Additional Images

Provenance:

Acquired directly from the artist
Private Collection, Halifax, NS

Note:

Known for his steady calligraphic lines and bright colour palette, Janvier’s prolific paintings draw inspiration from his Denesuline heritage and culture. His work is a nod to the traditional imagery of his ancestors, yet is painted through a contemporary lens.

Janvier’s acclaimed style developed as a result of his childhood experiences and education. At eight years old, he was sent to Blue Quills Indian Residential School, Alberta. He spent ten years separated from his land, language, community, belief system and identity. Janvier then went on to receive formal art training at the Provincial Institute of Technology and Art in Calgary (now the Alberta College of Art and Design) in 1960, studying under Canadian painter Marion Nicoll. Janvier was encouraged to pursue automatic painting, as he sourced inspiration from Western abstract painters, Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee and Joan Miró. There is freedom in the expression of automatic painting: a breakthrough from restriction and a liberation of control. This sense of freedom is prevalent in Janvier’s work.

Alex Janvier has made lasting contributions as a painter, muralist, activist and teacher. In the early 1970’s, Janvier formed the Professional Native Indian Artists Inc. (PNIAI) with six other artists: Jackson Beardy, Daphne Odjig, Eddy Cobiness, Norval Morrisseau, Carl Ray and Joseph Sánchez to promote and advocate for emerging Indigenous artists. A year after Cherry Cheers was produced, Janvier was made a member of the Order of Canada (2007). The following year he received the Governor General’s Award for Visual and Media Arts. The National Gallery of Canada ran a major retrospective dedicated to Alex Janvier from 2016-2017.

With his family, Janvier currently runs The Janvier Gallery, located in Cold Lake First Nations, Alberta.