Mendel showcasing works of Aboriginal artists

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Saskatoon's Mendel Art Gallery will be on fire this fall, as it plays host to Wild Fire on the Plains, a showcase of the works of four diverse Aboriginal artists who now call Saskatchewan home.

"Saskatchewan's artists are blazing, so intensely that they burn across the world like a plains wild fire," said Morgan Wood, curator of the exhibition.

The works of Anthony Dieter, David Garneau, cheryl l'hirondelle-waynohtew and Neal McLeod will be featured in the exhibit, which opened Sept. 12 and runs until Nov. 16.

Wood sees the art of these four Aboriginal artists as serving as a sort of a social wild fire. While wild fire in nature is often seen as dangerous and destructive, these fires ultimately help the environment, clearing away dead growth to make way for new. In much the same way, the works in this exhibit try to tear down existing societal beliefs and practices to allow for new ideas and new directions.

Anthony Dieter was born in Saint-Jerome, Que. but his family's roots are firmly planted within Peepeekisis First Nation, and the family moved back to Saskatchewan when Dieter was two. He drew and painted for most of his life, then was introduced to sculpture when he attended the American Indian Institute of Art in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He later completed a bachelor of fine arts degree in sculpture, then completed the master of fine arts program at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. It was while completing his master's that Dieter discovered three-dimensional animation, the medium he demonstrates in his contribution to the Wild Fire exhibit, which uses computer technology to tell the story of North America's Aboriginal people.

Artist Neal McLeod has been painting with oils since the age of four. McLeod was born in Saskatoon, but his father was from James Smith Cree Nation. After graduating from high school, he went to the University of Saskatchewan to earn a bachelor of fine arts degree, but left the program after a year and went to Sweden, where he studied for a term at the Academy of Fine Art in Umea.

He returned to Saskatchewan to continue studying art at the university, but didn't find what he was looking for there, and instead completed a bachelor of arts in philosophy. He later returned to the U of S to earn his masters degree in philosophy as well. He also spent three years working as a docent for the Mendel Art Gallery, and spending that time immersed in the world and work of artists encouraged him to return to painting. McLeod's contributions to the show are his paintings, which offer his personal interpretation of traditional Cree narratives.

Metis artist David Garneau was born in Edmonton, where his great-great-grandparents, who were among the first settlers in the area. Garneau began his career as an artist while working as a child-care worker in the inner city, when he began making sculptures of people he saw in the street, and immediately found a market for his work. After a couple of years, he stopped creating the sculptures, deciding to go to university, where he obtained a bachelor of fine arts, and later a masters degree in American literature. His paintings featured in the Wild Fire exhibit encourage people to question societal stereotype that limit both self and cultural identity.

Artist cheryl l'hirondelle-waynohtew was born in Alberta, but now calls Meadow Lake home. She has found expression through a variety of art forms, from writing to singing to storytelling to performance art. Most recently, she has worked in video and interactive online art, in addition to performing as one half of singing duo Nihkamohk. Her contribution to the exhibit questions government's attempts to control Aboriginal identity, as she invites visitors to the gallery to create their own treaty cards.

The Mendel Gallery is located at 950 Spadina Crescent East in Saskatoon. The gallery is open daily from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., and admission is free. For more information about Wild Fire on the Plains, call 95-7610, or visit the gallery Web site at www.mendel.ca.