Over the last 15 years, a select group of professionally trained and politically astute Canadian artists of Native ancestry has produced a compelling body of work that owes much of its power to a wry and ironic sense of humour rooted firmly in the oral tradition. More than a critical/political strategy, such humour reflects a widespread cultural and communal sensibility embodied in the mythical Native American Trickster. This book explores the influence of this comic spirit on the practice of various artists through the presentation of a 'Trickster discourse,' that is, a body of overlapping and interrelated verbal and visual narratives by tricksters and about trickster practice.

Allan J. Ryan's profile page

• Winner, American Book Award, Before Columbus Foundation
• Winner, Alcuin Citation for excellence in book design in Canada, Alcuin Society
• Winner, Scholarly Illustrated Award, American Association of University Presses

Allan J. Ryan lectures frequently on anthropology, art history, and Native Studies. He has been variously employed as a graphic designer, singer-songwriter, and television satirist. Currently, he is New Sun Chair in Aboriginal Art and Culture at Carleton University.

Allan J. Ryan comprehensively documents the work of some of these artists, and their reintegration of the persistently humourous archetype ... there's nothing dry about this book except its wit.

Monday Magazine

Definitely disturbing and certainly immediate, this wonderful book brings together the work of some of these edgy young artist ... Ryan ... celebrates the pervasive use of the old trickster humor ... The result is the kind of modern art many find hard to handle: comic strip or graffiti, performance art or poetry, montage or assemblage, and always in-your-face ... While this book is challenging and possibly offensive, it is a brave attempt to raise readers to new levels of conciousness.

Library Journal

A lavishly illustrated book ... visually stunning ... The art in this book highlights the profound differences between our two cultures, but builds some bridges between them too.

Artfocus