Cardinal-Schubert retrospective spans 20 years

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Internationally renowned artist Joane Cardinal-Schubert likes to call her work "gentle finger painting," and anyone taking in her exhibiting at the University of Alberta Fine Arts Building is bound to notice a lot of pointed fingers.

"People say my work is political," Cardinal-Schubert says. "But to me, a work of art is about life."

The fist retrospective exhibition of Cardinal-Schubert's work to be shown in Alberta, Passage to Origins features 30 "loosely collected" works spanning the past decade. Working with mixed-media installations and paintings on canvas or paper, Cardinal-Schubert's poignant works address the historical repressions of Natives, the impact of Euro-centric sensibilities, and the relationship between people of Native heritage around the globe.

"The way we are perceived in Europe and points far away; what has happened since 1992 with the 500th year of Christopher Columbus celebration that back-fired; the Year of Indigenous People designated by the United Nations in 1993 but not acknowledged by our own government right away, all these things are in the work that I do."

Considered one of the most significant Native artists in the world, the eclectic Cardinal-Schubert bluntly confesses that she has no respect for art history and rejects traditional artistic values. She prefers to look at art in another way.

"If you take a knife and put it on a table beside an apple or an orange, that's cool. But if you put a baby on a table next to a knife, it has a totally different meaning. I like to juxtapose the meanings."

Her fondness for juxtaposition is obvious in her mixed media installations. Her paintings, on the other hand, are a blending of the classic and the modern. Guest curator Jetske-Sybesma says the two very different art forms express radically different perspectives of Cardinal-Schubert's perception of her Native roots.

"What makes her work so interesting is that the goes back to the ancient images, like tipi poles, and hangs things on them that lets the political activist in her point out the hurt Natives have had in the past. At the same time, she shows a beautiful aspect of Native art."

The installations, presented as "anti-art" by Sybesma, articulate long-standing discrimination against Native people. Injustice and anger are emotions that come to mind when viewing the more graphic of Cardinal-Schubert's installations; such as the hide of a warrior draped over a drying rack beside beaver skins, or a scale fashioned out of a lamp base that shows a Christopher Columbus-era clipper ship on one side out-weighing a Native infant in a Christian-style bassinet on the other side.

Using blackboards, white chalk and props, Cardinal-Schubert expresses deep-seated rage in bold hand-printed accounts of the senselessness of the Oka crisis; the arrogance of engineers carving up traditional native lands; residential schools and archaeological digs that procure Native artifacts and remains. Her feature piece, Preservation of a Species: The Lesson, is a full-scale remake of a school room from a Native perspective.

The artist graphically demonstrates the injustices and hardships imposed on Natives by residential schools through a live performance where ex-students stand up and tell of indignities they suffered there.

"It's not fun stuff," she says.

On the lighter side are Cardinal-Schubert's paintings, through which she explores the historical meaning of Native values. Rich with traditional Native symbolism and culture, the artist uses bold primary colors and earth tones to paint everything from primitive symbolism and animal images, similar to cave paintings, to those with an Emily Carr look and feel.

While much more subtle than her installations, some still deliver a nagging sense of discontent. Powwow Dream, one of Cardinal-Schubert's more entrancing paintings, is one such work.

As it's her first retrospective show in Alberta, Cardinal-Schubert is pleased that the exhibition allows her the oppotunity to show a broad range of work.

"I've been painting for 20 years. I'm not comfortable having three pieces on a wall as a representation of my work."

The range of works, including installations, painting and papier-mache figures, may confuse people.

"Because they span a 10-year period, they look like they've been done by a lot of different people. But they are all done by me."

In addition, the exhibition's paintings provide her with a rare opportunity to revisit her work. Most of them had to be "borrowed back" from galleries, national collections and private owners.

"It's a great experience to see these paintings in context of your new work and your new work in context with the old. It's a great connection because some paintings are key to your development."

Passages to Origins is the first of a series of annual exhibits dedicated to exhibiting the artwork of First Nations artists. It runs to Dec. 30.

For more information call 492-2081.