George Littlechild - Mixed Media

Mixed Media/paper

Teach Them the Way, 2008

mixed media/paper

15 x 22", framed

$2100.00 CDN

"You can change this world for the better"
Stephen Lewis, 2007

George Littlechild - What Could Be

What Could Be, 2007

mixed media/paper

22x30", unframed

$3600.00 CDN

George Littlechild - Cochise and the Big Ride

Cochise and the Big Ride, 2002

mixed media/canvas

22x29", framed

$3950.00 CDN

"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...."

Red Willow, 2005

22 color serigraph/paper

22x22.5", unframed

$950.00 CDN

Biography

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, descended from Plains Cree and Irish/Scottish lineages.

Littlechild's interest in his heritage has led to explorations of not only his own past, but also many socio-political issues related to his people, including the Reserve system and Residential schooling. He has a keen interest in Pan-American issues. His images, based upon his own roots and well-known personalities like Canada’s aboriginal poet Pauline Johnson or Kootenay Brown (an early resident of Waterton Lakes National Park), are a blend of digitally manipulated photographs and paintings. His subjects are placed in historical contexts that portray racial interaction, and the differences and similarities of the human condition. He challenges us to understand the complexity, past and present, experienced by people of mixed Caucasian and First Nations ancestry. George directs his art to those who want to 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. 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.

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. He teaches Fine Arts classes for ECIAD at North Island College. He is always willing to talk about art and life with children; they hold a special meaning for George. 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 art practice: Littlechild believes that each of us must know our past to experience the fullness of our future.

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 was largely responsible for nurturing his artistic and creative abilities. As a youngster, she sent him to art lessons, encouraged him to pursue his art throughout his school years, and insisted he go to Art College. His post-secondary educational achievements include a diploma in Art and Design from Red Deer College, a Bachelor of Fine Arts (1988) from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in Halifax, and independent study at the Banff Centre. After living and working in Edmonton for a number of years, George Littlechild now lives in British Columbia.

George has 26 solo exhibitions to his credit in Canada, the United States, Japan and Germany. He has illustrated and/or authored seven books, including the award winning publication This Land Is My Land. He has received awards as a mentor and role model, including VADA and Canada Council.

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

E X H I B I T I O N S

1998

We Are All Related: A Celebration of Our Cultural Heritage.
Surrey Art Gallery, Surrey, British Columbia

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

1997

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

George Littlechild: Past & Recent Work, Surrey Art Gallery, Surrey, British Columbia

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

1995

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)

1994

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

1993

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)

1992

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

1991

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

1990

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

1989

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

Painted Beads, The Front Gallery, Edmonton, Alberta

1988

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.

"Two nations, one voice [George Littlechild & Linda Dayan Frimer]." Vancouver Sun, 17 December 1994, p. D7. [Review: Sidney & Gertrude Zack Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia]