NATIONAL ABORIGINAL DAY 2017 Alex Janvier an inspiration to all Canadians
As Canada celebrates its 150th anniversary, and on the eve of National Aboriginal Day, the MacKenzie Art Gallery is featuring an exhibition to “inspire all Canadians.” Alex Janvier: Modern Indigenous Master is currently on tour for the National Gallery of Canada and is making its first stop outside of Ottawa in Regina. The career retrospective is the first to showcase more than five decades of the artist’s paintings and drawings, spanning from early in his career in the 1960s to the present day. It consists of more than 100 of his most impressive works, drawn from public and private collections across Canada, and features his best-known pieces alongside those that rarely have been seen.
“Alex Janvier is one of our most important and innovative artists nationally. He’s had a long and rich career. This is a rare opportunity to see his work – work over several decades – gathered together in one place for the public to view and enjoy his journey as an artist,” said Anthony Kiendl, executive director and CEO of the Mackenzie Art Gallery.
The retrospective is important for everyone. “This is an exhibition for all Canadians, not just the art community, not just Indigenous people. It conveys a unique vision that is distinct, one of kind around the world,” said Kiendl. And, it’s not only the work of the artist that inspires; Janvier’s history is also motivating.
Born of Dene Suline and Saulteaux descent in 1935, Janvier was raised in the nurturing care of his family until the age of eight when he was uprooted from his home and sent to the Blue Quills Indian Residential School near St. Paul, Alta. Although he speaks of having a creative instinct from as far back as he can remember, it was at the residential school that Janvier was given the tools to create his first paintings. Unlike many Aboriginal artists of his time, Janvier received formal art training from the Alberta College of Art in Calgary and graduated with honours in 1960. Immediately after graduation, he took up an opportunity to instruct art at the University of Alberta.
“We should be so proud that he is from here – from Western Canada – and he’s gone through so many challenges in his life and especially with the residential school, and art school and college. He has shown such resiliency and single-mindedness vision that’s an inspiration for all Canadians,” Kiendl said.
As a member of the commonly referred to “Indian Group of Seven,” Janvier is considered one of the significant pioneering Aboriginal artists in Canada, and has influenced generations of Aboriginal artists. By virtue of his art, Janvier was selected to represent Canada in a Canadian/Chinese Cultural Exchange in 1985. Although he has completed several murals nationally, Janvier speaks of the 450 m2 Morning Star at the Canadian Museum of Civilization as a major highlight in his career. In January 2004, one of Janvier’s works was displayed in Paris, France at the Canadian Forum on Cultural Enterprise. In recognition of his success, Janvier recently received three prestigious Lifetime Achievement Awards from the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation, The Tribal Chiefs Institute, and Cold Lake First Nations. In perhaps the greatest tribute, the Janvier Gallery opened on the Cold Lake First Nation in 2012.
“He is based in our neighbouring province of Alberta and was part of the groundbreaking professional Artists Incorporated that came out of Winnipeg in the 1970s and so his work really r esonates with the Plains and Western Canada and the Indigenous communities, obviously,” said Kiendl.
The exhibition, which runs until Sept. 10, is the first showing outside Ottawa. “We’re the first venue outside of Ottawa – the first venue in Western Canada. It’s a rare opportunity in that it will be the only stop in Saskatchewan. It’s a great opportunity for the province,” he said.
Kiendl credits the National Gallery of Canada with making the retrospective possible. “The National Gallery has a lot of resources that are unique to put in the research to produce the publication and the touring exhibition.”
The MacKenzie, which Kiendl said is “actively involved in thinking about reconciliation” in light of the findings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, has received funding for a large-scale Indigenous public artwork to be unveiled outdoors on the gallery grounds in spring of 2018. On National Aboriginal Day, tomorrow, the gallery will have an information table set up in Regina’s Victoria Park, followed by a series of lectures and film screenings. Information is available at www.mackenzieartgallery.ca.