Red Lake hosts Morrisseau exhibit

The Red Lake Museum in northwestern Ontario is hosting an exhibit of the works of Norval Morrisseau, a self-taught artist of Ojibwa ancenstry.

The exhibit, called “Norval Morrisseau: The Red Lake Years,” is a collection of locally owned Morrisseau art that celebrates the region’s cultural history.

“[Morrisseau] is a major figure in Canadian art, and we want to celebrate our own,” says the museum’s curator, Michele Alderton. “It’s a celebration of the gift he gave our area and our country as well.”

Morrisseau was born in 1932 near Beardmore, Ont. He arrived in Red Lake in 1959 to work at the Cochenour-Willans gold mine as a flotation operator. In his spare time, he would draw native art on the gold filter paper lying about the mill. When he went back to work at the flotation station, he would stuff the fist full of drawings in his pocket; after work, Morrisseau walked around Red Lake selling his creations to the townfolk.

By the time he left Red Lake, in 1975, Morrisseau had become an artist of considerable renown. He originated the pictographic style, also referred to as “X-ray art,” in which the artist paints what is felt or perceived inside animals, including people. The depiction of what appears to be a creature’s X-ray anatomy is understood to suggest inner, spiritual powers. In later years, Morrisseau painted a great deal of Roman Catholic imagery, recasting Christian iconography to show the cast of characters as Indians.

The artist currently resides in British Columbia.

The Red Lake exhibit will continue until Sept. 30. For more information, phone the Red Lake Museum at 1-807-727-3006.