Nadia Myre Curator: Rhonda Meier Cont(r)act : New work by Nadia Myre
Nadia Myre, détail de l’exposition Cont(r)act: New Work par Nadia Myre
Vernissage on Saturday, May 18, at 5 pm
“Cont(r)act: New Work by Nadia Myre circulates between the verbal or physical object which is a contract, and the action signified by contact. As indicated by the parentheses in the title, one word physically contains the other. Thus, the touch of a pen upon paper is transformed to the meeting of two entities, the passing of a glance between two pairs of eyes, the exchange of a handshake, the sexual pressing of flesh, or the touch of a ship’s hull upon the boulders of a New ‘Found’ land.” – Rhonda Meier
“Cont(r)act examines the lines that separate and bind us; the border crossings of one Nation to another, and more specifically my own ever-negotiated identity. The body of work I am currently in the trenches with is personal, as I insert myself into Indian culture. Reclaiming a history untold to me, I am the archaeologist digging it up. I use iconic artefacts such as the birch bark canoe, the wampum belt and the Indian Act ( R.S.C. 1985, c 1-5) as tools to contemplate a plausible history. With this in mind the pieces freeze the transmutable self.” – Nadia Myre
Nadia Myre, détail de l’exposition Cont(r)act: New Work par Nadia Myre
Reinstated under bill C-31, Nadia Myre is an Algonkin (Kitigan Zibi Anishnabeg) who was born in Montréal. She is a graduate of the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design, where she expanded her skills of tongue-in-cheek and learned the seriousness of for-play. Recent exhibitions include Riding Lines (Indian Art Centre, Hull, Québec) and Artistes Autochtones – 1999 – Native Artists (Université de Montréal) . A former professor at the White Mountain Academy of Fine Arts, she is a recipient of grants from the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec and the Canada Council.
Rhonda Meier is the founder of dark horse productions, a collective including Robert Houle and Audra Simpson which will publish a catalogue on the work of Nadia Myre. A freelance consultant, curator and writer, she is also employed at the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal. She wrote entries for the website and contributed to the book First Nations Artists in Canada: A Biographical/Bibliographical Guide, 1960 to 1999 by Joan Reid Acland.