Adrian Stimson

Adrian Stimson (born 1964 in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada)[1] is an artist and a member of the Siksika Nation.[2]

Education

Stimson earned a BFA with distinction from the Alberta College of Art and Design[3] and an MFA from the University of Saskatchewan.[3]

Career

Stimson is a multidisciplinary artist: He creates paintings, installations, performances and video.[4] His mostly black and white paintings often depict bison in fictional settings. In his installations, he refers to experiences in the residential school system.[4] His performances look at constructing identity and the blending of the Indian, the cowboy, the shaman and the Two Spirit being.[4] Two recurring personas in Stimson's performances are Buffalo Boy and the Shaman Exterminator.[5][6]

Stimson travelled with the Canadian Forces Artists Program to Afghanistan in 2010.[7]

In 2017, Stimson created, "TRENCH," a five-day durational performance on the Siksika (Blackfoot) Nation. The performance commemorates the approximately 4,000 Indigenous soldiers who served in the First World War.[8] This contemporary art contributed to War Stories: 1917 at Calgary's Military Museums.[9]

In 2019, Stimson collaborated with AA Bronson for the Toronto Biennial of Art on A public apology to Siksoka Nation by Bronson and Iini Sookumapii: Guess who’s coming to dinner? a work that explored the connection between two of their ancestors: Bronson's great-grandfather John William Tims, an Anglican missionary who established a residential school in 1886 and Stimson's great-grandfather Old Sun (1819–1897), the traditional chief of the North Blackfoot and a participant of the making of Treaty 7.[10][11][12]

In 2020 he created a waterbed installation, a nod to Ono's and Lennon's famous bed-ins for peace as part of the Yoko Ono’s exhibition Growing Freedom at Contemporary Calgary.[13]

Collections

Two of Stimson's paintings are in the North American Indigenous collection of the British Museum.[4][2] His work is included in the collections of the Glenbow Museum, Calgary,[14] and the Alberta Foundation for the Arts.[15]

Awards

In 2018 he was awarded the Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts.[4][16] Stimson won the Blackfoot Visual Arts Award in 2009,[17] the Alberta Centennial Medal in 2005 and the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal in 2003,[17]

Further reading

• War Art in Canada: A Critical History, by Laura Brandon published by the Art Canada Institute.

References

1. Squareflo.com. "Saskatchewan NAC Artists | Adrian Stimson". www.sknac.ca. Retrieved 2019-11-04.
2. Nerman, Danielle (Nov 25, 2016). "Alberta's gender-bending 'Buffalo Boy' sells bison painting to British Museum | CBC News". CBC. Retrieved 2021-03-24.
3. "Adrian Stimson". Canadian Art. Retrieved 2019-11-04.
4. "Adrian Stimson | Art Gallery of Alberta". www.youraga.ca. Retrieved 2019-11-04.
5. "As his alter ego Buffalo Boy, Adrian Stimson reclaims what was taken from Indigenous people | CBC Arts". CBC. 4 October 2018. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
6. "The Shaman Exterminator: On the trail of the Woodcraft Indians with the Buffalo Boy Scouts of America". 24 October 2012. Retrieved 2019-11-04.
7. Brandon, Laura (2021). War Art in Canada: A Critical History. Toronto: Art Canada Institute. ISBN 978-1-4871-0271-5.
8. Brandon, Laura (2021). War Art in Canada: A Critical History. Toronto: Art Canada Institute. ISBN 978-1-4871-0271-5.
9. Carlyle, Catherine (2017-07-03). "Adrian Stimson Honours Indigenous Warriors". Galleries West. Retrieved 2021-03-24.
10. Heather, Rosemary (2019-09-25). "Beyond apologies: two artists set a table for reconciliation". NOW Magazine. Retrieved 2019-11-04.
11. Durón, Maximilíano (2019-10-15). "Finally, a Biennial That Does Justice to Indigenous Narratives". ARTnews. Retrieved 2019-11-04.
12. "History & Culture | Siksika Nation | Siksika Nation Tribal Administration Website". siksikanation.com. Archived from the original on 2020-11-12. Retrieved 2019-11-04.
13. Narine, Shari (Nov 21, 2020). "Yoko Ono's Siksika collaborator creates a waterbed for Alberta premier to lie in". Yorkton This Week. Archived from the original on 2020-11-23. Retrieved 2021-03-24.
14. "The Glenbow Museum > Collections Search Results".^[permanent dead link‍]
15. "Post Modern Bison".
16. Ward, Rachel (23 February 2018). "Siksika artist's work to hang in National Gallery of Canada after Governor General's Award". CBC. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
17. vanlovesart (2018-04-14). "2018 Governor General Award Winner, Adrian Stimson, Explores Indigenous Culture, Identity, and History With Beauty and Humour". The Vancouver Arts Review. Retrieved 2019-12-04.