Evidence Analysis/Close Reading

My first piece of evidence is a painting by Metis artist Jim Logan, titled Look Out Kids, Here Comes Another Kind of Small Pox.  I came across this painting when I was looking through various books on Indigenous art at the Xwi7xwa library on UBC’s campus. This piece is part of Jim Logan’s “Classical Aboriginal Series”, which lets “the mainstream know what is happening in the villages.” (Williams) This painting relates to my big idea, which is the portrayal of Indigenous issues through visual art, because it depicts how when European settlers arrived in North America, they brought with them many alien diseases. One of these fatal diseases was smallpox, also known as the red plague. Although I have yet to conduct further in debt research on the smallpox epidemic in North America, it is widely known that smallpox amongst other foreign diseases, were the prime cause of death for thousands of First Nations peoples and communities following the European colonisation of the Americas. Personally, I was drawn to this painting because it is very distinct in comparison to  anything else I’ve ever seen created by an Indigenous artist. The title in particular really intrigued me; Look Out Kids, Here Comes Another Kind Of Small Pox. By targeting and involving children, Logan evokes a sense of innocence. The contrast between the innocence of childhood and the horrors of such a disease, accentuates the powerful symbolism in Logan’s’ piece.

The first thing that I noticed  was the contrasting colours used to paint the two individuals in the painting. The individual on the left is also the area of emphasis, due to the use of red paint. This could reflect the derogative term redskin to refer to the Indigenous peoples of North America, but also small pox which was commonly known as the red plague. However, the person is wearing what looks like feathers and beads which once again evokes the notion of this individual representing an Indigenous person suffering from smallpox.

However, the apparent Indigenous personage was composed not only with the dominant red colour but also with white paint from Logan’s use of the dry brush technique to create this piece, suggesting a more personal aspect. Jim Logan is Métis and as stated in his artist statement, identifies as “Not totally Indian, not totally White and cursed with a big red heart that has been continually shattered.” (Williams) Thus, having covered a very small proportion of this piece, it is evident  that it is an excellent piece of evidence portraying issues in terms of deadly diseases killing the vast majority of Indigenous peoples upon the Europeans arrival but also Indigenous identity and at the individual level.

Bibliography

Williams, Dana. Canada’s First People: A Celebration of Contemporary Native Visual Arts. Fort

McMurray, Alta.: Syncrude, 1992. Print.