Woodland Indian and First Nations Art :: Gallery Phillip

Ahmoo Angeconeb	Cecil Youngfox	Jackson Beardy
Leland Bell	Benjamin Chee Chee	Eddy Cobiness
Blake Debassige	Goyce Kakegamic	Joshim Kakegamic
Roy Kakegamic	Morley Kakepetum	Norman Knott
Jim Logan	Clifford Maracle	Norval Morrisseau
Maxine Noel	Daphne Odjig	Saul Williams
Carl Ray	Michael Robinson	James Simon
Roy Thomas	Sinclair Sabourin	Clemence Wescoupe

Indigenous First Nations Art - A Background History

Indigenous First Nations art in Canada was first recognized as Anishinaabe painting among Great Lakes tribes, notably the Ojibwe. The style was also known as Woodlands, Medicine or Legend Painting.

This style was founded by Norval Morrisseau, a First Nations Ojibwe artist from northern Ontario, Canada. He learned Ojibwe history and culture primarily from his grandfather Moses "Potan" Nanakonagos and later collected traditional narratives from his tribe in the 1950's. This oral history provided subject matter for his paintings, and he drew upon dreams and visions. Morrisseau said, "all my painting and drawing is really a continuation of the shaman's scrolls." Ojibwe rock art and birch bark scrolls, Wiigwaasabak, were stylistic antecedents of the Woodlands style.

This visionary style emphasizes outlines and x-ray views of people, animals, and plant life. Colors are vivid, even garish. While Morrisseau painted on birch bark initially, the media of Woodland style tend to be western, such as acrylic, gouache, or watercolor paints on paper, wood panels, or canvas.

Note: indicates the piece has been sold.

Daphne Odjig, Canadian Indigenous Artist and Icon Dies at 97. Click here for more details.

Odjig is frequently referred to as the "Grandmother of Indigenous Art." She has been the recipient of many awards, honours and recognitions for her works, to name a few: The Order of Canada, the Governor General's Award, and eight Honorary Doctorates. Her works have been shown in the National Gallery of Canada, The McMichael Canadian Art Collection, the Canadian Museum of Civilization and the Art Gallery of Ontario.

She established the first native-run fine art print house in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1971. Known as 'Odjig Indian Prints,' this print house was so successful that it evolved into an Indigenous gallery space in 1974, called the New Warehouse Gallery, run by Odjig and her husband, Chester Beavon. She was also a founding member of the Indian Group of Seven. This artistic group's purpose was to promote Contemporary Indigenous art and artists.

Alex Janvier's major retrospective, "Alex Janvier: Modern Indigenous Master" is now open at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinburg, Ontario until January 21st, 2018. Afterwards, it will travel to the Beaverbrook Art Gallery in Fredericton and the Glenbow Museum in Calgary.

This exhibition was recently on display at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa and the MacKenzie Art Gallery in Regina. Alex Janvier is one of Canada's most acclaimed contemporary artists. His career of sixty-five years has yielded thousands of paintings, and more than twenty-five murals and public commissions. (Photo credit: Kim Griffiths)

Gallery Gevik congratulates renowned Canadian and International abstract painter, Rita Letendre, on her first major museum retrospective exhibition outside of Québec. Rita Letendre: Fire and Light is now open until September 17, 2017 at the Art Gallery of Ontario.

This exhibition, which covers Letendre's career from the 1960's to 2000's, is co-curated by Wanda Nanibush and Georgiana Uhlyarik. The retrospective features nearly forty large-scale paintings drawn from major national public and private collections.

Letendre was widely exhibited with the artistic groups, Les Automatistes and Les Plasticiens. She has received the Governor General's Award in Visual Arts, the Prix Paul-Émile Borduas, and the Orders of Canada, Ontario and Québec. Click here for more details.