(Brantford/Six Nations, ON) – Woodland Cultural Centre is pleased to announce a new exhibition by artist Anong Migwans Beam from the Campbell House Museum with Guest Curator Elka Weinstein. The enriched and inspiring art of Anong Migwan Beam will be on exhibit from March 19th, 2022 – May 21st, 2022.
Anong Migwans Beam grew up on Manitoulin Island, M’Chigeeng First Nations Reserve. Beam was born to two artist parents, Carl Beam, and Ann Beam. She was raised with a meaningful connection to both her artistic family roots and her rich ancestral heritage. Her work formats large oil paintings incorporating a multitude of image making approaches, including photo transfer, printmaking and collage which have been inspired by the physical history of her home, the natural 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 the actual paints that she uses.
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.
Thirteen works is a travelling exhibition coming from the Campbell House Museum. A downloadable exhibition catalogue is available. The largest painting Anong has worked on was the gesso layer for her dad Carl Beams painting ‘Time Warp’ when she was five. It’s currently in the collection of the National Gallery of Canada. Anong says, her largest work by far is ‘Deluge’ can be viewed in this exhibition.
A Meet & Greet will take place in-person on Saturday, April 23, 2022 at 2:00pm (pending Covid restrictions).
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Media Contact:
marketing@woodlandculturalcentre.ca
519-756-2650
