The Drawings and Paintings of Daphne Odjig: A Retrospective Exhibition

Organized by the Art Gallery of Sudbury and the National Gallery of Canada
Curated by Bonnie Devine

February 6 - May 2, 2010

The Drawings and Paintings of Daphne Odjig: A Retrospective Exhibition features works covering a 44-year period that provide a critical and long-overdue assessment of the artist's extensive aesthetic, philosophical and cultural investigations. At the Mackenzie Art Gallery the exhibition will be comprised of over 40 works, including examples of Odjig's history and legend paintings, murals, erotica, abstractions and landscapes. They articulate the breadth of Odjig's engagement with her personal and cultural history and also trace the remarkable aesthetic development of this artist from her initial experimentation to the mastery of her media.

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, 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.

Audio Guides
Audio Guides for The Drawings and Paintings of Daphne Odjig: A Retrospective Exhibition are available free of charge and can be picked up at the MacKenzie Gallery Shop.

Events

Opening Reception
Friday, February 5 at 7:30 pm
Join us as we celebrate the opening of The Drawings and Paintings of Daphne Odjig: A Retrospective Exhibition. Meet the artist and the curator, Bonnie Devine, while exploring works of art that span Odjig's entire career. This is a free event and all are welcome to attend. There will be a cash bar.

Trailblazers: The Critical Impact of the Artist-Curator
Saturday, February 6, 2 pm - 4 pm
This panel discussion will investigate the politics and strategies connected with the emergence of Aboriginal artist-curators in the 1970's, as well as provide a critical assessment of the ongoing impact of Aboriginal curation on contemporary practice. Guest speakers include: Tom Hill, Viviane Gray, Bonnie Devine, Greg Hill. The discussion will be moderated by Dr.Carmen Robertson. Cost: Free are available free of charge at the Gallery Shop and include comments from the artist, Daphne Odjig, and the curator, Bonnie Devine.

Guest speaker biographies

Dr. Carmen Robertson is Associate Professor of Art History in the Visual Arts Department at the University of Regina. In addition to a committed teaching and publication record, she also maintains an active curatorial agenda. She recently curated Clearing a Path: New Ways of Seeing Traditional Indigenous Art with Dr. Sherry Farrell-Racette for the Saskatchewan Arts Board. Her current curatorial venture Cherished Things engages Saskatchewan’s “red” renaissance. Dr. Robertson has been an active member of the MacKenzie Art Gallery community since 2001, and is currently a board member and Chair of the Acquisitions Committee.

Viviane Gray is a member of the Mi'gmaq First Nation of Listuguj, Quebec. She has over 40 years of experience in the field of contemporary Canadian Aboriginal art as a visual artist, curator, university lecturer, writer and arts administrator. She is presently Director of the Indian and Inuit Art Centre at Indian and Northern Affairs Canada where she has been responsible for the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs Aboriginal Art Collection for the last 21 years.

Tom Hill is a Konandaha Seneca from the Six Nations of the Grand River. As a curator, writer, art historian and artist, he has played an influential role in the development of Aboriginal visual arts in Canada and internationally. The first Aboriginal art curator in Canada, he was a museum director at the Woodland Cultural Centre near Brantford, Ontario for over 20 years, producing a number of art and historical exhibitions. In 2004, he received a Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts for outstanding contributions to the visual arts in Canada.

Bonnie Devine, a member of the Serpent River First Nation of Northern Ontario (Ojibwa) is an artist, curator, writer and educator. Devine is an associate professor in the Aboriginal Visual Culture Program at the Ontario College of Art and Design, Toronto. Her most recent curatorial project, The Drawings and Paintings of Daphne Odjig: A Retrospective Exhibition, is currently touring Canada and the United States in collaboration with the Art Gallery of Sudbury and the National Gallery of Canada.

Greg Hill was born and raised in Fort Erie, Ontario, he is a Kanyen’kehaka (Mohawk) member of the Six Nations of the Grand River Territory. He is a multidisciplinary artist and the Audain Curator of Indigenous Art at the National Gallery of Canada. As the first Aboriginal curator at the NGC, his work has included major solo exhibitions for artists Norval Morrisseau (2006), the first ever for a First Nations artist at the NGC, and an upcoming solo exhibition for Carl Beam (2010) as well as numerous exhibitions of the permanent collection of Indigenous art at the National Gallery and independently curated exhibitions.

February is Family Literacy Month!
Join us to celebrate Family Literacy Month with a month-long storytelling line-up! Each Sunday will feature guest Storytellers and stories related to The Drawings and Paintings of Daphne Odjig: A Retrospective Exhibtion.

Sunday's from 2 pm to 4 pm
February 7 - Keith Bird
February 14 - Gabriel Yahyahkeekoot
February 21 - Gabriel Yahyahkeekoot
February 28 - Erroll Kinistino

Visit our event calendar to find out more about Free Family Sundays!
Family Tours – 2:30 pm
Art Workshops – 2 pm to 4 pm

Image:
Daphne Odjig
Harmony and the Universe, 1986
acrylic on canvas, 81.4 x 165.4 cm; Framed: 95.6 x 181.0 x 5.3 cm
Phillip Gevik, Gallery Gevik, Toronto

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The Drawings and Paintings of Daphne Odjig: A Retrospective Exhibition

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