Contemporary Native Art

Summary of Lee Ann Martin’s

“Contemporary First Nations Art Since 1970”

Katana Barnett
Laurence Paul Yuxweluptun An Indian Shooting the Indian Act

The Indian Act is what determines who is and who is not a First Nations person in Canada- the
Department of Indian Affairs decides whether or not I count. Despite many amendments, it is
broken, oppressive, discriminatory, racist. At least First Nations get to be Canadian Citizens- since
1960!! (The Indian Act showed up in 1876, just for a point of reference).

1983- Yuxweluptan graduates from Emily Carr

Alex Janvier Morning Star

Alex Janvieer, Bill Reid, and Norval Morrisseau were three key artists prior to the 1970’s who
challenged popular notions of Indianness and the Federal Government. These three artists
participated in Expo 67, where First Nations art became symbolic of Canadian Nationalism.

The 1970’s gave rise to heightened cultural, political, and artistic activity.
Alex Janvier Where the Big Fish Live

K’san of the Gitanmaax (Kitanmax) School of Northwest Coast Indian Art School of
Northwest Coast Indian Art

1967
Artist’s training program to revitalize Nisga’a art and cultural traditions

Students of note:

Doreen Jensen
Dempsey Bob
Freda Diesling

1983- 3rd National Native Indian Artists Symposium at K’san leads to Society of Canadian
Artists of Native Ancestry for recognition of Contemporary First Nations Art
Bill Reid Gold and Fossilized Ivory Bracelet

Bill Reid was the first native artist to be recognized with a one-person retrospective at the VAG.
He is credited with a large part of the renaissance of Coast-Salish art, and was a teacher and mentor
to many Coast-Salish artists. He used to be a CBC radio personality and did not know he was First
Nations until he was an adult.
Norval Morrisseau Standing Brave

The Professional Native Indian Artists Incorporation, better known as the Indian Group of Seven,
was a group of professional Indian artist from Canada, founded in November 1973.

The group consisted of Daphne Odjig, Alex Janvier, Jackson Beardy, Eddy Cobiness, Norval
Morrisseau, Carl Ray and Joseph Sanchez
Norval Morrisseau Psychic Space
Daphne Odjig Potawatomi

1970/74 Daphne Odjig opens small arts store, then Warehouse gallery- Cree artist Jackson Beardy
and Eddy Cobiness discuss federal government’s concerning marketing strategies regarding First
Nations art. Joined by Alex Janvier, Norval Morrisseau, Carl Ray, and Joseph Sanchez

1985- Daphne Odjig: A Retrospective at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery

2007 Daphne Odjig touring retrospective, Drawings and Paintings of Daphne Odjig

2007- Odjig and Janvier receive Govenor General’s Award

Robert Davidson’s Totem Pole

1969- Robert Davidson carves and raises totem pole in Masset- the first in fifty years
Bob Boyer

Ind[ian] art program

1972- Sarain Stump is instrumental in creating the program at the Sask. Indian Cultural College in
Saskatoon.

Influencing
Bob Boyer
Edward Poitras
Gerald McMaster
Edward Poitras Internal Recall

1982- Edward Poitras built an art practice that intersects with the history of nearly every important
exhibition of contemporary Aboriginal art after 1982

1995- Edward Poitras represents Canada at the 46th Venice Biennale- curated by Gerald McMaster
Gerald McMaster Counting Coup

1981- Gerald McMaster becomes 2nd curator of Contemporary Indian Art at the National Museum
of Man (Cdn Museum of Civilization) contemporary Indian Art becomes a priority area of
collecting.

1992, Martin cocurated, with Gerald McMaster, the internationally travelling exhibition
INDIGENA: Perspectives of Indigenous Peoples on 500 Years.
Jackson Beardy Life Cycles

1972- visionary Winnipeg exhibition ”Treaty numbers 23,287,1171: Three Indian Painters of the
Prairies”
Jackson Beardy
Alex Janvier
Daphne Odjig

at the Winnipeg Art Gallery.

a reference to the treaty numbers that the Canadian government gave to the indigenous groups
which they had concluded treaties.

resulted in "Professional Native Indian Artists Association” in 1973. This is better known as the
"Indian Group of Seven”, This group combined forces to promote their work into the world of
western art.
Eddy Cobiness Mallard Family

He belonged to the “Woodland School of Art” the “Indian Group of Seven”.

He was a graphic designer who began drawing pictures of birds in sand, snow or on cardboard, in
his childhood. In the 1950s, during his military service years, he discovered working in
watercolour.
Carl Ray Birds Taking Flight

Considered primarily a Woodlands Style artist, he also painted European style wildlife and
landscapes. He was a founding member of the Indian Group of Seven.

He apprenticed under Norval Morrisseau and worked on the mural for the Indians of Canada
Pavilion of Expo ’67 in Montreal. Norval had designed and sketched the mural but it was Carl who
did most of the work and was left to finish it. Unfortunately this masterpiece is lost as it was left to
fall into disrepair and was eventually demolished years later.

Described by fellow painter Alex Janvier: “Carl Ray was the guy who could laugh, make fun of
you, throw a joke on you and he’d laugh his head off"
Patricia Deadman There are no Tipis in Hull
Jeff Thomas Father and Daughter Broadview Avenue, Toronto

“You won't find a definition for 'urban Iroquois' in any dictionary or anthropological publication-
-it is this absence that informs my work as a photo-based artist, researcher, independent curator,
cultural analyst and public speaker. My study of Indian-ness seeks to create an image bank of my
urban-Iroquois experience, as well as re-contextualize historical images of First Nations people
for a contemporary audience. Ultimately, I want to dismantle long entrenched stereotypes and
inappropriate caricatures of First Nations people. “

-Jeff Thomas
Allen Sapp-

1994 MacKenzie Art Gallery

KISKAYETUM- Allen Sapp a retrospective (curated by Lee-Ann Martin and Bob Boyer) This
was the first critical evaluation of Allen Sapp’s body of work within a public gallery.

Kiskayetum (“he knows/perceives it”), the name given to Sapp by his grandmother.
Greg Staats Untitled
Carl Beam Sitting Bull and Whale

1989- Beyond History at the VAG featured Carl Beam Bob Boyer Joane Cardinal-Schubert,
Domingo Cisneros, Robert Joule. Mike MacDonald, Ron Noganosh, Edward Poitras, Jane Ash
Poitras
Rebecca Belmore, Fountain

1988- The Spirit Sings: Artistic Traditions of Canada’s First People sparks controversy for its
stereotypical romantic presentation of First Nations cultural heritage. Rebecca Belmore emerges
with Artifact #671B

2005- Rebecca Belmore represents Canada at 51st Venice Biennale with Fountain

2010 Rebecca Belmore is being sued by gallery- performs Worth (– Statement of Defence), in front
of Vancouver Art Gallery and quits art.
KC ADAMS “F.A.S.” Cyborg Hybrid Jodi (photographer & writer)

1990’s Political events- massive land claims in BC, ONT, Yukon. James Bay hydroelectric project,
Meech Lake Accord,

1990- OKA Crises

Mary Anne Barkhouse Some Like It Shot

Descendant of Ellen Neel, Mungo Martin.

current show Game at the Urban Shaman Gallery in Winnipeg, MB now.
S
Terrance Houle

http://www.firstvisionart.com/tania/terrance.html
Kent Monkman The Triumph of Mischief
Brian Jungen Prototypes for a New Understanding

2002- Brian Jungen awarded Sobey Art Award for First Nations references with framework of
global economies, valus, and aesthetics.