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 |
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Roy Thomas |
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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.