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Robert Houle: Making Art to Decolonize History


Curated by Shirley Madill

Mixed-media artwork by Robert Houle consisting of deep purple paper with a flap of painted blue paper covering the top third, meant to resemble a medicine bag. On the flap is a thick horizontal line of blue paint, partially layered with yellow paint, from which hangs a row of porcupine quills. On the purple paper, there are two groups of painted lines: one group of four diagonal lines in bright orange and another group of four vertical lines in dark red.

From growing up in Sandy Bay First Nation / Kaa-wii-kwe-tawang-kak and attending residential school to pursuing extensive academic studies and becoming an internationally recognized artist, Robert Houle (b.1947) has spent four decades reconciling and synthesizing contemporary art trends and Anishnabe traditions. His work uses personal and cultural memory to expose the blind spots in official history as he seeks to decolonize the museum and the self. For more on Robert Houle read Shirley Madill’s Robert Houle: Life & Work.



About the Curator: Shirley Madill

Shirley Madill is executive director of the Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery. Prior she was director/curator, Rodman Hall Art Centre; CEO, Art Gallery of Greater Victoria; chief curator/director of programming and vice-president, Art Gallery of Hamilton; and curator of contemporary art and photography, Winnipeg Art Gallery.



Banner Image: Robert Houle, Parfleches for the Last Supper (detail), 1983, (Matthew, James the Less, Jude, Simon, Philip, Andrew, Bartholomew, Thomas, Peter, James, John, Judas, Jesus), acrylic and porcupine quills on paper, thirteen paintings, each 56 x 56 cm, Winnipeg Art Gallery.

Gallery

Abstract painting by Robert Houle of stacked, mirrored geometric shapes in shades of pink and red.

Red Is Beautiful, 1970

Mixed-media artwork by Robert Houle consisting of deep purple paper with a flap of painted blue paper covering the top third, meant to resemble a medicine bag. On the flap is a thick horizontal line of blue paint, partially layered with yellow paint, from which hangs a row of porcupine quills. On the purple paper, there are two groups of painted lines: one group of four diagonal lines in bright orange and another group of four vertical lines in dark red.

Parfleches for the Last Supper, 1983

Photograph of an artwork by Robert Houle installed in a gallery on a plain white wall. On a long blue shelf rest twenty-six linen and rawhide medicine parfleches. Each parfleche is identified with both a stencilled letter of the English alphabet and a corresponding Indigenous nation, beginning with the Aztec and ending with the Zuni.

Everything You Wanted to Know about Indians from A to Z, 1985

Photograph of four paintings by Robert Houle installed in a gallery on a plain white wall. The paintings are monotone abstract landscapes, each primarily (from left to right) red, green, blue, and yellow. The colours are divided into horizontal bands of different shades, resembling a horizon line and land or water. Some pieces feature other geometric elements, like groups of small straight lines or + signs.

Muhnedobe uhyahyuk (Where the gods are present), 1989

Photograph of a wide painting by Robert Houle installed in a gallery on a plain white wall. The edges of the canvas are rectangles of solid blue and red, resembling the flag of France. The centre, rather than being solid white, is a reproduction of Benjamin West's painting The Death of General Wolfe done in sepia-coloured Conté crayon. Only the regalia of a lone Delaware warrior, crouching in the lower left, is painted in full colour.

Kanata, 1992

Artwork by Robert Houle divided into two vertical parts down the middle. The left side is painted solid green with visible drips and brushstrokes. On the right is black and white text (an excerpt from Treaty No. 1) overlaid with a small black and white photograph of a group of Indigenous men standing in a row and wearing traditional clothing and headdresses.

Premises for Self-Rule: Treaty No. 1, 1994

Artwork by Robert Houle consisting of five parts arranged side by side. On the left are two small square photographs of Sandy Bay residential school, stacked vertically. Beside them is a vertical painting of the school building, rendered in light blue shades and partially obscured by a white haze. In the middle is a tall, skinny panel with a dark blue background, depicting a figure standing in a field at night. On the right is a vertical abstract painting with a bright red background.

Sandy Bay, 1998–99

Photograph of an installation by Robert Houle in a round room surrounded by stone pillars inside of the Manitoba Legislative Building. Coloured lights illuminate the top of the room near the ceiling while names rendered in cut-out vinyl are installed on the steps leading to the black star design in the centre of the floor.

Morningstar, 1999

Photograph of a three-part painting installation by Robert Houle on two adjacent walls. On the left wall are a row of six small monochromatic gestural paintings and a larger photographic print. On the right wall is another row of six small monochromatic paintings with colours in the same order (from left: green, orange, tan, beige, red, blue) but rendered solidly and in darker shades.

Palisade II, 2007

Photograph of a multimedia installation by Robert Houle resembling the corner of a lavishly decorated formal room. The two adjacent walls are divided into sections by thin panels inlaid with brown marble and topped with small stone vases. Four paintings between the panels depict human figures wearing blankets or Greco-Roman–style robes, their backs to the viewers.

Paris/Ojibwa, 2010

Four oil pastel drawings by Robert Houle arranged in a 2 x 2 formation. Top left: a church basement with mint green walls; top right: a bed with a brown blanket in brown room and a capital letter Y seen near the bottom of the bed; bottom left: the top of a child's head visible sitting on the floor beside a bed, facing a red door; bottom right: the field in front of a drive-in movie theatre screen, the scene rendered in light blue.

Sandy Bay Residential School Series, 2009

Photograph of an installation by Robert Houle in the centre courtyard of the Art Gallery of Ontario. Seven abstract paintings (five visible), made on round canvases, are installed high on the walls and placed between doorways along the edges of the courtyard.

Seven Grandfathers, 2014

Abstract painting by Robert Houle of stacked, mirrored geometric shapes in shades of pink and red.

Red Is Beautiful, 1970

Mixed-media artwork by Robert Houle consisting of deep purple paper with a flap of painted blue paper covering the top third, meant to resemble a medicine bag. On the flap is a thick horizontal line of blue paint, partially layered with yellow paint, from which hangs a row of porcupine quills. On the purple paper, there are two groups of painted lines: one group of four diagonal lines in bright orange and another group of four vertical lines in dark red.

Parfleches for the Last Supper, 1983

Photograph of an artwork by Robert Houle installed in a gallery on a plain white wall. On a long blue shelf rest twenty-six linen and rawhide medicine parfleches. Each parfleche is identified with both a stencilled letter of the English alphabet and a corresponding Indigenous nation, beginning with the Aztec and ending with the Zuni.

Everything You Wanted to Know about Indians from A to Z, 1985

Photograph of four paintings by Robert Houle installed in a gallery on a plain white wall. The paintings are monotone abstract landscapes, each primarily (from left to right) red, green, blue, and yellow. The colours are divided into horizontal bands of different shades, resembling a horizon line and land or water. Some pieces feature other geometric elements, like groups of small straight lines or + signs.

Muhnedobe uhyahyuk (Where the gods are present), 1989

Photograph of a wide painting by Robert Houle installed in a gallery on a plain white wall. The edges of the canvas are rectangles of solid blue and red, resembling the flag of France. The centre, rather than being solid white, is a reproduction of Benjamin West's painting The Death of General Wolfe done in sepia-coloured Conté crayon. Only the regalia of a lone Delaware warrior, crouching in the lower left, is painted in full colour.

Kanata, 1992

Artwork by Robert Houle divided into two vertical parts down the middle. The left side is painted solid green with visible drips and brushstrokes. On the right is black and white text (an excerpt from Treaty No. 1) overlaid with a small black and white photograph of a group of Indigenous men standing in a row and wearing traditional clothing and headdresses.

Premises for Self-Rule: Treaty No. 1, 1994

Artwork by Robert Houle consisting of five parts arranged side by side. On the left are two small square photographs of Sandy Bay residential school, stacked vertically. Beside them is a vertical painting of the school building, rendered in light blue shades and partially obscured by a white haze. In the middle is a tall, skinny panel with a dark blue background, depicting a figure standing in a field at night. On the right is a vertical abstract painting with a bright red background.

Sandy Bay, 1998–99

Photograph of an installation by Robert Houle in a round room surrounded by stone pillars inside of the Manitoba Legislative Building. Coloured lights illuminate the top of the room near the ceiling while names rendered in cut-out vinyl are installed on the steps leading to the black star design in the centre of the floor.

Morningstar, 1999

Photograph of a three-part painting installation by Robert Houle on two adjacent walls. On the left wall are a row of six small monochromatic gestural paintings and a larger photographic print. On the right wall is another row of six small monochromatic paintings with colours in the same order (from left: green, orange, tan, beige, red, blue) but rendered solidly and in darker shades.

Palisade II, 2007

Photograph of a multimedia installation by Robert Houle resembling the corner of a lavishly decorated formal room. The two adjacent walls are divided into sections by thin panels inlaid with brown marble and topped with small stone vases. Four paintings between the panels depict human figures wearing blankets or Greco-Roman–style robes, their backs to the viewers.

Paris/Ojibwa, 2010

Four oil pastel drawings by Robert Houle arranged in a 2 x 2 formation. Top left: a church basement with mint green walls; top right: a bed with a brown blanket in brown room and a capital letter Y seen near the bottom of the bed; bottom left: the top of a child's head visible sitting on the floor beside a bed, facing a red door; bottom right: the field in front of a drive-in movie theatre screen, the scene rendered in light blue.

Sandy Bay Residential School Series, 2009

Photograph of an installation by Robert Houle in the centre courtyard of the Art Gallery of Ontario. Seven abstract paintings (five visible), made on round canvases, are installed high on the walls and placed between doorways along the edges of the courtyard.

Seven Grandfathers, 2014

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