Ancient Relics, circa 1980

Private Collection, Toronto

Greg A. Hill, “Alex Janvier”, Ottawa, 2016, page 18

Alex Janvier ranks among the most acclaimed contemporary artists in Canada. A residential school survivor, Janvier embraced art– making as a form of solace in childhood. Showing an early aptitude for art, he went on to study at the Southern Alberta Institute of Art and Technology in the 1950s. There he encountered the influence of European modernists including Wassily Kandinsky and Joan Miró. Janvier’s practice also drew from the rich cultural and spiritual traditions of the Dene in northern Alberta. Always a highly–original artist, Janvier’s work has incorporated both representation and abstraction to explore personal, political and spiritual themes. In “Ancient Relics”, Janvier’s lively painted forms radiate outwards from the centre of the picture, shimmering and dancing with boundless, restless energy. The colourful, painted shapes contrast with the bare linen of the background. Janvier’s abstractions possess an endless fluidity, while seeming on the verge of settling into recognizable images. Curator Greg Hill noted, “Spirituality is also evident in Janvier’s work in subtle ways, such as in his characteristic sinuous lines. The lines... are reminiscent of the graceful and ever–changing movement of tobacco smoke and steam intermixing in shafts of light, or the dance of the aurora borealis spanning an entire night sky, the movement and patterns transcribed to feelings, colour and paint.” Janvier’s distinctive paintings allude to nature, indigenous culture, and spirituality. With its descriptive title, “Ancient Relics” hints at mysterious, elemental forces.