George Littlechild - Mixed Media

Mixed Media/paper

"George Littlechild is the embodiment of "Communing Spirit"...[he] often features themes of honouring elders and family wisdom." (Multifaith Calendar 2008)

Mixed Media/canvas

"My art speaks from the heart...it is charged with energy and colour; it is vibrant and magical, thus enabling the soul to travel.  I envision.  I rely on the intuitive, the spiritual, the emotional." (George Littlechild, The Multifaith Calendar, 2008)

"Ancestral languages were sung in spiritual tune...we are caretakers of an Earth that is in need of nourishment...."

Serigraphs

GEORGE LITTLECHILD

BORN August 16, 1958 Edmonton, Alberta
TRIBAL AFFILIATION Plains Cree

EDUCATION
-1988 Independent Studies, The Banff Centre, Banff, Alberta
-1988 Bachelor of Fine Arts, Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, Halifax
-1984 Art and Design Diploma, Red Deer College, Red Deer, Alberta

Known for creating culturally rich imagery and his use of high-chroma color, George Littlechild is recognized as one of the foremost First Nations artists working in Canada today.  He is also the author/illustrator of three children's books, including the award winning publication This Land Is My Land.

He was born August 16, 1958 in Edmonton, Alberta and knew from a young age that he had a special talent as an artist to share with the world.  His mother, Rachel Littlechild, was a Plains Cree member of the Erminskin Reserve in Hobbema, and his father, James E. Price, was of Scottish / Micmac extraction from New Brunswick.

From the age of five until he was eighteen, George Littlechild lived with his foster mother, Mrs. Winnie Olthius.  She was a very caring person and is largely responsible for nurturing his artistic and creative abilities.  As a youngster, she sent him to art lessons and encouraged him to pursue his art throughout his school years and insisted he go to Art College when he graduated.  His post-secondary educational achievements include a diploma in Art and Design from Red Deer College and in 1988 he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in Halifax.

In recent years, George Littlechild's interest in his heritage has led him to relearn his past and explore many socio-political issues related to his people, including the Reserve system and Residential schooling.  His art is directed to those who do not understand First Nations culture in an attempt to alleviate prejudice and naiveté.  More importantly, he hopes his work contributes to stopping racism, which he feels is one of the most destructive forces of our modern society.

Since his graduation, his artwork has been exhibited in numerous solo group exhibitions in commercial and public galleries and museums in Canada, the United States, Japan and in Germany.  His work is included in numerous public, corporate and private collections, such as in the Canadian Museum of Civilization (Hull, Quebec), the Edmonton Art Gallery, the Thunder Bay Art Gallery and the in the Dunlop Gallery (Regina, Saskatchewan).

Littlechild is also an educator.  He lectures at both the university level and adult art workshops, and in art programs at elementary and secondary schools.  Children hold a special meaning for Littlechild.  One often finds him sitting on a schoolroom floor in serious discussion with a youngster of First Nations heritage as they discuss some aspect of the young artists painting.  Heritage, pride, and the need to understand and celebrate the unique person that each of us is born to be - this is Littlechild's gift back to humankind.  His work transcends the boundaries of First Nations: Littlechild believes that each of us must know our past to experience the fullness of our future.

While Littlechild's earlier works evoke strong messages for healing, his later works are paths that stimulate introspection—who we are, why we are, how we came to be the spirits that we own.  A doorway opening to mystery and wonder, Littlechild invites us to simply step inside, celebrate and explore.

George Littlechild now lives in British Columbia.

1998

Decolonizing the Archival Photograph, Indian Art Gallery, Hull, Quebec

Selected Works of George Littlechild, Peace Gallery North, Fort St. John, British Columbia

George Littlechild: Selected Works, Dawson Creek Art Gallery, Dawson Creek, British Columbia

1996

Mother Earth: Important to All, The Banff Centre Gallery, Banff, Alberta

Unity and Diversity in Arts & Culture, Prince George Art Gallery, Prince George, British Columbia

Heart Beat / Mother Earth, Derek Simpkins Gallery of Tribal Art, Vancouver, British Columbia

Voices of Vision . . . Resurgence, Art Gallery of the South Okanagan, Penticton, British Columbia; Derek Simpkins Gallery of Tribal Art, Vancouver, British Columbia

Abstracted on the Line, Grunt Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia

Who Speaks for the Rivers? Derek Simpkins Gallery of Tribal Art, Vancouver, British Columbia

We Are All Related, Surrey Art Gallery and Surrey Public Gallery, Surrey, British Columbia (travelling)

Dreamtime: The Other Side, Derek Simpkins Gallery of Tribal Art, Vancouver, British Columbia

Two Nations, One Voice: George Littlechild, Sidney & Gertrude Zack Gallery, Jewish Community Centre, Vancouver, British Columbia

First Nations Contemporary Art, Commonwealth Games 1994, Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, British Columbia

Spirit of the Plains Cree, Abokke Gallery, Kasama, Japan

Littlechild Paintings 1989-93, Sacred Circle Gallery, Day Break Star Indian Centre, Seattle, Washington

Night Sky Visions, Derek Simpkins Gallery of Tribal Art, Vancouver, British Columbia

Canadian Artists to the Benefit of the Olga Havel Foundation. Brenza Palace Gallery, Prague, Czechoslovakia

Canada's First People: A Celebration of Contemporary Native Visual Arts (travelling)

Conrad House,George Littlechild, Jane Ash Poitras: Paintings. Sacred Circle Gallery of American Indian Art, Daybreak Star Arts Centre, Seattle, Washington

Unending Journey, Visual Arts Museum, School of Visual Arts, New York

New Territories: 350 / 500 Years after, Les Maisons de la Culture, Montréal, Québec

George Littlechild, Otto Van De Loo Gallery, Munich, Germany

Chief Noah Muddy Bull and the Warriors, Front Gallery, Edmonton, Alberta

Bridging the Gap: Our Worlds Are One, Triangle Art Gallery, Calgary, Alberta

Cedar and Sweetgrass, Thunder Bay Art Gallery, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Public, Private Gatherings: Recent Acquisitions, Indian and Inuit Art Gallery, Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hull, Québec

George Littlechild, Otto Van de Loo Gallery, Munich, Germany

Proud Noble Warrior, Gallery of Tribal Art, Vancouver, British Columbia

Chief Noah Muddy Bull and The Warriors, The Front Gallery, Edmonton, Alberta

Regenerated Images, Dunlop Art Gallery, Regina, Saskatchewan

Ancestral Passages, Derek Simpkins Gallery of Tribal Art, Vancouver, British Columbia

Fear of Others: Art Against Racism, The New Gallery, Calgary, Alberta

Made in Canada, Virginia Christopher Galleries, Ltd., Calgary, Alberta

Red Horse, Red Indian, Thunder Bay Art Gallery, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Painted Indians, The Front Gallery, Edmonton, Alberta

Horse/Spirit/Helper/Guide, The Whyte Museum of The Canadian Rockies, Banff, Alberta

Painted Beads, The Front Gallery, Edmonton, Alberta

How the Mouse Got Brown Teeth and How the Birch Tree Got Its Shapes, Book Launch and Sale of Illustrations, The Front Gallery, Edmonton, Alberta

S E L E C T E D  C O L L E C T I O N S

Alberta Arts Foundation, Edmonton, Alberta
Alberta Indian Arts and Crafts Society, Edmonton, Alberta
Banff Centre for the Arts, Banff, Alberta
Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hull, Québec
Dunlop Art Gallery, Regina, Saskatchewan
Edmonton Art Gallery, Edmonton, Alberta
Esso Emerging Artists Collections, Calgary, Alberta
Native Business Venture Capital, Edmonton, Alberta
Surrey Art Gallery, Surrey, British Columbia
Thunder Bay Art Gallery, Thunder Bay, Ontario
Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario
University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta

S E L E C T E D   B I B L I O G R A P H Y

Ahenakew Freda, ed. How the Birch Tree Got its Stripes: A Cree Story for Children. Illustrated by George Littlechild; translated by Freda Ahenakew. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan: Fifth House, 1988.

Ahenakew Freda, ed. How the Mouse Got Brown Teeth: A Cree Story for Children. Illustrated by George Littlechild; translated by Freda Ahenakew. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan: Fifth House, 1988.

Ahenakew Freda, ed. Napesis ekwa apakosis acimowinis: atayohkewin. Illustrated by George Littlechild; translated by Freda Ahenakew. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan: Saskatchewan Indian Cultural Centre, 1988. [In Cree; English translation on p. 28. Story about a boy and a mouse. Written by Cree-speaking students in an intermediate Cree course at Saskatoon in 1982]

Alibhai, Amir Ali B., ed. George Littlechild. Surrey, British Columbia: Surrey Art Gallery, 1996.

"Ancestral passages." Vancouver Sun, 27 October 1990, p. D10. [Review: Derek Simpkins Gallery of Tribal Art, Vancouver, British Columbia]

"Artist transcends ravaged childhood, history (Profile)." Calgary Herald, 14 November 1989, p. E6.

"Award (Asum Mena) gives boost to George Littlechild. Windspeaker 4, no. 23 (15 August 1986): 13

"(Calgary) art show features five Native artists. Windspeaker 4, no. 46 (23 January 1987): 10.

"George Littlechild (Plains Cree ancestors)." Western Living (Vancouver Edition) 21, no. 1 (January 1991): 74.

Gustafson, Paula. "Dis-placed Indians: The sixties scoop." Artichoke: Writings About the Visual Arts 9, no. 2 (Summer 1997): 48-49. [Review: Surrey Art Gallery, Surrey, British Columbia]

Littlechild, George. George Littlechild: Red Horse / Red Indian. Thunder Bay, Ontario: Thunder Bay Art Gallery, 1990.

Littlechild, George. This Land is Your Land. San Francisco, California: Children's Book Press, 1993.

Littlechild, George. We are All Related: A Celebration of our Cultural Heritage. Vancouver, British Columbia: George T. Cunningham Elementary School, 1996.

Lunn, Dr. John, et al. Canada's First People: A Celebration of Contemporary Native Visual Arts. Fort McMurray, Alberta: Syncrude Canada; Alberta Part Art Publications Society, 1992.

Methot, Suzanne. "George Littlechild: Transformation and reclamation." Aboriginal Voices 5, no. 2 (March / April 1998): 37-40.

Michell, Patrick. "Littlechild's art reflects the tragedy of Indians in white society." Windspeaker 6, no. 22 (5 August 1988): 8.

"Painted beads." Windspeaker 7, no. 7 (21 April 1989): 14. [Review: Front Gallery, Edmonton, Alberta]

"Proud noble warrior." Vancouver Sun, 19 October 1991, p. D11. [Review: Derek Simpkins Gallery of Tribal Art, Vancouver, British Columbia]

Review: Anna Leonowens Gallery. Halifax Chronicle Herald, 18 March 1988, p. 3-E

Ryan, Allan J. "The Trickster Shift: A New Paradigm in Contemporary Canadian Native Art." Ph.D. diss., University of British Columbia, 1995.

"Past & recent work." Vancouver Sun, 21 September 1996, p. C5, C16. [Review: Surrey Art Gallery, Surrey, British Columbia]

"A story of pain behind the paintings." Vancouver Sun, 31 December 1993, p. D18.

"Titles, humor convey Littlechild's messages." Windspeaker 12, no. 19 (5 - 18 December 1994): 12.

Townshend, Nancy. Review: Glenbow Museum, Calgary, Alberta. Art Post 7, no. 2 (Winter / Spring 1990): 32-34.