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Artworks
DAVID RUBEN PIQTOUKUN (1950-) PAULATUK / ONTARIO
Long Arm of the Law, 2004stone, 7.5 x 13.25 x 2.25 in (19.1 x 33.7 x 5.7 cm)
dated and signed, "2004. DAVID RUBEN PIQTOUKUN".LOT 54
ESTIMATE: $2,500 — $3,500
PRICE REALIZED: $5,612.00Further images
Entitled The Long Arm of the Law, this work is a playful and striking representation that cleverly materializes the colloquial expression for the long-reaching power of law enforcement agencies. Ruben...Entitled The Long Arm of the Law, this work is a playful and striking representation that cleverly materializes the colloquial expression for the long-reaching power of law enforcement agencies. Ruben invites us to contemplate the physicality of language as he transforms a well-known idiom into a tangible form. The figure is unmistakably marked as a sheriff by the exaggerated star-shaped badge, and this authority is humorously emphasized through the cartoonish elongation of his proper right arm.This work represents a departure from the artist's usually more spiritual themes (see Lot 53) with a more whimsical – perhaps even satirical – approach. Ruben may be wryly commenting on the overextension of police authority, especially in the context of historical and on-going tensions between law enforcement and Indigenous communities. The whimsical depiction could be interpreted as a critique of the uneven hand of justice, reminding of the need for balance and fairness in the application of the law.
References: For an overview of the artist see, Darlene Wight, Between Two Worlds: Sculpture by David Ruben Piqtoukun, (Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1996). In an article in the Inuit Art Quarterly (Vol. 22, no. 1, Spring 2007), when discussing being fired from several jobs before committing to his artistic practice full time, Ruben commented that he “did not like being told what to do.” Though it is a somewhat glib comment, it does offer thematic undertones of the work as it reflects the artist's personal feelings about authority and the constraints it can impose.Provenance
Collection of John & Joyce Price, Seattle
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