September 15, 2007 - November 11, 2007
Organized by the Art Gallery of Sudbury and the National Gallery of Canada
Curated by Bonnie Devine
About the Exhibition
In
bringing together 40 years of Daphne Odjig’s paintings and drawings, this
retrospective exhibition facilitates a long overdue critical assessment of
Daphne Odjig’s extensive aesthetic, philosophical and cultural investigations
during the last decades of the twentieth century. Examples of her contribution
to the early Woodland School are contrasted with the lyricism of her colour
work in the 1980’s and the sharp political content of her large history
paintings. The years within which these works were created represent a complex
watershed in the cultural and political history of the First Nations in
Canada. Odjig’s experimentation with numerous genres and styles and her
determination to give voice to a particular political reality, make her an
uncommon vehicle for an examination of our country and ourselves.
Born in 1919 in Wikwemikong, on Manitoulin Island, Daphne Odjig was instrumental, along with a handful of Anishnabe artists in the 1960’s, in bringing to public prominence the pictorial style now known as the Woodland School. A member of the Order of Canada, Miss Odjig has achieved national and international recognition and holds Honourary Doctorate degrees from the University of Toronto and Laurentian University in addition to an Aboriginal Achievement Award.
About the Symposium. October 12,13 & 14 2007-Sudbury, Ontario
A symposium of aboriginal artists, curators, critics, historians and scholars, entitled Witness, is scheduled to coincide with the formal opening reception of the exhibition. It will utilize 40 years of Daphne Odjig’s paintings as a backdrop and inspiration for a series of discussions and lectures addressing critical issues in contemporary First Nations Art.
A primary focus of our discussions will naturally be to recount (and
account for) the re-emergence of an ancient Algonkian pictorial tradition in
the region of the Canadian Shield in the mid twentieth century. Another
significant trajectory to be mapped is the continuing influence of the
Woodland Painters on the philosophical and aesthetic development of First
Nations art practice in Ontario and Canada - an historical and critical
locating of our traditions, whether within Modernist, Post Modernist,
feminist, colonial and neo colonial discourses - or outside them. Most
importantly, we wish to create a forum for the sharing and exchange of current
practices, new directions in curatorial and critical issues, obstacles and
developments, recognizing that while Aboriginal artistic expression in all
media is expanding daily, the development of Aboriginal critical discourse is
less visible.
$40 + GST, Students $20 + GST
All are welcome to attend.
