Poisson

Dominion Gallery, Montreal Private Collection, British Columbia

Dominion Gallery, Montreal, 1975

Morrisseau was a member of the “Indian Group of Seven”, a group of Indigenous artists including the Woodland School artists, Daphne Odjig, Jackson Beardy, Eddy Cobiness, Alex Janvier, Carl Ray, and Joseph Sanchez. After the formation of the group in 1973, exhibitions of the artists’ work travelled from Vancouver through to Ottawa and Montreal, exhibiting their work and introducing an Aboriginal voice to the discourse of fine art and Canadian art history. This vibrant canvas was exhibited with Dominion Gallery, Montreal in 1975 with other works from the Indian Group of Seven. Drawing on his Anishinaabe culture, fish figured prominently in the sustenance of these First Nation peoples, given the geographical location around the Lake Nipigon-Thunder Bay region extending North and West from Lake Superior region. The thick black fluid contour lines connect one figure to the next as a visual representation of the interconnectivity of all living beings. The painting acts as a record of history and culture of the Ojibway and their strong connection to the land.