Artist Alex Janvier, who died this week, overcame harsh discipline at a residential school to become a member of the prestigious Indigenous Group of Seven.
The indigenous Group of Seven was formed in 1972 when a group of artists met in Winnipeg and formed an art collective of seven Indigenous artists. The seven were Daphne Odjig, Janvier, Norval Morrisseau, Jackson Beardy, Eddy Cobiness, Carl Ray and Joseph M. Sanchez.
All the members of the group came from Canada except for Sanchez, a White Mountain Apache who was living in Canada when the original group was formed.
Over the years, the talented group became known as the Indigenous Group of Seven and after Janvier’s passing only Sanchez remains. He has since moved back to the United States and now lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico where he continues to practise his art.
Janvier was born in 1935 on the Cold Lake First Nation in Alberta. He grew up in the Dene language and culture and, despite his years at residential school, his Dene heritage remained with him and influenced his work.
When he was eight years old, he was sent to Blue Quills school at Saint Paul, Alberta where he was able to draw and create in spite of the harsh discipline.
After high school, he attended the Alberta College of Art, now known as the Alberta University of the Arts. Here he was exposed to abstract art and the evolution of his art would begin.
While he produced many works for institutions, schools and individuals, two of his works stand out to me.
The piece requires the viewer to look straight up, it’s circular and shows the four directions with designs and bright colours that define the image. You can look at it over and over and see something new every time.
Janvier used bright colours and designs that come from Dene beadwork. His art is unique, and the sweeping designs are his own. “The language of the Creator is colour,” he stated in 2012.
Alex said that this piece was a tribute to the First Nations that inhabited the territory for generations. The blue and yellow are an expression of joy and represent the sunshine and blue sky.
I was present at the inauguration, covering it for an Indigenous art series that aired on APTN. I knew Alex in the late 1960s when I was a young reporter. Alex was a struggling artist who would often stop by and visit. I found him very bright, but humble and eager to learn.
He saw Gretzky as another person and treated him as such. He wasn’t starstruck. Rich or poor, famous or otherwise, he saw the good in people and treated everyone as equal.
His art reflects his egalitarian attitude. His work is displayed in art galleries and other important venues. But it also hangs on the walls of band offices and schools. The Onion Lake school in Saskatchewan has one of his murals on the outside wall.
Alex was an independent thinker, which is an important post-colonial state of being. We have been indoctrinated at residential schools, bullied by churches and bossed around or patronized by governments and institutions. Alex knew this and his work reflected his sense of freedom.
“I am a free man because I can create,” he wrote in 2016. “I thank the Great Spirit for my family and for being able to express myself through my paintings.
Doug Cuthand is the Indigenous affairs columnist for the Saskatoon StarPhoenix and the Regina Leader-Post. He is a member of the Little Pine First Nation.
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