Daphne Odjig

Daphne Odjig

Daphne Odjig (1911-2016) - Biography

Internationally renowned and celebrated First Nations artist Daphne Odjig, known as the grandmother of Canadian Indigenous art, was born in 1919 on the Wikwemikong Reserve on Manitoulin Island. Her heritage was composed of Odawa, Potawatomi and English roots, which were revealed to Daphne Odjig as a child on sketching excursions with her tombstone-carver grandfather, Jonas. He taught her the legends of her ancestors and the use of the curvilinear design for which she has become revered.

Daphne Odjig was a self-taught artist who began painting and drawing at a young age; however it wasn't until the 1960's that she began to deliberately exhibit her artwork. She felt compelled to instruct the young native peoples about their heritage, just as her grandmother had done. She began to focus her art-making upon the legends, joys and realities of Indigenous life while simultaneously refining her signature style of vibrant colours, soft contours outlined in black, overlapping shapes and modernist, abstracted figuration.

Daphne Odjig established the first native-run fine art print house in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1971. Known as 'Odjig Indian Prints,' this print house was so successful that it evolved into a Contemporary Indigenous gallery space in 1974, called the New Warehouse Gallery, run by Odjig and her husband, Chester Beavon. She was one of the founding members of the first Canadian Native-run printmaking operation, the Canadian Professional Native Indian Artists Inc., colloquially known as the "Indian Group of Seven." This group consisted of Daphne Odjig, Norval Morrisseau, Carl Ray, Alex Janvier Jackson Beardy, Eddy Cobiness and Joseph Sanchez.

Daphne Odjig has received numerous awards include eight honorary doctorates, an appointment to the Order of Canada, election to the Royal Canadian Academy of Art and the 2007 Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts. In addition, she was presented with an Eagle Feather by Chief Wakageshig in 1978 on behalf of the Wikwemikong Reserve in recognition of her artistic accomplishments - an honour previously reserved for men to acknowledge prowess in hunt or war. Documentaries by the CBC, the National Film Board and Tokyo Television have been made about Daphne Odjig and she has completed commissions for Expo 1970 in Japan, the Royal Ontario Museum, and the twenty-seven foot mural at the Museum of Civilization entitled The Indian in Transition. In 1984, her works were featured in a group exhibtion entitled: The Image Makers at the Art Gallery of Ontario. In 2007, she has a retrospective exhibition, organized by the Art Gallery of Sudbury and the National Gallery of Canada, entitled The Drawings and Paintings of Daphne Odjig, A Retrospective Exhibition.

Recent Major Exhibitions
Daphne Odjig: Four Decades of Prints
Touring exhibition of limited edition prints organized by the Kamloops Art Gallery
- Kamloops Art Gallery, Kamloops BC, June 8 – Aug 31, 2005
- Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg MN, April 22 – July 16, 2006
- Canadian Museum of Civilization, Ottawa January 18 – April 20, 2008

The Drawings and Paintings of Daphne Odjig: A Retrospective Exhibition
Touring exhibition organized by Art Gallery of Sudbury and National Gallery of Canada
- Art Gallery of Sudbury, Sudbury ON September 15 – November 11, 2007
- Kamloops Art Gallery, Kamloops BC June 8 – August 31, 2008
- McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinberg ON Oct. 4 , 2008 – Jan 4, 2009
- Institute of American Indian Arts Museum, Santa Fe NM, June 26 – Sept. 20, 2009
- National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa October 23, 2009 – January 3, 2010
- McKenzie Art Gallery, Regina SK, February 6 – May 15, 2010

Awards and Honours:
Visual Arts:
1963 Member of the British Columbia Federation of Artists
1971 Arts Grant for tour and exhibition of Paintings at the Smotra Folklore Festival, Zagreb, Yugoslavia.
1973 Swedish Brucebo Foundation Scolarship and resident Artist at the Foundation Studio, Visby, Island of Gotland, Sweden
1973 Manitoba Arts Council Bursary
1989 Elected Member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Art ( R.C.A.)
1993 Presented Eagle Feather by SCANA (Society of Canadian Artists of Native Ancestry) at the 5th National Native Symposium, Halifax NS
2002 Canada Post – Genesis Christmas Stamp
2007 Governor General’s Laureate, Visual & Media Arts. This award is Canada’s highest honour in the field of Visual Arts.

Academia:
1982 Doctor of Letters, honoris causa, conferred by Laurentian University, Sudbury ON
1985 Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, conferred by the University of Toronto, Toronto ON
1993 Doctor of Education, honoris causa, conferred by Nipissing University, North Bay, ON
2002 Doctor of Letters, honoris causa, conferred by Okanagan University College, Kelowna, BC, 08.06.02
2007 Doctor of Letters, honoris causa conferred by Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops, BC (8.06.07)
2008 Doctor of Fine Arts, honoris causa conferred by The Ontario College of Art and Design, Toronto (23.05.08)
2008 Doctor of Laws, honoris causa conferred by the University of Western Ontario, London Ontario (12.06.08)

Leadership and Service:
1977 Canada Silver Jubilee Medal
1978 Presented Eagle Feather by Chief Wakageshig on behalf of the Wikwemikong Unceded IndianReserve in recognition of Artistic Accomplishment, an honour previously reserved for men to acknowledge prowess in hunting or war.
1986 Appointed to the Order of Canada, C.M.
1988–93 Honorary Board Member of the Canada Heritage Foundation
1992 Commemorative Medal for the 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada
1993 Presented Certificate of Honour by the En’Owkin Centre and Canada’s Drug Strategy Program, Penticton, BC
1996 Honorary Patron of the Ojibway Cultural Foundation capital campaign, West Bay, ON
1998 National Aboriginal Achievement Award, Toronto, Ontario
2002 Queen Elizabeth II - Commemorative Golden Jubilee Medal
2003 Expression Award – National Film Board of Canada in recognition of work that champions Canadian cultural diversity.
2004 The Art Show , a play about Daphne Odjig’s life and art by Alanis King, produced by Native Earth Performing Arts, premiers inToronto, ON
2007 Catalogue forThe Drawings and Paintings of Daphne Odjig: A Retrospective Exhibition published in Ojibwe as well as English and French, the first time the National Gallery of Canada has published a catalogue in a First Nations language.
2007 Appointed to the Order of British Columbia, Victoria BC (14.06.07)
2007 Crowfoot Mountain Expedition organized in Odjig’s honour (29.07.07)
2008 Lifetime Achievement Award, Okanagan Arts Awards (15.02.08)
2008 Honourary Fellowship, Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada. Calgary AB (26.06.08)

In 2011, Canada Post issued a three-stamp Art Canada issue which celebrates her work and includes three paintings representing her powerful style. The paintings featured are: Pow-wow Dancer, 1978, on the Canadian stamp, Pow-wow, 1969, on the US stamp and Spiritual Renewal, 1984, on the international stamp. Daphne Odjig passed away on October 1st, 2016 at the Cottonwoods Care Centre in Kelowna, B.C. at the age of 97. Her artwork will remind those of her distinctive contributions to Canadian art, which will continue to inspire others for generations to come.