The painter with the pen: UCalgary alum claims Métis space in the art world – UCalgary News
Jan. 31, 2023
New Nickle Galleries exhibition highlights David Garneau’s remarkable expression of ideas and history
“My people will sleep for one hundred years. When they awake it will be the artists who give them their spirit back.” (quote attributed to Louis Riel, Métis leader)
In 1997, a Calgary-based painter was invited to submit a work of art to the Alberta Biennial. He wanted to create something playful and ironic that engaged his interests in history and popular depictions of masculinity. So he created a eight-page comic “book” that covers 33 feet of wall space.
How the West Was bursts with classic pop Western iconography and marks David Garneau’s “coming out” as a Métis artist. How the West Was is one of 53 artworks featured in Métissage, an exhibition of Garneau’s work curated by Mary-Beth Laviolette. The exhibition opens Feb. 2 in Nickle Galleries.
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