by Barbara Black

Concordia celebrated the first anniversary of the Gail and Stephen A. Jarislowsky Institute for Studies in Canadian Art and its first publication at the Montreal Museum of Contemporary Art on April 4.

An appreciative audience of about 50 people enjoyed a talk by Institute Chair François-Marc Gagnon about First Nations iconography, followed by the main address by Associate Professor Joan Reid Acland.

Dr. Acland has written a reference book, First Nations Artists in Canada: A Biographical/Bibliographical Guide, 1960 to 1999, which is the first publication by the Institute. The book was recently awarded the Melva J. Dwyer Award by the Art Librarians Association of North American in recognition of its contribution to Canadian art research.

First Nations Artists in Canada covers a period in which aboriginal artists in Canada were coming into their own. For the most part academically trained, they began to explore their own history and traditions, and use this knowledge to make powerful statements about contemporary native life.

A book-signing and a discussion period followed Dr. Acland’s talk. As it enters its second year, the Institute continues to sponsor public lectures, research programs and other efforts to spread the word about Canada’s rich art history.

Professor Gagnon is an entertaining and knowledgeable lecturer on Canadian art.

He will give a series of free public lectures at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts on Sherbrooke St., just up the street from Concordia’s downtown campus. The lectures take place at 3:30 in the afternoon on Tuesdays in French, and at the same time on Thursdays in English.

Following is a schedule for the lectures he will be giving in English:

• May 16: Lawren Harris – From Landscape to Abstraction
• May 23: Marian Scott – Technique, Science and Abstraction
• May 30: Borduas – Surrealism and the Non-Figurative Interior
• June 6: Riopelle – From Abstraction to Figuration
• June 13: Fernand Leduc – From Lyrical Abstraction to Geometric Abstraction
• June 20: The Plasticiens and Non-Referential Art