Salopree's art world reknowned

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A Native art show featured the paintings, drawings and carvings of seven Native artists is in full swing, running from March 26 through April 8 in downtown Edmonton.

The art show is co-sponsored by the Strathcona Rotary Club of Edmonton and the Native Creative Group of Canada, the marketing arm of the Business Assistance for Native Albertans Corporation (BANAC), for the promotion of newly completed art pieces done by Native people.

The work shown on the second floor of the huge Manulife building on 10180 and 101 Street, is not very different from previous work done by Native artists, which has captured the appreciation of art lovers all over the world.

The artists include such notables as Morris Cardinal, Roy Salopree, Roy Thomas, Henry Letendre, Sam Warrior, Brian Clark and Farron Callihoo.

Windspeaker got a chance to speak with two of the artists on March 31.

Roy Salopree is known for his exquisitely detailed pen and ink drawings depicting Indian culture. He has since moved on to try out other media and techniques and is showing his recently completed acrylic paintings, among others, at the art show.

Salopree is a Treaty Indian artist, from the Dene Tha Nation in northeastern Alberta. He has been interpreting Native art images since he was 15 years old.

Salopree explained in his soft spoken way, that the message in his art work results from the combination of three bodily and spiritual processes. The art "comes from my heart, which tells my mind which in turn sends signals to my hands to transfer the message onto the canvas or drawing board."

Salopree's latest work entitled "Ena Nihe" meaning the images of the living nature, in his Dene language, shows the essential elements of nature which are prevalent in all his work. He has four other pieces shown along side those of other Native artists.

The art work of Salopree is based on the three elements of nature, the sky, earth and water, which are interpreted in the paintings and drawings.

"The birds represent the sky, the faces of Native people represent the earth and fish represent water," said Salopree.

Salopree had won the first prize at a Native Art Competition, sponsored by Peace Hills Trust in 1985.

He also was awarded a $5,000 firs prize scholarship in Asum Mena second annual competition of Emerging Native Alberta Artists, in 1985, which was sponsored by the Alberta Indian Arts and Crafts.

Salopree's plans are to finish the second year in Fine Arts faculty of the University of Alberta, studying art while pursuing his art career.

The last two years have been busy for Salopree who has been working on various art pieces for sale and for show.

He plans to continue to complete more of his work in hope that it could be shown at the 1988 Olympics Native art show.

He cannot enter more art competitions because "they consider me as a well-known artist". His art work has been displayed in Switzerland, Japan and the National Art Gallery in Ottawa, to name a few galleries.

His advice to young emerging Native artists is "to be an artist, you have to be a strong person." He urges upcoming artists to use the three aspects of the human body in their art efforts, namely to use the heart, the mind and the hands in translating art work.

Another artist Windspeaker talked with is Brian Clark, a painter and carver from Fort McMurray, Alberta.

Clark, a self-taught artist, who never took any formal art training, believes in working alone and composing his work by intuition.

"Art is such a solo thing, I never have a plan, the art comes spontaneously," said Clark, who describes his drawings, paintings and carvings as "going back to nature."

He has been carving five years now and recently completed 50 sculptures, since last June.

Some of his work, both paintings and sculptures have been shown at various art galleries and art shows. The most recent showing of his work, before the present showing, was at the Bearclaw Gallery.

He plans to create more crawings, painings and sculptures for upcoming shows.

Clark will make his big jump in the art world by doing a one man show in the fall, at the Gallery on White.