The World Upside Down
Richard William Hill

The world upside down, as visualized by artists, is one in which the symbolic order is turned on its head. This publication of a group exhibition surveys the strategy of symbolic inversion used by contemporary artists, while also providing historical context on Western and Indigenous North American traditions of inversion. As an artistic strategy, inversion illuminates and challenges the visual conventions that police social hierarchies. In each inversion documented here the artist turns a hierarchical dichotomy upside down. In most cases the dichotomy does not survive the experience, ultimately breaking down under the strain of its own absurdity and liberating us - if only for the moment - from its tyranny. Among the many artists using a wide variety of strategies are Rosalie Favell, Shelley Niro, Lori Blondeau and General Idea.

Musée d'art de Joliette / Agnes Etherington Art Centre / Art Gallery of Greater Victoria (01/2009)
176 pp 43 col. ill. 11 x 7.5 in hardcover 978-1-894773-28-7 $29.99 Can $32.00 U.S. (20 euros)

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Shelley Niro: Almost Fallen
Ivan Jurakic and Steve Loft

This new photo series draws upon historical parallels between Native identity and the Canadian landscape. Niro appropriates media constructed stereotypes of the 'Indian' to question our assumptions and expectations. She uses her artmaking as a means of communicating dignity, humanity and humour. Shelley Niro is a member of the Turtle Clan, Bay of Quinte Mohawk from the Six Nations Reserve. Published in collaboration with Urban Shaman Gallery.

Cambridge Galleries (06/2008) 32 pp 13 col. ill. 9 x 7 in softcover 978-1-897001-30-1 $10.00 ($12.00 U.S. / 8 euros)

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Shelley Niro : Unbury My Heart
Geralg Mc Master
McMaster Museum of Art (2001) 24 pp 9 col. ill. 10 x 8 in 1-894088-28 X $10.00 (8 euros)

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