6 posts tagged “painting”

Where has the time gone? This winter hasn't seen a lot of painting, you know, the usual excuses of having a job, family, small tiny house, etc etc. not leaving much time or will for art-making. ... but it still happens on a small scale. However, it's all good (especially with all the running, hiking and snowshoeing that got done). 

I've recently had the good fortune to have works bought for a couple of major collections. The Glenbow Museum purchased Big Rivers (2006) from its exhibition Honouring Tradition, and the Alberta Foundation for the Arts purchased Magpie (2006) and two paintings from the Constellations Series entitled Island and Mainland (2006), and Mini Sosa (2008).

Mini Sosa

Mini Sosa was completed last summer, featuring the Indigenous communities and populations of the upper Missouri River (Mini Sosa in Lakota).

Big Rivers

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Last evening the Glenbow Museum in Calgary hosted the opening celebration of Honouring Tradition: Reframing Native Art, featuring over 200 works of art by traditional and contemporary artists such as Joane Cardinal-Schubert, Robert Houle, Frederick MacDonald, Gerald Tailfeathers, and White Wolf, just to name a few. It was good to meet up with friends and meet new people, and the Glenbow always puts on a good opening! The exhibition itself is amazing, and extensive. I'm thinking that a second, more leisurely visit is definitely in order. Respect, thanks, and congrats to the curators and staff at the museum.

My painting, Big Rivers, is included in the show and exhibition catalogue. Honouring Traditions is on view through to July 13, 2008. Go check it out!

Ksisaskatchewan

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I'm proud to announce that INAC's Indian Art Centre in Ottawa has updated their collection with the purchase of Ksisaskatchewan from the Constellations Series of paintings.

Ksisaskatchewan celebrates Indigenous presence in what are currently the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. Modern urban, rural, and rez populations are highlighted in Cree, Blackfoot, Tsuu T'ina, Ktunaxa, Nakoda, Dunne-za, Metis, Saulteaux, Denesuline, Nakota and Dakota countries.

Ksisaskatchewan is the fourth Canadien painting to be added to the INAC collection. See their website at www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/art/art

Chinook Illahee

Chinook Illahee
from the Constellations Series
Copyright Bruno Canadien 2006
Acrylic, pencil, on canvas
20" x 24" x 2"

This painting features what is now Oregon and Washington states in northwestern U.S.A., with the lower Columbia and Snake rivers dominating. As there are many indigenous nations and cultural groups in this area, it was hard to come up with a title which would fittingly describe the country as a whole. Also, I could not find an indigenous name for the one feature that unifies the area, the Columbia River. In the end, I settled upon Chinook Illahee, which means Chinook Country, in the Jargon which was widely spoken in the northwest.

As in all of the Constellations paintings, the stars denote contemporary Native communities and populations, including reservation, rural, urban and suburban communities. The names on the left are Tribes.

Dakota Cities

Acrylic paint and old found maps of North and South Dakota cities are collaged onto this canvas celebrating Native American presence in the Dakotas. The Tribes in these states include several Lakota and Dakota tribes; Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara; and Anishnabe (Chippewa). Many other First Nations are also represented in the overall population.

The cities in this painting are: Bismark (1,884 Native population out of 55,532); Fargo (1,326 /88,809); Moorhead (625 /32,177); Rapid City (6,046 /59,607); Sioux City (2,627 /123,975). (U.S. Census figures)

After a couple of weeks of intermittent evening work, this painting was completed two days ago. The ribbon work was the most time-consuming.

Dakota Cities has been listed on brunocanadien.etsy.com

My main body of work, the Freedom Fighter Series of paintings, expresses contemporary resistance to colonial governments and trans-national corporations in our homelands. This series is evidence of the fact that, headlines or not, thousands of Indian nations and millions of Native People continue to assert themselves in their traditional territories. These paintings acknowledge and honour our people, as they continue their traditions and work towards their goals. The Freedom Fighter series makes the declaration that our nations, our peoples, exist here and everywhere in the 21st century.

The paintings are, from left to right, Secwepemc Territory (2003, collection Alberta Foundation for the Arts); Mountain Parks (2003, collection AFA); Jurisdiction (2003, collection Indian Art Centre); Canada XV (2003, collection artist).

The adorned 12 x 12 inch square canvas format has evolved over the years to reflect Plains and Dene visual history as well as Modernist and Powwow aesthetics. Many other ideas have developed out of the process of creating these works, such as the Red & White Series, the Constellations Series, and other individual works.

The Freedom Fighter Series is ongoing and currently over forty pieces strong.