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.

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

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

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

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

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, Solo Exhibition, Robert Davidson:The Abstract Edge, McMichael Gallery, Toronto, On

Work Cited

http://www.robertdavidson.ca/  

http://www.alcheringa-gallery.com/artists.html/v1/view/v3/42/

http://www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/en/info/pressreleases/119z15.html

http://coghlanart.com/robert.htm

http://www.trentu.ca/admin/artcollection/htmlfinearts/2001.001.1-2.htm

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.



Nozhem Theatre Quilt



Work Cited

http://www.scene4.com/archivesqv6/jun-2010/0610/nedbobkoff0610.html

Indigenous Studies, comp. Nozhem Theatre Quilt. Peterborough: Naadimaagewin Program. Print.

Thomas, Roy

Roy Thomas is an Anishinaabe artist who resided in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Without any formal training, Thomas cited the spirit of Anishinaabe elders and art as his teachers.

In the 1980s, art critics linked him with "the younger generation" of Woodland artists after Norval Morriseau and Daphne Odjig in a period bridged by Carl Ray. His strength lay in his design ability and his bold use of line and color. While his work has been classified as a Woodland style of art of bold colourations framed by black form lines, the focus of his pieces have always stressed content over style. He painted his experiences of the traditional cultural stories told to him by his grandparents. Thomas believed that his grandmother's spirit was present with him while he painted, and honoured her by signing his works with a small crow, the name she had given him.

He had numerous one-man exhibitions and participated in several group shows around the world. His work is represented in major Aboriginal Art Collections across Canada and in the US, Europe and Japan.

"Orange Bird, Big and Little"
by
Thomas, Roy

Education

Primarily Self-Taught

Exhibitions

Pollock Gallery (solo shows) 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980
The Image Makers, Art Gallery of Ontario, 1984
Thunder Bay Art Gallery (solo shows) 1983, 1989, 1991
Maslak McLeod Gallery, 1994
Royal Ontario Museum, 1996

Collections

National Gallery of Canada
Art Gallery of Ontario
Canadian Museum of Civilization, Ottawa
McMichael Canadian Collection, Kleinburg
Other major collections across Canada, the US, Europe and Japan.

Work Cited

http://www.maslakmcleod.com/painting/Roy-Thomas.html

http://www.native-art-in-canada.com/roy_thomas.html

http://www.bearclawgallery.com/Paintings.aspx?ArtistID=20

http://www.ahnisnabae-art.com/roy-thomas.html