A Fall Celebration of Three Exceptional Exhibitions:
The Drawings and Paintings of Daphne Odjig:
A Retrospective Exhibition
Contemporary Canadian Inuit Drawings / Chinese Drawings from Huxian Jinshan and Qijiang
Child’s Play
September 2, 2008 Kleinburg, ON –Autumn colours are not the only thing that visitors can expect to see when they come to the McMichael Canadian Art Collection this fall. Visitors will experience a colourful showcase of First Nations, Inuit, Chinese, and Group of Seven art on display in three exceptional exhibitions: The Drawings and Paintings of Daphne Odjig: A Retrospective Exhibition; Contemporary Canadian Inuit Drawings / Chinese Drawings from Huxian, Jinshan and Qijiang; and an exhibit of pieces from the McMichael’s permanent collection—Child’s Play.
In her first retrospective in over two decades, The Drawings and Paintings of Daphne Odjig: A Retrospective Exhibition features over forty years of Daphne Odjig’s artistic career. Organized by the Art Gallery of Sudbury and the National Gallery of Canada, in collaboration with guest curator, Bonnie Devine, the exhibition features over fifty of Odjig’s works including examples of Odjig’s history paintings, murals, legend paintings, erotica, abstractions, and landscapes. Together these pieces communicate the breadth of Odjig’s engagement with her personal, political and cultural history. The exhibition opens at the McMichael on October 4, 2008, and is financially supported by KPMG.
In conjunction with the Odjig exhibition, the Contemporary Canadian Inuit Drawings/Chinese Drawings from Huxian, Jinshan and Qijiang exhibition is a cross-cultural examination of Chinese folk-art drawings and Canadian Inuit drawings. Organized by the Macdonald Stewart Art Centre (MSAC) in Guelph and the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute (SFAI) in Chongqing, China, and co-curated by Judith Nasby of the MSAC, and Feng Bin, director of the Chingqing Art Museum, the exhibition features a collection of thirty-four colourful Chinese drawings and eighteen Canadian Inuit drawings. After a successful tour throughout China, the exhibition makes its first North American appearance at the McMichael on October 11, 2008.
Based exclusively on the McMichael’s permanent collection, Child’s Play is an educational exhibition exploring the theme of children in Canadian art. Curated by Anna Stanisz and the education and programs department at the McMichael, the exhibition features nearly twenty works of art (oil, acrylic, paper and sculpture). It includes rarely seen pieces like the small endearing sketch from 1902 of the young Thoreau MacDonaldby Group of Seven member J.E.H. MacDonald, and the poignant composition Interior at Night, painted in 1964-65 by the outstanding Canadian artist, Christiane Pflug. Other works include popular pieces by Norval Morrisseau and Canadian impressionist Helen McNicoll. The works presented in this exhibition offer a glimpse into the intimate world of childhood and parenthood, where along the usual conveyance of love, joy and dreams, there is a sombre anxiety or a sense of struggle in coping with reality. Child’s Play opens at the McMichael on September 13, 2008.
“Our fall exhibitions are full of colour, culture, vibrancy and spirituality,” says Tom Smart, McMichael’s Executive Director and CEO. “The infusion of the natural world with the human heart is the primary theme in all of these exhibitions and the artworks act as visual poetry—they are truly inspirational.”
About the Gallery
The McMichael Canadian Art Collection is an agency of the Government of Ontario and acknowledges the support of the Ministry of Culture. It is the foremost venue in the country showcasing the Group of Seven and their contemporaries. In addition to touring exhibitions, its permanent collection consists of more than 5,500 artworks, including paintings by the Group of Seven and their contemporaries, First Nations and Inuit artists.
The gallery is located on Islington Avenue, north of Major Mackenzie Drive in Kleinburg, and is open daily from 10 am to 4 pm.
Press Kit: The Drawings and Paintings of Daphne Odjig:
A Retrospective Exhibition
Press Kit: Contemporary Canadian Inuit Drawings / Chinese Drawings from Huxian Jinshan and Qijiang
For further information:
Stephen Weir, Publicist
Gallery: 905.893.1121 ext. 2529
Toronto Office: 416.489.5868
Cell: 416.801.3101
s1weir@aol.com or sweir5492@rogers.com
Cathy Lepiane, Communications Coordinator
McMichael Canadian Art Collection
905.893.1121 ext. 2210
clepiane@mcmichael.com
