Wagon Burner, This! Princess Moonrider, That!
Maria Hupfield, Terrance Houle
A Space Main Gallery
September 15 – October 21, 2006
Opening September 15, 2006, 7:00 pm–9:00 pm
Copresented by: imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival
Interactive Performance Friday September 15, 7:30 PM
Artist Talk Saturday September 16, 2 PM
Interactive Performance October 20, 6:30 – 9 PM
Woodlands Ojibway meets Prairies Blackfoot/Saulteaux in the Big Smoke. This two-person collaborative exhibit works to reclaim images of First Peoples within the media and popular culture. Maria Hupfield’s work advances her previous investigations into memory, location and history in a sculptural installation that references iconic representations of the “Indian princess” and canoes. Terrance Houle’s video installation plays on the troupe of Indians as “wagon burners.” Using satire, irony and humour, these artist’s works share larger concerns about their position as artists working within an urban context while maintaining a connection to culture, community and land.
Biographies
Maria Hupfield is a conceptual artist working in sculpture, installation and performance. From the Martin Clan of Wasauksing First Nation, Hupfield is an art educator and community arts and culture programmer living in Toronto, where she bases her art practice. She currently teaches part time at the University of Toronto. Hupfield has a MFA in Sculpture from York University and an Honours BA Specialist in Art and Art History from the University of Toronto and Sheridan College. Her work has recently shown in New York City, Vancouver, Toronto and Calgary.
Terrance Houle is an internationally recognized interdisciplinary media artist and a member of the Blood Tribe. A graduate of the Alberta College of Art & Design, Houle has developed an extensive portfolio that ranges from painting and drawing to video/film, mixed media, performance and installation. His works have been shown in Calgary, Vancouver and Toronto and internationally in Brisbane, Australia, and Warwickshire, England. In the fall of 2003 Terrance participated in a Thematic Residency at the Banff Centre of the Arts, which focused on 34 indigenous people working on issues of colonization and communion. Currently Houle works and maintains his art practice in Calgary.