Houle to exhibit at U of M gallery 0
By Robin Dudgeon, Portage Daily Graphic
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Robert Houle (Saulteaux b. 1947) schoolhouse from Sandy Bay Residential School Series, 2009, oilstick on paper, 58.4 x 76.2 cm, photo courtesy of the artist.
Former Sandy Bay First Nation resident Robert Houle will be exhibiting paintings and drawings at the School of Art Gallery at the University of Manitoba. The exhibit titled Robert Houle: enuhmo andúhyaun (the road home) will be opening on Sept. 6.
The exhibit will be the first in a series hosted by the gallery of prominent artists who were once associated with the School of Art.It will feature three paintings and 24 drawings from the artist’s Sandy Bay Indian Residential School Series based on memories his own residential school experiences.
He is an Anishnabe Salteaux artist who used modern and postmodern technique to bring Aboriginal history to his work, where he can tackle the lingering aspects of colonization and its postcolonial aftermath.
“The issues of reconciliation and forgiveness framed within a Judaeo-Christian heritage were counterpoints to the traditional values of letting go of conflict in order to move on,” said Houle in a press release. “Today, as someone who was punished for speaking my language, I have the privilege and the responsibility of using Ahnisnabewin proudly in the installation.”
“The power and strength embodied in these works is profound. Through a very sensitive and highly intimate approach Houle’s combination of language, images and colour leads the viewer down a road of personal inquiry and compassion,” said gallery director and curator Mary Reid in a press release.
A film by Shelley Niro will also be screened to complement the exhibit. The documentary on Robert Houle titled Robert’s Paintings will take place in October.
Houle is a member of the Sandy Bay First Nation and currently lives and works in Toronto. He received a B.A. in Art History from the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, a B.A. in Art Education from McGill University in Montreal and studied painting and drawing at the International Summer Academy of Fine Arts in Salzburg, Austria. In 2004 he was recognized by the University of Manitoba as a distinguished alumnus.
Houle has been exhibiting his work since the early 1970's and has even taken part in several important international group exhibitions. He has also spent a significant amount of his career working as a curator, including a stint as the curator of contemporary Aboriginal art at the Canadian Museum of Civilization from 1977 to 1981.
Houle has also curated or co-curated groundbreaking exhibitions such as New Work by a New Generation in connection with the World Assembly of First Nations at the Norman Mackenzie Art Gallery in Regina in 1982; Land Spirit Power: First Nations at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa in 1992, and Mutiplicities at the Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia in 1993-1994.
The Robert Houle: enuhmo andúhyaun (the road home) exhibit will open with a reception on Sept. 6 from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., which Houle will be in attendance for. The exhibit will then be open to the public from Sept. 7 to Oct. 12, 2012. The gallery is open from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday to Friday. Admission is free.
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