Maureen Enns

The catalogue Through The Eyes of The Bear,  Calgary, AB.: Art Gallery of Calgary, 2000 by Ewa Sniatcycka, Dennis Slater, and Maureen Enns is available at the gallery for $20.00 CDN.

"...if we look carefully...we may also see a challenge in their eyes and in the way they present themselves to the viewer. Perhaps they are offering us an opportunity to re-establish our mystic covenant with the animal world." Elizabeth Brown. Beauty Pageant, paintings by Maureen Enns.  Banff, AB.: Peter Whyte Gallery, 1985

Biography

Maureen’s commitment to communicating about the plight of large mammals is well-known; her recent work focuses on her high alpine adventures with grizzly bears near Mount Assiniboine in the Canadian Rockies.  The artist’s depiction of these wonderful and intelligent animals in their home ranges connects you to both the grandeur of grizzlies as well as the magnificence of their landscape. 

Maureen Enns states that during the summer of 2009, she was amazed to discover a group of grizzlies that were sharing the high country with 2-3 thousand visitors a season.

“A special mother grizzly, Lilly, and her 3 cubs were seen regularly by many of the hikers who passed through the area.  Joe Bucher worked at Assiniboine Lodge and managed the campground. He kept in touch with the campers and helped to quell their fears of encountering the bears. Lodge staff did the same for the guests. Bears and humans were able to co-exist quietly and share the environment without fear.”

Enns has always been an intuitive painter, fascinated by the natural environment.  Her goal is to uncover the ‘true’ nature of large, powerful animals in their own environment, whether that is grizzlies, camels, elephants, or wild horses.  The artist dedicates this series of drawings and paintings to these grizzlies, respected and left alone to walk peacefully along the same trails as the many hikers.

Enns has spent countless hours in pursuit of a vision, sometimes in absolutely miserable conditions, alone in the backcountry of Banff National Park, in the wilds of Africa, the high terrain of South America, the paradoxes of Asia, the lonely expanse of central Australia, and the endangered Eastern Slopes of the Rocky Mountains.  She searches out moments when the magic happens, the fear is absent, and when she can experience the bears, camels, elephants, or horses.  The artist has discovered the adrenalin rush which happens when they catch you off guard and fear takes over for the moment.  In so doing, she has also revealed more magic than fear and believes that, through her artwork, she can open a door into the world of these marvelous animals.

Maureen Enns is an internationally celebrated artist/photographer and co-author of the national best-selling books, Grizzly Heart and Grizzly Seasons. She and former research partner, Charlie Russel, are well known for their groundbreaking experimental research concerning human co-existence with grizzly bears in Russia’s Far East. Enns and Russell were the subject of the documentary Walking With Giants; according to PBS, the most popular documentary produced on human/animal interaction. In 2001, Maureen left her tenured teaching position at the Alberta College of Art and Design to take on, full-time, the presidency of the Kamchatka Grizzly Bear Research. Enns, Russell, and a Russian Associate, Tatiana Gordienko, negotiated an unprecedented agreement with the Russian Ministry responsible for Parks to set aside the southern end of the Kamchatka Peninsula for their bear research. She has been the subject of two CBC TV documentaries; Games End (1990); Grizzly Kingdom (1993).

Private collections:

in Canada, the United States, Europe, and Australia.

Public Collections:

Alberta Foundation for the Arts
Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies
Memorial University of Newfoundland
City of Calgary, Civic Collection
Alberta Children’s Hospital
Alberta Government and Inter-Governmental Affairs, Ottawa
Department of External Affairs, Ottawa, Federal Government

Corporate Collections:

Waterton Lakes Lodge, Waterton Lakes National Park
Suncor Energy Inc.
SMED
Creative Travel Adventures Ltd.
Toronto Sun
Esso Resources, Canada Ltd.
Bank of America
Western Co-op Fertilizers, Calgary
The Court House, Edmonton
Shell Canada Limited
Toronto Dominion Bank
Daon Development Corporation
Contemporary Art Collections, Vancouver
Woodwards Stores
Guarantee Trust Collection
Gulf Canada Resources Ltd.
Trimac Ltd.
Calgary Petroleum Club
Handfield Exploration, Calgary
Thorne Riddell & Co., Vancouver
Phillips, Hagert, North Vancouver
Nova Corporation of Alberta
Swiss Bank Corporation, Vancouver
PanCanadian
Stanley Carscallen Corp., Calgary
Aldon Minerals Ltd., Calgary
Regatta Ford Ltd., Calgary
TransCanada Pipeline Ltd.
L’image Design Ltd., Toronto
Mackimmie-Mathews, Calgary
Abbott Moving and Transport, Montreal
Pre-Cambrian Resources Ltd., Calgary

Selected Solo Exhibitions:

2010, Assiniboine Grizzlies, Willock and Sax Gallery, Banff

2002, Celebrating "Grizzly Heart", Willock and Sax Gallery, Waterton Lakes National Park

2001, Tracking Bear, Willock and Sax Gallery, Waterton Lakes National Park

2000, Through The Eyes of the Bear, Art Gallery of Calgary.

1999, Another Dimension, Masters Gallery, Calgary

1998, Kamchatka, Masters Gallery, Calgary

1997, The Bear’s Point of View, Masters Gallery, Calgary

1997, The Bear Who Looked for Beauty, Cultural Centre, Petropavlovsk, Russia.

1995, The Kamchatka Series, Masters Gallery, Calgary.

1993, Grizzly Kingdom: An Artist’s Encounter, Triangle Gallery of Visual Art, Calgary.

1990, Game’s End An African Encounter, Masters Gallery, Calgary.

1988-1989, Back of Beyond, Touring Exhibition, Circulated by the Nickle Arts Museum, University of Calgary. In Australia toured by the Ipswich Art Gallery, Brisbane, Australia to: Riverside Centre, Brisbane; Ipswich City Council Art Gallery, Ipswich; Araluen Centre for Arts and Entertainment, Alice Springs; Holdsworth Fine Art Galleries, Woollahara.  In Canada toured to: Nickle Arts Museum, Calgary; Leo Kamen Gallery, Toronto.

1987, New Work. Leo Kamen Gallery, Toronto.

1985, New Work, Virginia Christopher Gallery, Calgary.

1985, Selected New Work, Equinox Gallery, Vancouver, B.C.

1984, Beauty Pageant, Peter Whyte Gallery, Banff.

1984-85, Beauty Pageant, Canadian Museum Tour, organized and circulated by the Peter Whyte Gallery, Banff.  Travelled to: Simon Fraser University Art Gallery, Burnaby; Ring House Gallery, University of Alberta;

Memorial University Art Gallery, St. John’s; Mount St. Vincent University Art Gallery, Halifax; Lynwood arts Centre, Simcoe; PetroCanada Gallery, Calgary; Maltwood Art Gallery, University of Victoria.

1983, New Work, Hett Gallery, Edmonton.

1981, Skyscapes, Gallery Moos, Calgary.

1979, Introducing, Elizabeth Nichols Equinox Gallery, Vancouver.

1971, Space Plays a Game, Mary Frazee Gallery, Vancouver.

Published Books and Catalogues:

Russell, Charlie and Maureen Enns, Grizzly Seasons. Toronto: Random House of Canada, 2003.

________. Grizzly Heart.  Toronto: Random House of Canada, 2002.

Sniatycka, Ewa, Dennis Slater and Maureen Enns.  Through The Eyes of The Bear.  Calgary, AB.: Art Gallery of Calgary, 2000.

Enns, Maureen and Debbie Thomas. Grizzly Kingdom: An Artist’s Encounter. Calgary, AB.: Detsellig Publishing, 1995.

McAlear, Donna.  Maureen Enns: Back of Beyond.  Calgary, AB.: The Nickle Arts Museum, 1988.  For an exhibition travelled in Australia and Canada 1988/89.

Brown, Elizabeth.  Realities Abstracted.  Banff, AB.: Peter Whyte Gallery, 1983.

Sturdy, Ken.  1980 Staff Exhibition, Alberta College of Art.  Calgary, AB.: Alberta College of Art S.A.I.T., 1980.  

Enns, Evans & Ulrich.  For an exhibition travelled in Banff, Lethbridge, Spokane, and Calgary.  1977-1978.