a compilation of Indigenous artists and their artworks in the Enweying building at Trent University. It is our aspiration that this compilation will operate as an introductory resource that can be utilized to increase your awareness of the more subtle sources of Indigenous knowledge available to you at Trent University. We hope that the blog inspires you to set out on your own to wander around the building and experience the extraordinary potential learning opportunities that Indigenous art offers to you. So go forth, remembering that your engagement with these works strengthens and renews their position as signifiers of Indigenous places of learning.
The group will updating the site as we speak with individuals and learn more about the the artistis and their pieces. Keep checking back in to access the new information as we post it ...
Angeconeb, Ahmoo
Ahmoo Angeconeb is a nationally and internationally celebrated Anishinaabe artist from the Lac Seul First Nation, near Sioux Lookout. He sites himself as being part of an Anishaabe visual tradition that comes from ancestors who have been creating art for thousands of years. He taught himself to paint at an early age; selling his first painting at 13 years of age. By the age of 22, Angeconeb had his first Toronto exhibition at York University where he was enrolled in the visual arts program.
He concentrates his artistic talent on printmaking. Angeconeb usually works on paper with etching-like figures that are both ancient and modern. His bold spiritual images are often presented in stark black and white codes.
His work has been displayed in shows and galleries in Europe, the United States, and Canada. Throughout his career as an artist, Angeconeb has also worked as an educator, teaching both children and adults about traditional and contemporary modes of art practice while educating them in the ways of the Anishinaabe. He frequently lectures on Native art and has acted for the Ontario Arts Council as a consultant and judge for Native art.
His work has been displayed in shows and galleries in Europe, the United States, and Canada. Throughout his career as an artist, Angeconeb has also worked as an educator, teaching both children and adults about traditional and contemporary modes of art practice while educating them in the ways of the Anishinaabe. He frequently lectures on Native art and has acted for the Ontario Arts Council as a consultant and judge for Native art.
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Ahneesheenahpay / Myth of Creation by Angeconeb, Ahmoo (Allen) |
Education
York University
Lakehead University
Dalhousie University
Collections
McMichael Canadian Collection
Museum Institute of Indian Art
Thunder Bay Art Gallery
University of Onsabruck
Woodland Indian Centre
Museum Institute of Indian Art
Thunder Bay Art Gallery
University of Onsabruck
Woodland Indian Centre
Work Cited
http://www.ahnisnabae-art.com/ahnoo-angeconeb.html
Beam, Carl
Carl Beam was born in M’Chigeeng First Nation on Manitoulin Island in 1943. He earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Victoria and continued his classical art studies in the MFA program at the University of Alberta. Early influences during Beam’s formal studies included Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, and especially Robert Rauschenberg.
The latter’s influence is evident in Beam’s frequent use of photo transfer and photo emulsion in his works on paper, similar to the “found” images from print media in Rauschenberg’s innovative lithographs and other graphic media. Beam was particularly fond of repeating icons like Christopher Columbus and Sitting Bull, using animals and birds and reptiles, as well as self-portraits in various moods. Beam’s biographical emphasis places him within the dual cultures that are his heritage; Ojibwa and European. He usually combines his own image with other topics, texts, and visual representations. This is a purposeful exploration and scrutiny of not only his physical self, but also examining his cultural, environmental and political relationships.
What Carl Beam does is not 'collage' - an art form which is deliberately random - it is 'montage', where images are mounted together in a thought-out process to point out their connections and dissonances. Actively engaged with postmodernist art practices, Beam developed an aesthetic that spanned diverse mediums including multimedia paintings, prints and constructions. His work, executed in diverse media, such as drawing, watercolor, etching, non-silver photography, photo emulsion, installation, and ceramics, is highly different from the Woodlands School of Art associated with Anishinaabe artists, though it represents a continuation of the themes explored by its artists. Juxtaposing diverse referents - popular culture, art history, personal and collective memory - Beam's work rejects Western historical and cultural hegemony, collapses hierarchies and incorporates Native worldview on equal footing.
In 1986, the National Gallery of Canada acquired its first work by a contemporary Canadian Native artist and this was Carl Beam's The North American Iceberg (1985). At the time, the acquisition was regarded as "a landmark event. Beam has been exhibited throughout North America as well as in Italy, Denmark, Germany and China. His works are found in major Canadian and international collections including the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Vancouver Art Gallery and the Albright-Knox Gallery in Buffalo, N.Y.
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Family by Beam, Carl |
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Rulers by Beam, Carl |
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Flux by Beam, Carl |
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| Neoglyph 2 by Beam, Carl |
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Traffic by Beam, Carl |
1992, The Colombus Site, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, ON
1997, Transitions, The Canadian Cultural Centre, Paris, France
1999, Reconstructing Reason: the Koan of Carl Beam, Carleton University Art Gallery, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON 2000, Works from Novak Graphics, Shanghai, China
2002, The Whale of our Being, Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa, ON
1997, Transitions, The Canadian Cultural Centre, Paris, France
1999, Reconstructing Reason: the Koan of Carl Beam, Carleton University Art Gallery, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON 2000, Works from Novak Graphics, Shanghai, China
2002, The Whale of our Being, Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa, ON
Collections
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, ON
Museum of Civilization, Hull, PQ
Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, ON
Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, BC
Albright Knox Gallery, Buffalo, NY
McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg, ON
The Heard Museum, Phoenix, AZ
Museum of Civilization, Hull, PQ
Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, ON
Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, BC
Albright Knox Gallery, Buffalo, NY
McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg, ON
The Heard Museum, Phoenix, AZ
Work Cited
Commanda, Robert
Commanda is an alumnus of Trent University. He donated the World of Peace Dreamcatcher to Trent University’s Indigenous Studies department post graduation as a way to give something back to the department and faculty.
Works Cited
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World of Peace Dreamcatcher by Commanda, Robert |
Works Cited
Davidson, Robert
Robert Charles Davidson, also called Guud San Glans, is a Haida artist who was born November 4, 1946 in Hydaburg Alaska. He moved with his family to Massett on Haida Gwaii, Queen Charlotte Islands in 1947 and lived there until moving to Vancouver to pursue his education. It was in Vancouver that he first learned the fundamentals of silk-screening, drawing and design skills but it was not until 1966, when he began an eighteen month apprenticeship with Haida artist Bill Reid, that he launched his career as an artist.
Davidson constantly challenges himself to expand his knowledge and understanding of Haida art and culture. He has learned about Haida art from both living and ancestral Haida artists through his close community ties and work with museums and anthropologists. Davidson was surrounded by fine carving from an early age as his father Claude Davidson, Grandfather Robert Davidson Sr, and Great Grandfather Charles Edenshaw were respected carvers in Massett. Robert began carving during his early teens to carry on the family artistic tradition. Since that time, he has continued to explore the carved form in a variety of traditional and non-traditional media.
Robert Davidson was one of the first northwest coast artists to apply two dimensional design to limited edition prints. As a young artist he learned to cut his own screens and hand pull prints from them. His first editions were not numbered or signed. In 1970 he began numbering and signing his editions. He progressed from single color prints of traditional Haida crest designs to two color original images developed from his own work in wood and silver.
Davidson’s inquiry into Haida concepts of abstraction opens up the visual language, form, and tradition of Haida art. In his more recent work of the last decade, Davidson highlights shifts between abstract and representational images, often blurring the boundary between the two. Work opens up the discussion about the place of indigenous, community-based knowledge within the realm of contemporary art practice.
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Grizzly Bear by Davidson, Robert |
Education
Apprenticeship, Master Artist Bill Reid
Vancouver School of Art, Vancouver, BC
Selected Exhibitions
1971, Solo Exhibition, Vancouver Museum and Planetarium, Vancouver, BC
1978 Solo Exhibition, Bent Box Gallery, Vancouver, BC
1979 Solo Exhibition, Cycles – The Graphic Art of Robert Davidson: A Retrospective, UBC Museum of Anthropology, Vancouver, BC
1979 Solo Exhibition, Cycles – The Graphic Art of Robert Davidson: A Retrospective, UBC Museum of Anthropology, Vancouver, BC
1980, Group Exhibition, The Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona
1982, Group Exhibition, Legacy – Contemporary BC Indian Art, BC Provincial Museum, Victoria, BC
1983, Solo Exhibition, Fachwerk Gallery in Bad Salzuflen, West Germany
1983, Group Exhibition, BC Arts and Artists 1931 – 1983, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, BC
1983, Group Exhibition, BC Printmakers, Victoria Art Gallery, Victoria, BC
1983, Solo Exhibition, Fachwerk Gallery in Bad Salzuflen, West Germany
1983, Group Exhibition, BC Arts and Artists 1931 – 1983, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, BC
1983, Group Exhibition, BC Printmakers, Victoria Art Gallery, Victoria, BC
1989, Group Exhibition, Collector’s Vision, Barrie Art Gallery, Barrie, Ontario
1989, Solo Exhibition, Eagle Song, The Derek Simpkins Gallery of Tribal Art, Vancouver, BC
1989, Group Exhibition, Masks, The Inuit Gallery, Vancouver, BC
1990, Group Exhibition, Meridian Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1989, Solo Exhibition, Eagle Song, The Derek Simpkins Gallery of Tribal Art, Vancouver, BC
1989, Group Exhibition, Masks, The Inuit Gallery, Vancouver, BC
1990, Group Exhibition, Meridian Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1993 Solo Exhibition, Eagle of the Dawn, The Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, BC
1993, Solo Exhibition, Eagle of the Dawn, The Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hull, Québec
1993, Solo Exhibition, Eagle of the Dawn, The Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hull, Québec
1999, Group Exhibition: Arrows of the Spirit, Mingei International Museum, San Diego, CA
2006 Group Exhibition, Raven Travelling: Two Centuries of Haida Art, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, BC
2006 Group Exhibition, Raven Travelling: Two Centuries of Haida Art, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, BC
2006, Solo Exhibition, Robert Davidson:The Abstract Edge, McMichael Gallery, Toronto, On
Work Cited
Iquilq, Tuna
Tuna Iquliq was born in 1935 near Baker Lake, where he currently lives and works. Tuna's wife Sarah is a carver and textile artist, and their children, Johnny, Louie, and daughter Camille, are well known carvers as well.
He is a carver with a wide range of expression. His sculptures include depictions of isolated rounded figures and people, but he is probably best known for his images of polar birds. While Iquliq’s early work was quite representational, however his worked evolved into more abstract forms by the 1980s. These abstract works are often free of surface details and feature multiple figures in a jointed single form.
He has been carving for over 40 years and his works can be found in major collections such as those of the Canadian Museum of Civilization and the National Gallery of Canada. Since the 1960s, Tuna has taken part in many exhibitions in North America and across Europe, in Belgium, France, Germany and England.
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Untitled by Iquliq, Tuna |
Selected Exhibitions
2010, Major Sculpture: Summer
The Marion Scott Gallery, Vancouver, Canada.
Work Cited
Kakegamic, Joshim
Joshim Kakehamic was born in 1952 in Sandy Lake First Nation, Ontario. Influenced by his brother-in- law Norval Morrisseau, Kakegamic began to paint in his teens. Kakegamic preferred to work on smaller-scale pieces, creating complex imagery that engergized every inch of the surface. He developed his Woodland style of art while studying with Carl Ray and Morrisseau during their tour of northern reserves. Kakegamic eventually joined Morrisseau and Ray in the late1960s in demonstrating art in Ontario schools. He was included in a group showing in 1969, which was quickly followed by a solo workshop at Fanshaw College.
In 1973, after achieving recognition as a professional artist in his own right, Joshim Kakegamic partnered up with his brothers Goyce and Henry to found the Triple K silk screening Co-operative. The Co-operative was founded under the belief that Indigenous artists should control their own art production, from design conception to marketing of final product. Operating under this mandate, Triple K distributed high quality silk screen prints to over 50 galleries across Canada, the United States, and Europe. The Co-operative was established in downtown Red Lake nearby the home of the artists and close to the origins of the Woodland School of art in North Western Ontario. This location was far away from southern Ontario and disrupted the prevailing belief that southern cities like Toronto were the core of the province’s strong art scene. In 1977, the Royal Ontario Museum recognized the importance of Triple K’s to the redefinition contemporary art centres by holding an exhibit of its silk screens.
During the 1970s and 1980s, Kakegamic took part in a number of his own solo and group exhibitions throughout Ontario, other sites in Canada, as well as on a group show "Woodland Indian Art Exhibition" at Canada House in London, England and Lahr, Germany. One of his major solo exhibitions took place at Toronto's Aggregation Gallery in 1977. His work remains in private and public collections in Canada and abroad.
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Loon by Kakegamic, Josh |
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Untitled by Kakegamic, Josh |
Collections
Royal Ontario Museum
Simon Fraser University Art Center
Canadian Museum of Civilization
McMicheal Canadian Art Collection
Thunder Bay Art Gallery
Work Cited
Kakegamic, Roy
Works Cited
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Little Charlie Wenjack's Escape from Residential School by Kakegamic, Roy |
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Untitled by Kakegamic, Roy |
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Creation by Kakegamic, Roy |
Works Cited
Knott, Norman
Norman Knott is an Anishinaabe artist who was born at Curve Lake First Nation, in 1945. Throughout his career he worked and lived in Curve Lake allowing him to gain an intimate familiarity with nature, Mississauga teachings, and Mississauga history. This knowledge was executed in his artwork bringing to his art form and style specific cultural and personal layers that set it apart from that of works by artists of other First Nations and of the dominant culture.
Norman’s work is executed in oils, watercolour and acrylic. He is featured in collections from across Canada, United States, Great Britain, Germany and Australia.
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Northbound by Knott, Norman |
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Unknown by Knott, Norman |
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Gathering #2 by Knott, Norman |
Work Cited
Morrisseau, Norval
Norval Morrisseau, also known as Copper Thunderbird, is an Anishinaabe artist who was born in 1931 in Sandy Lake First Nation, near Thunder Bay, Ontario. He was brought up by his maternal grandfather Moses Potan Nanakonagos, a shaman who strongly influenced Morrisseau’s life and works.
Morrisseau began developing his artistic talent at a young age. During his youth he started drawing on rocks or in damp sand. These practises eventually gave way to early attempts at painting that used ink, pastels, and crayons on birch bark, brown paper, and cardboard. The result was a professional artistic process that attempted to transfer tradition to a new strategy and medium.
In his approach to painting, Morrisseau assumed the drawing style from the Mide Scrolls and converted it to modern canvas. This style became known as the Woodland School of Art and has inspired the work of many subsequent Indigenous artists. Distinctive aspects of the style include: locating the action of the work within the people or figures featured, employing plain backgrounds, organically connection of figures, and bright bold use of colour with black outlines. His work came under considerable debate within Indigenous communities because many believed the sacred drawings and content of the Mide Scrolls was not intended to exist outside of the scrolls or be accessed outside of Anishinaabe circles. Morrisseau and his supporters maintain that his work is an essential process in maintaining links between cultural tradition, history and future generations.
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Person with Hat by Morrisseau, Norval |
In 1962, Morrisseau went to the Pollack Gallery in Toronto and offered to sell his painting on birch bark to owner and artist Jack Pollock. Pollock decided to commercially exhibit Morrisseau and in doing so would change the way the public understood Indigenous art and artists. This first show was a huge sensation and was followed by a long and successful public career as a contemporary artist. Between 1963 and 1993, Morrisseau’s work was displayed in twenty-two group exhibitions and twenty-five solo exhibits between 1962 and 2001. His works continued to be featured in collections internationally.
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Thunderbirds by Morrisseau, Norval |
Education
A self-taught artist, Norval would subsequently be the recipient of several honourary degrees.
Selected Exhibitions
'Norval Morrisseau and the Emergence of the Image Makers' - Art Gallery of Ontario, 1984
Canadian Museum of Civilization, Ottawa, 1991
The Drawing Center, New York, 2000
Canadian Museum of Civilization, Ottawa, 1991
The Drawing Center, New York, 2000
Collections
Art Gallery of Ontario
McMichael Gallery
National Gallery of Canada
Red Lake Regional Heritage Centre
McMichael Gallery
National Gallery of Canada
Red Lake Regional Heritage Centre
Work Cited
Seller, Amanda. “Profile of Noreval Morrisseau, (1932): Ojibwa, Artist, and Storyteller”. Ed. Newhouse, David. Hidden In Plain Sight: Contributions of Canadian Aboriginal Peoples to Canadian Identity and Culture. Toronto: University of Toronto Press Inc, 2007.
Nozhem Theatre Quilt
The intricately woven Nozhem quilt was constructed as a site specific piece for Nozhem theatre. The work is a symbolic of the theatre which operates as a bridge between Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Peoples, Two Spirited and all others, faculty and students, men and women, and the public and university populations. In the words of elder Edna Manitowabi, the "transformation" and "healing" effect of personal creative expression is of major concern, for both Indigenous and non-Indigenous student performers. The quilt honours that function of the theatre and all of the different Nations and People that work and learn within it at Trent University.
Attempts were made to visually incorporate the four people of the world and all the different Clans of the Anishinaabe People of the area. Each of the animals on the quilt honour and carry with them specific teachings that continue to instruct people who interact with the quilt.
The quilt’s process of creation was described as a metaphor for what life should be – creative, enjoyable, learning, making friendships, and engaging with one another in a good way. Under the direction of an Elder and an experienced quilter Alice Williams, a group of individuals from Indigenous Studies department, the surrounding area, and various academic disciplines through the university came together to construct the quilt over the course of a single school year. These individuals included: Joeann Argue, Chris Welter, Alice Williams, Sherri Smith, Kelly Miller, Liz Osawamick, Michele Gervais, Amanda Mishibinijma, Skye Vasey, Jeannine Crowe, Giles Benaway, and Shirley Williams.
The quilt was presented with the numbered production of Anishinaabe Maajiidwin that was presented during the year of its completion.
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| Nozhem Theatre Quilt |
Work Cited
Indigenous Studies, comp. Nozhem Theatre Quilt. Peterborough: Naadimaagewin Program. Print.
Panamick, Martin
Martin Panamick an artist born in M'Chigeeng First Nation on Manitoulin Island in 1956.
His artistic talent was recognized early, allowing him to studied art at the Manitou Summer Art program while still a teenager. Part of the second wave of Woodland School Artists, Panamick was one of the original young people who participated in 1966 in the Manitou Arts Foundation summer school on Schreiber Island. The summer program had started in response to Norval Morrisseau's artistic success in Toronto. Morrisseau's friends Daphne Odjig and Carl Ray decided to encourage young people to consider a career in the arts.
Pamamick’s works were executed as paintings, ink drawings, and silk screen prints. His designs were used as illustrations in educational material such as Why the Beaver has a Broad Tail and Ko-Ko-Ko the Owl. He saw this work as being part of larger efforts to strengthen cultural knowledge.
He also was commissioned to create images for commercial ventures such as hasty notes, calendars, and panels for the Council of Chief’s Chamber at M'Chigeeng. Martin's major acrylic works remain in various permanent collections.
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Fishermen Fishing by Panamick, Martin |
http://www.native-art-in-canada.com/martinpanamick.html
http://www.trentu.ca/admin/artcollection/htmlfinearts/2004.005.1.htm
Saggashi, Fred
Works categorized as being a highly individualistic approach to Woodland Art style.
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Unknown by Saggashi, Fred |
Selected Exhibitions
1984, Waabanda-Iwewin Northwestern Ontaio Juried Indian Art Show, Thunder Bay National Exhibition Centre and Centre for Indian Art, Ontario, Canada.
Work Cited
Shilling, Arthur
Arthur Shilling was born April 19, 1941, in the Rama First Nation near Orillia, Ontario. He studied at the New School of Art and the Ontario College of Art in Toronto; but is mostly self-taught. Shilling was fiercely independent and resisted attempts to classify him. He melded the influences of European masters into a unique expression of a deeply personal worldview that explores the Native experience in the life around him, particularly in the faces of his subjects.
His style is expressionist characterized by distinctive bold strokes of color. His medium is primarily oil on masonite or canvas, however he has also worked in pastel, watercolor and pencil. Shilling’s subjects are portraits and landscapes.
He started showing his work at the Orilla Public Library in 1963 and had his first solo show in Ottawa, Ontario in 1967. Subsequently his work has been shown in over two dozen major group and solo exhibitions as well as many commercial galleries including some of the most important in Canada.
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Self-Portrait by Shilling, Arthur |
Education
Self-taught
New School of Art
Ontario College of Art, Toronto
Self-taught
New School of Art
Ontario College of Art, Toronto
Collections
Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario
McMichael Canadian Collection, Kleinburg, Ontario
Dofasco Inc., Hamilton, Ontario
Museum of Civilization, Hull, Quebec
NOVA Corporation
Canadian Embassy, Washington, D.C., USA
DuPont Canada Inc., Toronto
Rideau Hall, Ottawa
St Michael's Hospital, Toronto
Department of Indian and Northern Affairs, Ottawa
Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto
Wilfred Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario
Imperial Oil, Toronto
Manulife Financial, Toronto
Solo ExhibitionsArt Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario
McMichael Canadian Collection, Kleinburg, Ontario
Dofasco Inc., Hamilton, Ontario
Museum of Civilization, Hull, Quebec
NOVA Corporation
Canadian Embassy, Washington, D.C., USA
DuPont Canada Inc., Toronto
Rideau Hall, Ottawa
St Michael's Hospital, Toronto
Department of Indian and Northern Affairs, Ottawa
Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto
Wilfred Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario
Imperial Oil, Toronto
Manulife Financial, Toronto
2003, 1999 Beckett Fine Art Ltd., Toronto, Ontario
1990 Columbus Centre, Toronto
1997,94,92,90 Roberts Gallery, Toronto
1986 Thunder Bay Art Gallery, Thunder Bay, Ontario
1986,83,81,80,79 Beckett Gallery, Hamilton, Ontario
1981,80 Sundance Gallery, Calgary, Alberta
1978 Nancy Poole's Studio, Toronto
1970 McIntosh Gallery, London, Ontario
1967 Tom Thomson Gallery, Owen Sound, Ontario
1966 Kitchener Waterloo Art Gallery, Kitchener, Ontario
1963,63,67 Orillia Public Library, Orillia, Ontario
Work Cited
http://www.askart.com/askart/s/arthur_shilling/arthur_shilling.aspx
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