- September 29, 2016
The Faculty of Media, Art, and Performance & University of Manitoba Press invites you to join us for the launch of Carmen L. Robertson’s Mythologizing Norval Morrisseau.
When: Thursday, September 29, 4:00 – 5:30 p.m.
Where: Crush Space, Riddell Centre, University of Regina.
Cost: FREE
Introduction by Randy Lundy. Light refreshments provided.
About the Book
Mythologizing Norval Morrisseau examines the complex identities assigned to Anishinaabe artist Norval Morrisseau. Was he an uneducated artist plagued by alcoholism and homelessness? Was Morrisseau a shaman artist who tapped a deep spiritual force? Or was he simply one of Canada’s most significant artists? Carmen L. Robertson charts both the colonial attitudes and the stereotypes directed at Morrisseau and other Indigenous artists in Canada’s national press. Robertson also examines Morrisseau’s own shaping of his image.
An internationally known and award-winning artist from a remote area of northwestern Ontario, Morrisseau founded an art movement known as Woodland Art developed largely from Indigenous and personal creative elements. Still, until his retrospective exhibition at the National Gallery of Canada in 2006, many Canadians knew almost nothing about Morrisseau’s work.
Using discourse analysis methods, Robertson looks at news stories, magazine articles, and film footage, ranging from Morrisseau’s first solo exhibition at Toronto’s Pollock Gallery in 1962 until his death in 2007 to examine the cultural assumptions that have framed Morrisseau.
About the Speakers
Randy Lundy is a member of the Barren Lands (Cree) First Nation, Brochet, MB. Born in Thompson, Northern Manitoba, he has lived most of his life in Saskatchewan. He grew up near Hudson Bay, SK, just a stone’s throw from the confluence of the Fir, Etamomi, and Red Deer Rivers. He has published two books of poetry, Under the Night Sun and Gift of the Hawk. 2016 will see the publication of a third book of poems, Blackbird Song. Randy teaches Indigenous literatures and creative writing in the English Department at Campion College, University of Regina.
Carmen L. Robertson is a Lakota/Scottish professor of art history at University of Regina. She also maintains an active curatorial practice. Robertson is the co-author of Seeing Red: A History of Natives in Canadian Newspapers.
