Chapman exhibit explores 14 ‘large don’ts’

Don’t be nervous. Don’t pollute the water. Don’t marry white girls.
These were some of the warnings Christian Chapman received when he was growing up in Fort William First Nation.
He related those warning in his latest set of work Don’t Eat the Fish, which will be exhibited at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery from Nov. 5 to Dec. 12
“I just put some imagery to these don’ts,” Chapman said. “You have to see it.”
Chapman has been working on the images during the past six months.
“I’ve been in the studio pretty much all the time for the past two months,” Chapman said. “But I’ve been just getting all the ideas ready, so I’ve been stewing on it for quite some time actually.”
Chapman is hoping people will appreciate his exhibit and will not take offense at some of the exhibition titles, such as Don’t Marry White Girls.
“The work itself is a lot of fun for me,” Chapman said. “They are really large mixed media work on canvas. I’ll have 14 large don’ts altogether.”
Chapman described one of his pieces, titled Don't Let Your Babies Grow up to be Cowboys (2010), which features his own image placed between two famous cowboy actors, Clint Eastwood and Charles Bronson.
“I grew up watching a lot of spaghetti westerns,” Chapman said. “A lot of the works are influenced by the media.”
The exhibition also features an image titled Don’t Worry Be Bappy (2010), which contains an image of Stephen Harper with his thumbs up.
Chapman is scheduled to present an artist’s talk on his exhibit Nov. 25 at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery.