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| Canadian Artists from World War II to the Present: A Survey | ||
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Introduction :: Pre-Contact Traditions :: Post-Contact First Nations Art: An Overview :: Arctic/Inuit Traditional Arts :: Arctic/Inuit Modern and Contemporary Arts :: Plains :: West Coast :: Eastern Woodlands :: Other Selected Contemporary First Nations Artists :: Additional Resources for First Nations Artists in Canada :: HOME
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| Eastern Woodlands | ||
| In the Eastern Woodlands, a significant school was established by Daphne Odjig (b. 1919), and, a generation later, Norval Morrisseau (b. 1932). Today there are many artists working in the instantly recognizable school established by these artists. Daphne Odjig (b. 1919) Odjig was born 1919 in the village of Wikwemikong, on Manitoulin Island in Georgian Bay, the principal town in one of largest native reserves in Ontario, more than 165 square miles. She grew up in close-knit family of hard-working farmers. Her heritage includes Potawatomi, Odawa, and English roots. Many of her early memories were of shared chores with her four sisters and brothers. She was drawn to art early, and left her reserve by 1938 to explore world outside. She experienced prejudice and unpleasant reminders that Indians were second-class citizens. As the Calgary artist Joanne Cardinal-Shubert was said to have remarked later, in a different context, "prejudiced people don’t ask whether you are part-native." By1967 Odjig had solo shows in Lakehead Art Centre, Port Arthur, Ont. Thereafter many solo and group exhibitions, exploring themes of family, spirituality, and native pride. She opened her own gallery, in 1970, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, devoted to native arts. Commenting on her cultural identity, she once remarked: "I have a lot of feeling about my dreams...when I had a show, "Time Passages," in 1979, the time passages didn’t involve today’s living, but the time I passed in another world, the caves I say I’m frequently in. I love delving into something that’s beyond seeing. To me there’s another dimensions to our lives...there’s what I call the ‘invisible line.’ If you can see past this line you can imagine all sorts of other things. I love to sketch these feelings and the ideas I have. I’m very much a part of the past, that’s where I draw a lot of my inspiration. .... "I think I live in two worlds at the same time. I don’t talk about these things, only to Indian people, really. Because other people don’t understand, they think you’re a real kook. Basically, by nature, Indian people are shy and they won’t relate a lot of things to certain people because they know the person’s not going to understand. It’s hard for me to talk about what’s in my paintings because they don’t understand...how do you express in words feelings that you feel inside? I express the feelings in my paintings, but not in words. Genocide No. 1 1971 (National Gallery of Canada) Acrylic on board 61 x 76 cm Purchased 2001 As this painting’s title suggests, while some of Odjig’s art shows traditional subjects, she did not shy away from confronting injustices and prejudices. The title reinforces the point that aboriginal peoples in Canada continue to suffer from discrimination and a lack of appropriate education and professional opportunities.  Norval Morrisseau (b. 1932) The Ojibwa artist Norval Morrisseau was born on Sandy Point Reserve in Ontario. According to one website on the artist, "Norval Morrisseau was the celebrated founder of the Woodland School, which revitalized Anishnabe iconography, traditionally incised on rocks and Midewiwin birchbark scrolls. A self-taught painter, printmaker, and illustrator, Morrisseau created an innovative vocabulary which was initially criticized in the Native community for its disclosure of traditional spiritual knowledge. His colourful, figurative images delineated with heavy black formlines and x-ray articulations, were characteristically signed with the syllabic spelling of Copper Thunderbird, the name Morrisseau’s grandfather gave him." Morrisseau was a member of the secret Midaywewin Society of the Ojibwa, with their sacred animal, the bear (If Ojibwa meet a bear, they address him as "Our grandfather to all of us, the Ojibway."). A student of shamanism, he believes that spiritual balance gives strength to his work. He recounted the legends that he had grown up with in Legends of my People; criticized by many for having revealed secrets of his culture. Morrisseau quickly gained a following in mainstream culture, and became widely admired: as early as 1962, he held a sold-out solo shows in Toronto. He had a difficult personal life, which included descents into alcoholism. In recent years, however, published reports indicate that he is enjoying a quiet retirement on Canada’s West Coast. Untitled (Shaman) 1971 (National Gallery of Canada) Acrylic on paper, mounted on hardboard 130.7 x 89.7 cm Gift of Audrey and Gary Kilpatrick, Rainy River, Ontario, 2000 As in this work, the typical subject matter of Morrisseau’s paintings is almost invariably legendary, showing powerful shamans connecting with spiritual beings. Shamans and healers are present as well, combining the forces of the land with the forces of the human world. In other works, one sees human mothers and half-bear children, the spirits of caribou, mermen and rulers of the waters; sometimes, Morrisseau memorably merges Christian with traditional imagery, such as Portrait of the Artist as Jesus Christ (1966). Also present in his work are animals that make up the everyday world, such as loons, owls, frogs, and turtles, each of which is rendered in remarkably individualistic manner. Morrisseau’s style is characterized by heavy black lines and bright colours. Some call it "x-ray art," but this is a non-native term. It is better to understand his style as being influnced by Ojibwa bark scroll paintings and rock paintings with 20th century painting techniques. The lines radiating from the animals and the shamans are sybolic of supernatural power: "Lines radiating from a figure of a man are meant to imply power," he has observed. |
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Introduction :: Pre-Contact Traditions :: Post-Contact First Nations Art: An Overview :: Arctic/Inuit Traditional Arts :: Arctic/Inuit Modern and Contemporary Arts :: Plains :: West Coast :: Eastern Woodlands :: Other Selected Contemporary First Nations Artists :: Additional Resources for First Nations Artists in Canada :: HOME
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