The Resiliance of our People.....

the residential school in kamloops. my mum went to St. George's
in Lytton, which mysteriously burnt to the ground back in the late
'80's or early '90's.....she only talked to me about what happened
when she was out of her skull drunk back in the day....when she
was sober, she never, ever once mentioned it. i think she went
into the schools when she was around 7 and got out when she
was 16 and gave birth to me.

she is a survivor.

i never went to the residential school, it came to me. i worked at the
Kamloops Indian Band school for a few years as an artist and then
an artist coordinator. i heard many creepy and strange things. i would
have to say, the strangest, was so many people who actually WENT to
the school are back working there. one lady told me, the room that was
presently her office, used to be her dorm room when she went to school

how crazy is that?

it's as though, she never really left, and is reliving it day after day after day.
like some kind of purgatory.

well, i hoped to end this year on a positive note and get ready for the new year
with some optimistic to say......so i made this poster, as a testament to the
surivors and their families, and after so much hell, we are still here today...
and we are not going anywhere, we've been here forever.......

happy new year everyone...

the four voyages of Columbus

1492. a lousy year.
to think, it's been a slow, grinding downhill slide of 'progress'
ever since. Columbus. whatta jerk.
four voyages he undertook to the 'new world' and still missed
the main continent of north america.
well, that's how it is i guess.

the Resurrection of Jesus Coyote A.D. 2008

comments

well, art is such a strange thing, i mean really.... what is art?
since i'm not getting much feedback, i guess that means i'm
not going far enough.....maybe i'm being too subtle.....
i'll just have to work harder, i've got some pretty far out stuff
planned for the new year, some sculpture, some animation,
some 3d work, some film stuff, so it isn't going to be what you
see is what you get, it'll go further and crazier. trust me.

in the meantime, i got laid off before christmas (thanks george k)
and if you want to buy some of these prints, let me know,
most of them look good in 11 by 17 and you can score frames
and matting at second hand shops, i think they look great in over
the top, real fancy gold or silver wood carved frames....but that's
just me.....

also, just wanted to mention this newest piece i worked on last night
and early this morning....it fought me to the death, i won....but it
couldn't have been done without the help of tom waits and juxtapoz
magazine......not that i'm endorsing anything, i'm just letting you know
what got me through those darkest hours of artistic birth....speaking
of which....some aboriginal cultures plant the placenta under a family tree
in their territory or the dried up belly button, so the child always, always
has a physical connection to the land.....pretty cool huh?!

so, help a brother out and buy some art, and let's roll on into the
new year in style............!!!!!!!!!!!!!

cheers,

chrisbose.

Psalm 69

the trial of duncan campbell scott

this is the posthumous trial of historical killer, d.c. scott
for his genius in coming up and enforcing the residential
school system for aboriginal people. the effects of which
are felt to this minute in me. from what i understand, he
was one of those, 'i know you little savages better than you
know yourselves, and what i'm doing for you is right' kind
of non-native administrator, which is ironic, 'cause it seems
to me a lot of people with attitudes like this still work in indian country...
various executive directors and band managers i've dealt
with come to mind....
oh well, they'll get theirs when the time is right....

pop art

i'm working on a series of modern day
first nations heroes and role models
in a pop art way.....'cause our kids need this
more than they need that posing, gangsta,
endless partying, lies, and ghettoizing
bullshit that's consuming them. there's only
a few hiphoppers out there who truly are
doing positive things instead of what i just said.
apologize if that seems so high and mighty,
but some shit just has to be said. y'all.
ahem, that's how i roll.

happy holidays!!!!!

"Aboriginal Soup"

for an upcoming show at the Gallery Under Glass at the
Kamloops Art Gallery, the next few days or so I'll be uploading
different kinds of Aboriginal pop art.

The perilous misadventures of Jesus Coyote and his J-12 crew at a typical dinner....

After a rough day in the studio, JC and the J-12 crew
wine and dine, but oh no! look at Judas! He's had waaaay
to much to drink! he's the ferocious looking one to the right
of JC! Ooooh Judas! you silly dawg!

dreams and nightmares

we apologize...

canada apology to first nations people.

on june 11, 2008, was one of many milestone days i never expected to see in my lifetime.

canada's government apologized for the hideously evil residential school system and all the effects it has injected in the aboriginal community of canada.

at one time there were 90,000 first nations kids in residential schools, currently, in canada, there are approximately 90,000 first nations kids waiting for adoption or foster homes. i also read a stat where good ol' b.c. has the worst conditions for aboriginal kids. nice. what's the bc 150 slogan 'the best place on the planet'? right. for who, or is it whom?

hmmm, seems like we're still in the grips of this system.

i've started a series that will address the apology through creative means.

addressing the apology...

jesus coyote throws a kegger, scores refund cash and gets moses to part the red sea to get rid of the partyers who just WON'T leave!!!!!!

jesus coyote died for your sins.....

beauty and the beast

the purpose?

the purpose of this, what is the purpose of all this art?

i don't really know. i just felt inclined to do it.

to make some kind of art everyday until 2010.

don't get me started on 2010. suffice it to say, i'm sure we'll be left
with a massive public debt for a private corporations plaything. it's the same story
'round the world.

and economically, everything will come to some kind of grinding halt.

then what?

i'll probably be still doing art, making films and music and going just slightly cuckoo.

until then.

better living through chemistry.....

where?

this morning i was thinking about those rare places in time when i never want that particular moment to end....what is it?

i love being on a plane, having a drink at 40,000 feet and realizing and enjoying that unbelievable feeling of good fortune, that you are on your way.....somewhere, anywhere but whatever reality you are feeling trapped in. that moment of being in a strange city where no one knows you or your past and cannot make decisions or judgment upon you based on rumor, gossip and conjecture. that anonymous hotel room, the places yet unexplored, that certain wonder you only experience when you are on the road....being on a stage, beneath hot lights and an excited crowd, knowing you are coming up to your last song and hating that feeling....of losing that rush again...

i guess i'm at some sort of crossroads in my life and have to figure/realize what i really want to do with however much time i have left in this gift called life.

junktown

oops! i forgot to post yesterday!

oops! i forgot to post an image yesterday!

my bad! i thought i did, but was busy working and stuff.

i also participated in the 'exquisite corpse' show at the Arnica Gallery
in downtown kamloops and the 'jesus coyote cheating at poker' image was the one i gave as a donation for their fundraiser.

i won't forget again.

cheers,

chrisbose.

Jesus Coyote cheating at poker!

too much.

today the art was difficult. it fought me.
i came up with two different works, but one was gentle the other a butch, beast from hell. ironically, it was a 'Jesus Coyote' work that struggled to be free.

nonetheless, i will sit on it a couple days and mull it over to see if i like it.

i remember when i used to play tons of guitar and record in studios. one producer said to me, "if it comes easy, it's right, if it's a fight, then let it rest.....it'll come when it's ready."

buffy st. marie once said to me, "sometimes an idea comes ahead of it's time, and even though it no one understands it, you have to hold onto to it until it's ready...."

then she grabbed my ass.

KIDDING!!!!

well, maybe.

so get out there, do art, there is no excuse. just do it.

Jesus Coyote doing Community Hours....

a bit about jesus coyote....

hi folks,

i've 'created' a character named 'Jesus Coyote' and boy, let me tell you the wacky misadventures he will get into with his 'apoztle twelve live crew'. so stay tuned for further updates and perilous fun with our hero and see what wonderful things he learns in our journey together.....

cheers,


cb.

Jesus coyote a.d. 2008

the chambers of the heart

my son.....

vomitting the god back we were forced to swallow with our 'gods' on.....

skelep at the school...

the many faces of mary....

NDN's in church....

luxurious addictions

die duncan die!

that guy came up with the residential school system......

the streets are murder

never forget the godsmark never touched us....

ktunaxa knives, god and pow wow....