Beyond Recognition: Aboriginal Abstractions

Curated by Michelle McGeogh 

June 8 – August 4, 2019

Gallery A

Touchstones Nelson: Museum of Art and History brings Beyond Recognition: Aboriginal Abstractions to Nelson this summer, an exhibition that adds another chapter to the story of Indigenous art in the Pacific Northwest and across the country.

The art showcased in Beyond Recognition was created by 11 artists past and present; from across the country and spanning decades. Bob Boyer, Benjamin Chee Chee, Robert Houle, Alex Janvier, Katia KaK’wa Kurtness, Ann McLean, Kimowan Metchewais, Susan Point, Rick Rivet, Helen Wassegijig and Linus Woods are renowned, celebrated artists using the canvas to open dialogue and contribute to the evolving idea of Aboriginal Art in North America.

“Although these artists’ practice is seen as being informed by abstract expressionism, the narrative role this genre takes on in the hands of Aboriginal artists transforms it into a truly North American Aboriginal art form that pays homage to its Indigenous roots.” (excerpt, Michelle McGeogh)

Michelle McGeough is an Assistant Professor at the University of British Columbia, and is an Indigenous art historian, artist and curator who focuses on Indigenous cultural production and research methods.

The exhibition is on loan from the Indigenous Art Centre and the Collection of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada.

Medium of Exchange

Brenda Draney

Gallery B

June 8 – August 4, 2019

Memory is vital to our understanding of our lives, yet flawed, misremembered and coloured with individual experience. Forgotten and confused details are what create the absence of content in Brenda Draney’s artistic style. Draney’s exhibition Medium of Exchange is a beautiful example of the illusory nature of her work, which will be on exhibit at Touchstones Nelson: Museum of Art and History this summer.

Brenda Draney is Cree from Sawridge First Nation, Treaty 8, with a strong connection to Slave Lake. Her work is collected and shown across Canada including the National Gallery of Canada, the Embassy of Canada Art Gallery, the Art Gallery of Alberta, the Sobey Collection, and the Shorefast Foundation. She shows in Banff, Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, and Ottawa. She won both the 2009 RBC Painting Competition and 2014’s Eldon and Anne Foote Visual Arts Prize in Edmonton and was short listed for the 2016 Sobey Art Award at the National Gallery of Canada.