Carl Beam: One Who is Brave-Hearted

Ojibwe artist Carl Beam was a critical figure in recent First Nations art in Canada, and he was the first artist of Indigenous ancestry to have works purchased by the National Gallery of Canada as contemporary art. He shunned traditional style, working in the modern mediums of prints and photo-transfer, inserting the personal and the symbolic (both Indigenous and Euro-centric) alongside the historically renowned in powerful visual combinations that also used text and colour freely. Included in this exhibition of works from our permanent collection is his masterpiece, the iconic Columbus Suite of 1990.

Curated by Emma Hassencahl-Perley and organized by the Beaverbrook Art Gallery.