The Perpetual Runnings of the Intercessors: Manuel Axel Strain
June 12 – July 24, 2021
Manuel Axel Strain is a 2spirit interdisciplinary artist with xʷməθkʷəyəm (Musqueam), Simpcw, and Inkumupulux heritage based in the sacred and ancestral homelands and waters of the Katzie and Kwantlen peoples. In their profoundly personal and political exhibition, The Perpetual Runnings of the Intercessors, Strain transforms the gallery through a series of large-scale mixed-media installations. Using video, sound, scale, and space, they transport and transform the viewer.
Strain’s installations emphasize the governmentality of land and water and its ties to an ancestral spiritual substance. There are several intercessors in Strain’s exhibition; individuals and beings who intervene, intercede, or negotiate on behalf of another. The intercessors’ labour, activism, and knowledge take different forms of conflation and commonality in their approach in reducing harm. The work in this exhibition stands to witness the ways in which colonial capitalist modes of extraction are intertwined with Indigenous life forces and sovereignties. Themes of history, family, and gender are carried throughout Strain’s work. Living experiences as well as the knowledge they have gained from their mother, father, siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, grandparents, and ancestors inform and shape Strain’s work, and this exhibition.
Strain uses their art practice to confront and undermine the imposed realities of colonialism. Proposing a new space beyond its oppressive systems of power they work with painting, photography, sculpture, performance, and installation. They have contributed work to the Capture Photography Festival through Richmond Art Gallery, the Vancouver Art Gallery, Surrey Art Gallery, and more distant places across Turtle Island.
This exhibition was created in collaboration with Tracey Eustache, Condesa Strain, Quintasket Strain, Segwses Strain, Mary Point, Eric Van Stone, Kali Van Stone, Eric Strain, Cam Strain and Jesse Blanchard.
Image Credit: Manuel Axel Strain, The regalia my dad tried to pass on to me, Strain’s father’s old work overalls, safety vests and rope, found family photo of Strain’s father and uncles, tourniquets, dimensions variable, 2021
Performance by Manuel Axel Strain
Saturday, July 17, 2021 at 7 p.m.
Join us on Saturday, July 17 at 7 p.m. for a performance by exhibiting artist Manual Axel Strain, as part of their exhibition The Perpetual Runnings of the Intercessors.
Strain’s performance will begin at the Seymour Art Gallery. They will remove the large stone that rests in the human-sized hummingbird’s nest in the middle of the gallery. Wearing their father’s deconstructed orange work clothes, they will run, carrying the stone, from the gallery to Whey-ah-wichen/Cates Park. There, the performance will conclude on the shore.
Members of the Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nation will offer protocol, sing, drum, and speak.
Members of the public are invited to join us at the Seymour Art Gallery at 7:00 p.m. for the beginning of the performance and then travel by car, public transit, or on foot to Whey-ah-wichen/Cates Park. Alternatively, visitors can meet at the park on the shore at about 7:30 pm. Visitors are welcomed to bring their drums.
