Museum of Civilization to celebrate ”grandmother of Canadian Native art”
October 9, 2007 |
Museum of Civilization to celebrate “grandmother of Canadian Native art”
Gatineau, Quebec, October 9, 2007 — The Canadian Museum of Civilization will honour one of Canada’s most influential living artists next year with a major retrospective. Daphne Odjig: Four Decades of Prints, on view from January 18 to April 20, 2008, will be a rare chance to see how this Aboriginal artist’s uniquely expressive work has evolved since the 1960s.
Ms. Odjig, who turned 88 on September 11, has enjoyed a flourishing career and worldwide recognition thanks to a distinctive style that interprets Native themes through a Cubist lens. Daphne Odjig: Four Decades of Prints will feature 95 prints that illustrate the transformation of her art from its dynamic, politically charged roots to softer, more lyrical forms. Throughout, her work has stood out thanks to its graceful curves, strong outlines, overlapping shapes and exquisite colour.
“Daphne Odjig was not only instrumental in the development of contemporary Aboriginal art, but she continues to contribute to the ongoing narrative of Canadian cultural history,” said Dr. Victor Rabinovitch, President and CEO of the Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation. “In addition to the historic past documented in our First Peoples Hall, the Museum of Civilization offers visitors a modern perspective on Native culture through contemporary art exhibitions like Daphne Odjig: Four Decades of Prints and In My Lifetime, which is now on view.”
Odjig, who was born on the Wikwemikong Reserve on Manitoulin Island, Ontario, to a Potawatomi father and a British war-bride mother, is a recipient of the Order of Canada. This year, she also won a Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts. Her groundbreaking work helped launch an Aboriginal cultural revival in the 1960s and 1970s that also brought fame to fellow members of the Woodland school of art, including Norval Morrisseau and Carl Ray. Together, their sophisticated, dramatic style transformed the perception of Aboriginal painting from ethnographic craft to fine art.
Daphne Odjig is known as much for her large, vibrant prints as she is for her paintings and monumental murals, including the stunning The Indian in Transition (1978), which is on permanent display at the Canadian Museum of Civilization.
Daphne Odjig: Four Decades of Prints is organized and circulated by the Kamloops Art Gallery, with the financial support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Department of Canadian Heritage’s Museums Assistance Program.
Media Information:
Chief, Media Relations
Canadian Museum of Civilization
Tel.: 819 776-7167
Media Relations Officer
Canadian Museum of Civilization
Tel.: 819 776-7169
Fax: 819 776-7187
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