Legacy of late Haida artist Bill Reid remembered in exhibition to mark 100th birthday

Bill Reid's nameis synonymous with West Coast Indigenous art Haida art in particular and a new gallery exhibitionis paying homageto the influence of the esteemed sculptor and goldsmithwho would have turned 100 this year.

The exhibit,To Speak With a Golden Voice, is being shown from mid-July until April 2021 at theBill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art in downtown Vancouver.

Guest curated by Haida filmmaker and artist Gwaai Edenshaw who is considered to be Reid's last apprentice the exhibition includes rarely seen works by Reid and explores the complexities of his legacy as an artist and his identityas a Haida man.

"One of the things thatwe're trying to talk about is not just his wonderful pieces that he's made over his lifetime but actually his humanity," Edenshawsaid this week on The Early Edition.

Edenshaw said the exhibit will use works left in progress, tools and other personal itemsto showsome of Reid's personal struggles.

One thing about Reid that Edenshaw said stood out for him while preparing the show, was that he realized Reid always spoke about being Haida in the third person.

"I think he always felt somewhat of an outsider within his own people," said Edenshaw, adding the Haida people always claimed Reid as one of their own.

Reidwas born in Victoria, B.C., in 1920 to a Haida mother and American father with Scottish-German roots and began exploring his Haida heritage in his early 20s.

He studied jewlery making while working at CBC in Toronto, but it wasn't until a trip to Haida Gwaii in the 1950s that his "creative trajectory shifted irreversibly,"according to the gallery website.

"When he workedfor the CBC people would always say, 'You know that's Sophie's son?' when they heard it on the radio, but you know he couldn't help but feel an outsider," said Edenshaw.

Watch Bill Reid, who worked for CBC in the 1950s, exploring Haida cultureon the job:

Bill Reid archive on early Haida Gwaii

7 years ago

Duration 1:28

Bill Reid turns back the clock to visit an imaginary Haida village from the past.

But during the artist's lifetime, Edenshaw said Reidnot only helped to elevate Haida art, but also trained and mentored many other young artists.

"[He] allowed so many people to passthrough his studio thatall across the northwest coast people can drawa line back to Bill in their tutelage," said Edenshaw.

Reid was renowned for making exquisitely detailed pieces and monumental carvings.

Some of his well-known works include Chief of the Undersea Worlda bronze orca statue gifted tothe Vancouver Aquarium;The Spirit of Haida Gwaii a large jade-coloured canoe filled with people and animals at Vancouver International Airport;andRaven and the First Men a cedarsculpture at the UBC Museum of Anthropology that depictsthe Haida myth of the raven discovering mankind in a giant clamshell.

Watch the installation ofThe Spirit of Haida Gwaiiat Vancouver International Airport in 1996:

Bill Reid's Jade Canoe

27 years ago

Duration 7:39

The raven, the bear, the frog and the dogfish woman coexist uncomfortably in this Reid legend. Aired on Oct. 25, 1997 on a CBC-TV special.

The new exhibition will include archival recordings, rarely seen sketchbooks and works in progress, as well as short films of people who personally knew the artist.

Works by Reid's contemporaries and the successors who considered him an influence will also be on display.

The gallery is located at639 Hornby Street. Admission is free from 2p.m. to 5 p.m. on the first Friday of everymonth.

Thursday mornings,from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m., arereserved for visits from seniors, vulnerable people and first responders.

To hearGwaai Edenshaw, the co-curator of the exhibition, speak about Bill Reid's legacy on The Early Edition, tap the link in the tweet abovehis image: