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Dempsey Bob, OC, artist, carver, teacher (born in 1948 at Telegraph Creek, British Columbia). A Tahltan-Tlingit artist, Dempsey Bob has produced totem poles, regalia, sculptures, and other pieces of art in the Northwest Coast style. Many of his artworks are displayed in museum collections around the world, including in Canada House (London, UK) and the National Museum of Ethnology (Osaka, Japan). In 2013, Bob became an Officer of the Order of Canada for his contributions to Indigenous art and culture in Canada. He was awarded the Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts in 2021.
Early Life and Education
Dempsey Bob began carving when he was a child, sculpting toys such as slingshots and bows and arrows out of wood. He credits his mother with supporting his passion for carving.
After he graduated high school, Bob began studying under Haida artist Freda Diesing in 1969. She influenced his art and became his mentor and friend. Encouraged by Diesing, Bob went on to study art at the Gitanmaax School of Northwest Coast Indian Art in the early 1970s. Diesing also helped Bob take up a teaching position in Alaska, where he studied Tlingit art firsthand.
Career Highlights
In the 1980s, Dempsey Bob took part in several group exhibitions in British Columbia and parts of the United States, including an exhibition at the National Museum of American Art at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. He had his first solo exhibition, Dempsey Bob: Tahltan-Tlingit — Carver of the Wolf Clan, in British Columbia in 1989.
Bob gained a reputation as a talented carver in the 1990s. He took part in several more group exhibitions and a solo exhibition in 1993, Dempsey Bob: Myth Maker and Transformer. In 1999, Bob carved two red cedar masks, “Bear/Human” and “Human/Bear,” for the Vancouver International Airport. The masks are stacked on top of one another and show a small human sitting on the head of a bear. The masks can be seen as a representation of the connection between people and the natural world.
In 2022, Wolves: The Art of Dempsey Bob was Bob’s first retrospective exhibition of his career. In the same year, the McMichael Canadian Art Collection and Audain Art Museum published Dempsey Bob: In His Own Voice, a book featuring some of Bob’s greatest works.
Bob is a senior advisor at Coast Mountain College in British Columbia. In 2006, he helped to open the Freda Diesing School of Northwest Art, which is part of the college and is named for his mentor.
Artistic Inspiration
Dempsey Bob’s art is, in part, inspired by the oral histories and traditions of his Tahltan- Tlingit culture. For example, Bob is a member of the Wolf Clan and features wolves in several pieces of his art. Bob is also known for creating both traditional works of art, such as regalia, and more modern pieces, such as coffee tables. He sometimes blends the traditional and modern, making pieces unique to his artistic style.
Bob’s art can be seen as part of a process of Indigenous preservation and reclamation. The Indian Act, a federal law that governs matters relating to First Nations peoples, restricted the creation and performance of Indigenous art and culture from the late 1800s to 1951. In an interview with CBC News in 2023, Bob stated, “I‘m carving for my ancestors because they weren‘t allowed to. I have been doing it for my grandparents and my mum.”
Legacy
Dempsey Bob is a storyteller who has greatly contributed to Indigenous art and culture in Canada and worldwide. As a teacher, he is supporting the next generation of Indigenous artists in creating their own place in the art world.
