Contemporary Vancouver artist Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas makes his Seattle debut with Stonington Gallery and the Seattle Art Museum. Yahgulanaas is known for his hyper-kinetic drawings that combine the bold lines of traditional Haida formline, and the narrative form of Japanese comics. He dubs the style “Haida Manga”, an unexpected and successful genre pairing that he has explored in varied media. He makes use of the buoyant and exaggerated caricatures seen in cartoons and comics, and uses the elegant lines of Northwest Coast design to both border the action and direct the flow. The result are narrative paintings that burst with motion, exuberance, humor and arresting characters, while tying together the graphic traditions of two disparate Pacific Rim island-dwelling cultures.

Yahgulanaas’ crowning achievement in the style is RED, a huge narrative painting that will be shown at the Seattle Art Museum from February-May 2015. We are proud to debut the first prints made from RED, both in limited and open edition giclee. Our exhibition will feature works on paper, limited edition prints, and works on metal. Of particular note are Yahgulanaas’ two sculptural series Coppers From the Hood and Flappes, which are made from actual car parts.