CANNUPA HANSKA LUGER

Surveillance

Date: 2023

Dimensions: 78” x 120”

Medium: Acrylic on canvas and mixed media

Condition: Overall very good

Provenance: 

– Artist

– Private Collection

– Trotta-Bono Contemporary, Los Angeles, CA

Luger paints directly onto a contemporary teepee, using it as both architectural form and image surface. Across it, eyes explode outward in exaggerated cartoon distortion—recalling early animation, the manic elasticity of Coyote and Road Runner. The humor is intentional and disarming.

The teepee, historically a site of family and protection, becomes a field of amplified watching. Surveillance here is not abstract; it is tied to government presence, oversight, and the long history of monitoring Indigenous communities. The cartoon language sharpens the critique. What reads as playful becomes hyper-vigilant. The work holds color, scale, and irony in balance, allowing the structure itself to carry the tension.