Wake Up and Get to the Sale

Ambrose-Smith is a noted contemporary Native American painter, draftsman, printmaker, and educator who lives and works in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Born and raised off the reservation, he is of Salish, Metic and Cree heritage, descendent of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Nation of Montana. He is the son of the internationally renowned Native American painter and printmaker Jaune Quick-to-See Smith. As a child, he was introduced to many of the leading Native American artists who visited his mother's studio. Their example strongly influenced his own work and choice of subjects, which generally explore the social, political, and cultural issues of contemporary Native American life. Images of Pop culture are also prominently featured in many of Ambrose-Smith's works, often with a humorous or ironic twist on contemporary American society. Among his recurrent subjects is the roadrunner, the terrestrial bird of the desert regions of the American southwest that prefers walking or running to flying. Here, the vigorously drawn oversized head of a roadrunner dominates the composition. Surrounded by various commercial product labels, the furtive bird squawks out the command to Wake up and get to the sale!