Sonny Assu
October 12, 2023 - November 10, 2023
Sonny Assu recalls the transformative experience of visiting the Ottawa institution now known as the Canadian Museum of History with a letter in hand, written by his grandmother Mitzi Assu. In it she requests that her grandson be granted access to the Chilkat robe, dance apron, and frontlet that were the belongings of his great-great-grandfather, Hereditary Chief Billy Assu, which she and her husband Herbie Assu had sold to the museum decades before with the intention of their long-term protection and preservation. In the sterile space of the museum’s vast collections, curators placed the robe on Sonny’s shoulders. He describes feeling an energy transmitted through his body, the weight and materiality of the woolen garment, a spark conducting a direct connection to his Kwakwaka’wakw ancestors, and the knowledge, ceremony, and resilience woven into the regalia.
For more details or a list of available works, please contact the gallery at info@equinoxgallery.com
CLICK HERE to read Legacy Format, an essay by Kate Hennessy

Installation View

Sonny Assu
Legacy Format
October 12th - November 10th, 2023

Installation View

Sonny Assu
Legacy Format
October 12th - November 10th, 2023

Installation View

Sonny Assu
Legacy Format
October 12th - November 10th, 2023

Installation View

Sonny Assu
Legacy Format
October 12th - November 10th, 2023

Installation View

Sonny Assu
Legacy Format
October 12th - November 10th, 2023

Installation View

Sonny Assu
Legacy Format
October 12th - November 10th, 2023

Installation View

Sonny Assu
Legacy Format
October 12th - November 10th, 2023

Installation View

Sonny Assu
Legacy Format
October 12th - November 10th, 2023

Sonny Assu

Betamax

2023

Wool and cotton Jacquard tapestry

  • 42" x 72 1/2"
  • Weaver: Sophia Borowska
Sonny Assu

Tempest

2023

Wool and cotton Jacquard tapestry

  • 41 1/2" x 65 1/2"
  • Weaver: Sophia Borowska
Sonny Assu

Peer-to-Peer

2023

Wool and cotton Jacquard tapestry

  • 42" x 75 1/4"
  • Weaver: Sophia Borowska
Sonny Assu

Embraced by the Ancestors

2022

Wool and cotton Jacquard tapestry

  • 52" x 96"
  • Weaver: Sophia Borowska

Featured Artists

Sonny Assu

Sonny Assu

Sonny Assu (Ligwilda’xw of the Kwakwaka’wakw Nations) has been recognized for his mashups of Indigenous iconography and popular culture. Through a variety of mediums including sculpture, painting, prints, large-scale installations and interventions Assu’s work maintains a profound connection to past traditions while speaking to pertinent issues of our time.
Assu’s work is included in numerous major public collections, including the National Gallery of Canada (Ottawa), Art Gallery of Ontario (Toronto), Museum of Anthropology (Vancouver), and the Vancouver Art Gallery.

View Work

Shawn Hunt
Ḱáɫḷá / To Dream
at the Fairmont Pacific Rim

June 19, 2024 - September 27, 2024
View Exhibition

Bobbie Burgers
A Window or A Mirror

May 30, 2024 - July 6, 2024
View Exhibition

Philippe Raphanel
New Paintings

January 13, 2024 - February 10, 2024
View Exhibition

Angela Grossmann
The Silver Suite

January 13, 2024 - February 10, 2024
View Exhibition

Gwenessa Lam
Before Present

November 18, 2023 - December 16, 2023
View Exhibition

Erin McSavaney
Interactions

November 18, 2023 - December 16, 2023
View Exhibition

Zoë Kreye
Well, beloved, it is that which we want to call the secret growing

September 9, 2023 - October 14, 2023
View Exhibition

Kim Dorland
The moment before the moment after

June 17, 2023 - July 15, 2023
View Exhibition

Angela Grossmann
To a Woman Passing By
at the Fairmont Pacific Rim

June 8, 2023 - October 5, 2023
View Exhibition

Bobbie Burgers
Partly Truth, Partly Fiction

May 13, 2023 - June 10, 2023
View Exhibition

Marten Elder
New Colour Photographs

April 1, 2023 - April 29, 2023
View Exhibition

Paying Attention
at the Fairmont Pacific Rim

March 13, 2023 - May 27, 2023
View Exhibition

Jack Kenna
How Slowly Time Passes, How Quickly Things Change

February 25, 2023 - March 22, 2023
View Exhibition

Angela Grossmann
With Themselves

January 21, 2023 - February 18, 2023
View Exhibition

Adad Hannah
at the Fairmont Pacific Rim

October 5, 2022 - January 9, 2023
View Exhibition

Devon Knowles
Gone and Going

October 22, 2022 - November 19, 2022
View Exhibition

Gordon Smith
A Painter’s Legacy

September 10, 2022 - October 15, 2022
View Exhibition

Shawn Hunt
The First Moonrise

February 19, 2022 - March 19, 2022
View Exhibition

Special Project
future relics of our time

February 19, 2022 - March 19, 2022
View Exhibition

Jack Shadbolt
The Long Echo

November 27, 2021 - January 8, 2022
View Exhibition

Ben Reeves
A Boat Made of Ocean

October 16, 2021 - November 20, 2021
View Exhibition

Etienne Zack
Reflections on a Quiet City

May 15, 2021 - June 12, 2021
View Exhibition

Bobbie Burgers
Natural Disorder

November 19, 2020 - December 19, 2020
View Exhibition

Shawn Hunt
The Beginning of Something

October 10, 2020 - November 14, 2020
View Exhibition

Summer Exhibition
Gallery Artists

July 28, 2020 - August 29, 2020
View Exhibition

Renée Van Halm
Holding Pattern

January 18, 2020 - February 15, 2020
View Exhibition

Gathie Falk
New Paintings and Sculpture

September 7, 2019 - October 12, 2019
View Exhibition

BC Binning, Devon Knowles and Renée Van Halm
Leave the Window Open

September 9, 2019 - October 12, 2019
View Exhibition

Some Drawings
A Group Exhibition

March 9, 2019 - March 30, 2019
View Exhibition

Takao Tanabe
A Major Exhibition

January 17, 2019 - March 2, 2019
View Exhibition

Ben Reeves
Something Edge

November 24, 2018 - December 22, 2018
View Exhibition

Angela Teng
A Coloured Image of the Sun

November 24, 2018 - December 22, 2018
View Exhibition

Gordon Smith
Through the Trees

September 8, 2018 - October 13, 2018
View Exhibition

Jack Shadbolt
The Ghost Universe

January 20, 2018 - February 22, 2018
View Exhibition

Al McWilliams
Floor Thoughts

December 2, 2017 - January 13, 2018
View Exhibition

Gathie Falk
The Things in My Head

November 7, 2015 - December 12, 2015
View Exhibition