Anong Migwans Beam
Anong Migwans Beam - Biography
Anong Migwans Beam is a painter from Mchigeeng First Nation on Manitoulin Island and is inspired by the physical history of place, the natural landscape, and the relationship between water and memory. Anong was born to artist parents, Carl Beam and Ann Beam, who encouraged her to develop as an artist. She was raised with a meaningful connection to both her artistic familial roots and rich ancestral heritage.
Beam's oil paintings incorporate a multitude of image making approaches, including photo transfer, printmaking and collage which have been inspired by the physical history of her home, it's surrounding landscapes, and the relationship between water and memory. Anong has not only used her homeland as an inspiration for her work but also for creating her own oil paints, which are sourced from local pigments and minerals.
In addition to her artistic work, Beam has been actively involved in her local community and is well known for her curatorial work. In 2007 Beam was one of the founders of Gimaa Radio Communications, an English and Ojibwe language radio station in M'Chigeeng First Nation. The station is focused on Ojibwe language preservation and local Indigenous musical performances. From 2016-2017 Beam served as the Art Director of the Ojibwe Cultural Foundation and in 2017 she transitioned to become the Executive Director. Later that same year, Beam also launched her own line of watercolour and oil paints known as BEAM Paints. Beam has also been an outspoken advocate for the preservation of Indigenous archaeology and Indigenous ceramics within local communities.
Recent Solo Exhibitions:
2020 - 2022: Anong Migwans Beam at Campbell House, Toronto ON (travelling to Woodland Cultural Centre, Brantford (2021), Midland Cultural Centre (2022).
2018: New Works on Canvas, The Spoke Club, Toronto, ON
2016: 63 Views of Dreamers Rock, Beaverbrook Art Gallery,, Fredericton, NB
2016: Submerged Landscapes, Station Gallery, Whitby, ON
2014: Reservoir, Latcham Gallery, Stouffvile, ON
2012: Watershed, Art Gallery of Sudbury, Sudbury, ON
2007: The Return Home, Gary Farmer Gallery of Contemporary Art, Santa Fe, NM
2003: New Works, Ojibwe Cultural Foundation, M'Chigeeng, ON
2002: Evolver", Gallery On Herald, Victoria, BC
Special Talks:
2022: Gathering Colour: Anong Migwans Beam, Art Gallery of Ontario, presented in partnership with AIC 2022: Sensing Colour, midterm meeting of the International Colour Organization (AIC), organized by the Colour Research Society of Canada
Residencies:
2016: September St Thomas University, Fredericton, NB
2016: A Mentor for the Toni Onely Artist Project, Wells, BC
2015: International Oil Painting Monoprint residency, Croatia
2014: International Oil Painting Monoprint residency Zhangjiajie, China
2012: International Oil Painting Residency, Pullman Zhangjiajie, China
2011: MMMArt, Medana, Slovenia
Permanent Collections:
Archives of Ontario Queens Park Legislature
Art Gallery of Peterborough
Beaverbrook Art Gallery, New Brunswick
Ford Foundation, New York, NY
Art Gallery of Sudbury
Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Halifax, NS
Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, Santa Fe, NM
Ojibwe Cultural Foundation, M'Chigeeng, ON
Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery, Waterloo, ON
Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, ON
Artist Specialization: Anong Beam writes: “I have been painting memories, my practice has always centered around water and how it holds and contains us and is silent witness again and again to all events, constantly renewed and present in us, as it was for our ancestors.” Anong uses her paintings to reclaim images of where she lived. All around her home, even on the reserve the waterfront belongs to non-native families, who have held them for years. Beam states: “It’s strange to live somewhere and be of a place so fundamentally, but seeing it in a way that isolates my culture”. These paintings are to reclaim where she lives and relate them back to herself and culture.
