“There’s lots of stories that are told in Ojibwe but that wasn’t enough for me. I wanted to draw them—that’s from my own self—my own idea what they look like.”
(Norval Morrisseau, Return to the House of Invention, 1996, p. 92).
Image Credit: CUAG
Through his innovative visual language, Anishinaabe artist Norval Morrisseau gifted viewers a vision of our interconnected world expressed as a sense of balanced motion at play, understood as Mino Bimaadiziwin in Anishinaabemowin.
Medicine Currents features a range of paintings, drawings and objects by Morrisseau that celebrate the artist’s storytelling vocabulary. His work is richly infused with divided circles that express balance, good and evil, day and night, and heaven and earth, black lines of movement and power, and an increasingly vibrant use of colour. It is grounded in his clear understanding of the relationships between all living entities.
Medicine Currents offers a profound sense of the artist’s transformational and nurturing vision of land, sky and water. This exhibition unveils the healing aesthetic in and power embedded within Morrisseau’s work, which draws inspiration from the past, resonates in the present and envisions a transformative future.
Thank you! We acknowledge with gratitude the lenders whose generosity has made Medicine Currents possible: the Canadian Museum of History, John Cook, Indigenous Art Collection at Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada and Westerkirk Works of Art.
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Curated by: Carmen Robertson and Danielle PrintupCredits: Medicine Currents is generously supported by Westerkirk Works of Art |
Visiting with Morrisseau
November 18 – November 19, 2023
Visiting with Morrisseau was a free public gathering centered around stories—visual and oral—inspired by the art and legacy of Anishinaabe artist Norval Morrisseau (1932-2007) and Anishinaabeg medicine teachings. This special event is held in conjunction with the exhibitions Norval Morrisseau: Medicine Currents and Christian Chapman: Run to the Hills!
Taking place at Carleton University Art Gallery, on unceded, unsurrendered, Algonquin Territory, this gathering welcomes Anishinaabe artists, Elders, knowledge keepers and community members from Anishinaabe Aki.
Dani Printup with Christian Chapman discussing his portrait of Norval Morrisseau.
Norval Morrisseau, “Ancestral Figure” (c.1964-65), tempera on kraft paper. Collection of Westerkirk Works of Art. Permissions granted from the Norval Morrisseau Estate Ltd.
Join us to visit, enjoy food and share stories inspired by the Mishomis or Grandfather’s artistic and cultural legacy. You will have the opportunity to actively and deeply engage with visual narratives embedded in the work of Norval Morrisseau and Christian Chapman through immersive activities, including sharing circles, slow-looking exercises and reflective discussions.
Curators Danielle Printup and Carmen Robertson will also lead guided tours of the Morrisseau and Chapman exhibitions.
This event is generously supported by Westerkirk Works of Art, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the Ontario Arts Council and the Canada Council for the Arts.
Tour “Medicine Currents” with Dani Printup and Carmen Robertson
October 4, 2023
Experience the power, movement and vision of Norval Morrisseau’s work!
Join exhibition co-curators Danielle Printup and Carmen Robertson for an informal walk-through tour of Norval Morrisseau: Medicine Currents. They will speak to the visual narratives embedded in the work of Norval Morrisseau, sharing stories from the curatorial process. Light refreshments will be provided.
