
2002 - Raw Potential, Water Street, Vancouver BC
2002 - A Tale of Two Shamans, Dixon Maritime Museum, Masset, Haida Gwaii, Canada
2002 - Skung Gwaii Robe, Haida Gwaii Museum at Ḵay Llnagaayy, Haida Gwaii, Canada
Selected Commissions
2022 - Fin, Strand and Locarno, Vancouver, Canada
2017 - Carpe Fin, Seattle Art Museum, USA
2015 - Sei, Vancouver International Airport Authority, Canada
2014 - Rivers, City of Kamloops, Canada
2011 - Abundance Fenced, City of Vancouver, Canada
2011 - Coppers from the Hood, The British Museum, London UK
2009 - Take Off, for the 2010 Winter Olympics, University of British Columbia, Canada
2009 - Continuum, Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art, Canada
2008 - RE ME MB ER, Geist Magazine, Canada
2007 - Meddling in the Museum, Museum of Anthropology, Canada
Selected Public Collections
British Museum (currently on display)
Humboldt Forum (currently on display)
Peabody Essex Museum, Massachusetts (currently on display)
Canadian Museum of History (currently on display)
Denver Art Museum (currently on display)
City of Vancouver (currently on display)
Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia (currently on display)
Metropolitan Museum of Art (Yelthadaas exhibited 2017-19)
Seattle Art Museum
Glenbow Museum
Vancouver Art Gallery
Haida Gwaii Museum at Ḵay Llnagaay
Kawasaki City Manga Museum, Japan
Alberta College of Art and Design Calgary, Canada
Publications and Related Works
2023 - JAJ: a Haida Manga, Douglas & McIntyre
2021 - “Pay Your Rent,” The Globe and Mail, July 17, 2021
2019 - Co-librettist and designer, The Flight of the Hummingbird (produced by Vancouver Opera and Pacific Opera Victoria)
2019 - Carpe Fin, Douglas & McIntyre
2018 - A Tale of Two Shamans, Locarno Press
2017 - The War of the Blink, Locarno Press
2014 - RED: a Haida Manga, Douglas & McIntyre
Launched at the American Museum of Natural History
Nominated for BC Booksellers' Choice Award, Canada
Nominated for the Doug Wright Award for Best Book, Canada
Nominated for the Joe Shuster Award for Outstanding Cartoonist, Canada
2013 - RED: a Haida Manga, a short film by Chris Auchter and MNY
2011 - Old Growth, ed. Liz Park, Read Leaf and grunt gallery
2010 - The Little Hummingbird, Greystone Books
2010 - Raven's Call, an animated short film written by Bill Reid and adapted and produced by MNY
2010 - The Canoe He Called Loo Taas with Amanda Reid-Stevens, Benjamin Brown Books
2010 - Declaration of Interdependence with Tara Cullis and David Suzuki, Greystone Books
2008 - Flight of the Hummingbird, A Parable for the Environment, Douglas & McIntyre
Winner of Book of the Year 2009, 13th Annual Independent Publishers, USA
Nominated for a BC Booksellers' Choice Award, BC, Canada
Australian, Spanish, French, and Serbian editions
2008 - Flight of the Hummingbird, an animated short film written and produced by MNY
2004 - A Lousy Tale, exhibited Canada House, London UK
2002 - The Last Voyage of the Black Ship, Western Canada Wilderness Committee
2001 - A Tale of Two Shamans, Theytus Books and Haida Gwaii Museum at Ḵay Llnagaay
Selected Speaking Engagements
2021 - Keynote Address, BC School Trustees Association, Canada
2021 - Keynote Address, National Restorative Justice Conference, Canada
2019 - Gaaysiigang, Haida Gwaii, Canada
2019 - Slippery Rock University, Pennsylvania, USA: Guest lecturer
2019 - North Island College, Comox, Canada
2018 - Quebec City Panel presentation, Theme: Haida Manga, Quebec City, Canada
2018 - Wando International Symposium, Theme: Art and Ecology, Wando, South Korea: Keynote speaker
2016 - Keynote Canadian Society of Education through the Arts Annual General Meeting
2015 - Second Indigenous Terra Madre conference, Shillong, Meghalaya, India: Guest lecturer
2015 - TEDX presentation, The Spaces Between, Vancouver, Canada, invited
2015 - Indigenous Terra Madre, Shillong, India, awarded
2015 - Seattle Art Fair, Seattle, USA: Panel member
2015 - Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, USA: Artist Talk
2014 - American Museum of Natural History, New York, USA: Guest lecturer
2014 - McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg, Canada: Guest lecturer
2014 - University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada: Guest lecturer
Selected Critical Reviews
Schulz-Bianco, Francesca. “A Haida Artist Reimagines the Relationship Between Museums and Indigenous Art.” Montecristo, December 2022.
Kelp-Stebbins, Katherine. “Border Thinking and Decolonial Mapping in Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas’s Haida Manga.” How Comics Travel: Publication, Translation, Radical Literacies, The Ohio State University Press, Columbus OH, 2022.
Correoso Cardenas, José Manuel. “La producción de Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas: el «Haida manga» como conversación entre texto imagen.” Estudios de Literatura Comparada 3, March 2022, p.155-65.
Levell, Nicola, Mischief Making: Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas, Art, and the Seriousness of Play, UBC Press, Vancouver BC, 2021.
Nodelman, Perry. “Michael Yahgulanaas’ Red and the Structures of Sequential Art.” Seriality and Texts for Young People: The Compulsion to Repeat, edited by Reimer, M., N. Ali, D. England, M. Dennis Unrau, and Melanie Dennis Unrau, Springer, 2014, pp. 189-205.
Levell, Nicoll. "Site-specificity and Dislocation: Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas and his Haida Manga Meddling." Journal of Material Culture, 2013, 18(1)
Ostrowitz, Judith. “Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas: it Looks Like Manga.” Objects of Exchange: Social and Material Transformation on the Late Nineteenth-Century Northwest Coast, edited by Aaron Glass, A BGC Focus Gallery Publication, 2011, pp. 79-88.
