Goyce Kakegamic
(1948-2021) - Artist Biography
Cree artist Goyce Kakegamic, was born in Sandy Lake, Ontario in 1948. His sister was married to the Ojibwe artist Norval Morrisseau who, after successfully selling his work in Toronto and elsewhere, encouraged teenage Goyce and his brother Joshim to try their hands at painting.
Over the years, another Cree artist, Carl Ray, as well as Jackson Beardy, Alex Janvier and Daphne Odjig mentored the young men. Although the brothers sold their original works, they had entered into an arrangement with a southern Ontario screen printer who took advantage of them. After learning printmaking techniques at Open Studio in Toronto, Goyce and his brothers Joshim and Henry Kakegamic opened the Triple K Co-Operative, a silk screening company in Red Lake. Their intention was to represent themselves (as well as other native artists like Barry and Paddy Peters, Saul Williams and Norval Morrisseau) on their own terms, rather than deferring to the needs and expectations of non-Indigenous publishers. Triple K was modelled after one of Daphne Odjig's companies - Indian Prints of Canada Ltd. which she had set up in 1970.
Shortly after opening for business, Triple K decided to focus exclusively on producing limited edition silkscreen prints from drawings designed specifically by their artists for the silkscreening process. The production of these high quality prints made the new "woodland" imagery affordable and available to prospective buyers across the country.
Throughout the 70's and 80's while in Red Lake, Goyce worked as a school counsellor in addition to creating his art. His first exhibition was a two-person show with his brother Josh at Toronto's Aggregation Gallery in 1974. Several exhibitions followed, including at the McMichael and the Woodland Cultural/Educational Center in Brantford, Ontario. Goyce Kakegamic served as the Deputy Grand Chief of Nishnawbe Aski Nation and lived in Thunder Bay, Ontario for most of his life.
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
1970: ”Woodland Indian Art Exhibition" at Canada House in London, England
1970: “Woodland Indian Art Exhibition”, Lahr, Germany
1974: Wynick/Tuck Gallery (before known as Aggregation Gallery), Toronto, Ontario
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
The Canadian Museum of Civilization, Gatineau, Quebec, Canada
The McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Vaughan, Ontario, Canada
