Exhibit of contemporary group of Indigenous artists planned for March

The Art Gallery of Alberta will be presenting the exhibition 7: Professional Native Indian Artists Inc. from March 5 to July 3, 2016.

The show brings together more than 80 paintings and drawings from the 1970s from the group, whose members included Jackson Beardy (1944-1984), Eddy Cobiness (1933-1996), Alex Janvier (b. 1935), Norval Morrisseau (1932-2007), Daphne Odjig (b. 1919), Carl Ray (1942-1978) and Joseph Sanchez (b. 1948).

Alex Janvier and Joseph Sanchez are confirmed to attend the opening, and there will be events, education, and programming around the show.

This exhibition has been shown in Regina at the MacKenzie Art Gallery, Winnipeg at the Winnipeg Art Gallery, Kelowna at the Kelowna Art Gallery, the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinburg, Ont. and the Art Gallery of Windsor in Windsor, Ont.

Professional Native Indian Artists Incorporated was one of Canada’s most important early artist alliances. A ground-breaking cultural and political entity that was wryly known as the ‘Indian Group of Seven’.

This influential group demanded recognition as professional, contemporary artists and stimulated a new way of thinking about contemporary First Nations people, their lives and art.

The exhibition 7: Professional Native Indian Artists Inc. draws on both private and public art collections to bring together paintings from the 1970s during which the seven artists were active as a group.

The exhibition considers their collective artistic impact, as well as the distinctive styles and experimentation of the individual artists.

The history of Professional Native Indian Artists Incorporated signaled a new course for the exhibition and understanding of contemporary Indigenous art.

The visual impact of this exhibition will reacquaint visitors with the excitement and newness of the images and styles that these seven artists produced.