George Littlechild

Country/Region: Cree (view other artists)

George Littlechild received a diploma in art and design from Red Deer College in 1984, and a BFA from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, Halifax, in 1988. His mixed-media paintings record his personal and family history, as well as his reclamation and reconnection with his ancestral culture. Littlechild believes colours possess spiritual cleansing and purifying power, and is known for his finesse as a colourist as well as his collaging of haunting vintage photographs.


George Littlechild was awarded a scholarship from the Alberta Indian Arts and Crafts Society, and has been honoured with many awards including:
1994 Jane Addams Children’s Book Award (for This Land is My Land
1996 The British Columbia Cultural Services Award
2006 Aboriginal Role Models of Alberta Award
2006 Art Starts Award, Outstanding champion for the arts in British Columbia schools and communities
2007 The Alberta Aboriginal Achievement Award


SELECTED EXIBITIONS

1990

Regenerated Images, Dunlop Art Gallery, Regina, SK
Ancestral Passages, Derek Simpkins Gallery of Tribal Art, Vancouver, BC
Fear of Others: Art Against Racism, The New Gallery, Calgary, AB
Made in Canada, Virginia Christopher Galleries, Ltd., Calgary, AB

1992

Conrad House, George Littlechild, Jane Ash Poitras: Paintings, Sacred Circle Gallery of American Indian Art, Daybreak Start Arts Centre, Seattle, WA
Unending Journey, Visual Arts Museum, School of Visual Arts, New York, NY
New Territories: 350 / 500 Years after, Les Maisons de la Culture, Montréal, Québec
George Littlechild, Otto Van De Loo Gallery, Munich, Germany
Chief Noah Muddy Bull and the Warriors, Front Gallery, Edmonton, AB
Bridging the Gap: Our Worlds Are One, Triangle Gallery, Edmonton, AB
Cedar and Sweetgrass, Thunder Bay Art Gallery, Thunder Bay, ON
Public, Private Gatherings: Recent Acquisitions, Indian and Inuit Art Gallery, Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hull, Québec

1993

Spirit of the Plains Cree, Abokke Gallery, Kasama, Japan
Littlechild Paintings: 1989 - 1993, Sacred Circle Gallery, Day Break Star Indian Centre, Seattle, WA
Night Sky Visions, Derek Simpkins Gallery of Tribal Art, Vancouver, BC
Canadian Artists to the Benefit of the Olga Havel Foundation, Brenza Palace Gallery, Prague, Czechoslovakia
Canada's First Peoples: A Celebration of Contemporary Native Visual Arts (travelling exhibition)

1994

Dreamtime: The Other Side, Derek Simpkins Gallery of Tribal Art, Vancouver, BC
Two Nations, One Voice: George Littlechild, Sidney & Gertrude Zack Gallery, Jewish Community Centre, Vancouver, BC
First Nations Contemporary Art, Commonwealth Games

1994, Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Victoria, BC

1995

Heart Beat / Mother Earth, Derek Simpkins Gallery of Tribal Art, Vancouver, BC
Voices of Vision... Resurgence, Art Gallery of South Okanagan, Penticton, BC; Derek Simpkins Gallery of Tribal Art, Vancouver, BC
Abstracted on the Line, Grunt Gallery, Vancouver, BC
Who Speaks for the Rivers?, Derek Simpkins Gallery of Tribal Art, Vancouver, BC
We Are All Related, Surrey Art Gallery and Surrey Public Gallery, Surrey, BC (travelling)

1996

George Littlechild: Past and Recent Work, Surrey Art Gallery, Surrey, BC
Mother Earth: Important to All, The Banff Centre Gallery, Banff, AB
Unity and Diversity in Arts & Culture, Prince George Art Gallery, Prince George, BC
We Are All Related: A Celebration of Our Cultural Heritage, Surrey Art Gallery, Surrey, BC

1997

George Littlechild: Selected Works, Dawson Creek Art Gallery, Dawson Creek, BC
Selected Works of George Littlechild, Peace Gallery North, Fort St. John, BC

1998

We Are All Related: A Celebration of Our Cultural Heritage, Surrey Art Gallery, Surrey, BC

1998-99 De-Colonizing the Archival Photograph, Indian Art Gallery, Hull, PQ

1999 Prayer Offerings, Bear Claw Gallery, Edmonton
AB

2000

Seven Warriors/Star Nation, Bear Claw Gallery, Edmonton, AB
Reclaiming History, Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Halifax, NS
Stole the Tee Pee, George Gustav Haye Centre, New York, NY
Four Circles/ Soaring Visions Travelling, Canada and Australia

2002

Naspisihcikan House of First Voices, Aboriginal Art Gallery, Victoria, BC
Just Like Me,Texarkana Arts and Humanities, Texarkana, TX
Between You and Me, Museum London, London ON
Dust on the Road, Round House Gallery, Vancouver, BC
Fluff & Feathers, Beads & Braids, Edmonton Art Gallery, Edmonton, AB
Everyday Light, Thunder Bay Art Gallery, Thunder Bay, ON
Gallery Artists, John Ramsay Gallery, Vancouver, BC

2003

Everyday Light, Thunder Bay Art Gallery, Thunder Bay, ON
Everyday Light, Urban Shaman Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba

2004

Just Like Me, Courthouse Galleries, Portsmouth, Virginia
Just Like Me, Teton County Library, Jackson, Wyoming
Legends of Our Times, National Museum of the North American Indian, Washington, D.C.

2005

Time and Place, Alcheringa Gallery, Victoria, BC
Everyday Light, Fort William Historical Park, East House, Thunder Bay, ON
"About Face" Self Portraits by Native American & First Nations Artists, Wheelwright Museum of The North American Indian, Santa Fe, New Mexico
25 Years. 25 Artists 1980-2005, Richmond Art Gallery, Richmond, BC
All the Beautiful Horses, Comox Art Gallery, Comox, BC
Rise up, look around you, tell your story, Edmonton Art Gallery, Edmonton, AB
Just Like Me, Acadiana Arts Council, Lafayette, Louisiana

2006

Everyday Light, The Station Gallery, Whitby, ON
Home of the Brave, Home of the Warrior, Bearclaw Gallery, Edmonton, AB

2007

Apisasisin, Alcheringa Gallery, Victoria, BC

2008
Many Winters Ago, Castallani Art Museum, Niagara University, New York.

2008
Honouring Tradition : Reframing Native Art, Glenbow Museum, Calgary, AB

2008
Stories Of Our Time, Artists for kids Gallery, North Vancouver, BC

2008
Red Tile, Art Gallery of Alberta, Edmonton, AB


2009/2010
A Bird in the Hand, Alberta Art Gallery, Alberta Art Foundation Traveling Exhibition Program, AB

2009
Alternation, Harbourfront Center Art Gallery, Toronto, ON

2010
Four Stars from the permanent Collection, Thunder Bay Art Gallery, Thunder Bay, ON
2011
Reimagining Kateri Tekakwitha, Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, Sante Fe, New Mexico, USA
2011
MAG First Nations Art Collection, Red Deer Museum & Art Gallery, Red Deer, AB

SELECTED COLLECTIONS

Alberta Arts Foundation, Edmonton, AB
Alberta Indian Arts and Crafts Society, Edmonton, AB
Banff Centre for the Arts, Banff, AB
Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hull, Québec
Dunlop Art Gallery, Regina, SK
Edmonton Art Gallery, Edmonton, AB
Esso Emerging Artists Collections, Calgary, AB
Native Business Venture Capital, Edmonton, AB
Surrey Art Gallery, Surrey, BC
Thunder Bay Gallery, Thunder Bay, ONT
Trent University, Peterborough, ONT
University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB
University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Ahenakew, Freda, ed. How the Birch Tree Got it's Stripes: A Cree Story for Children. Illustrated by George Littlechild; translated by Freda Ahenakew. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan: Fifth House, 1988

Ahenakew, Freda, ed. How the Mouse Got Brown Teeth: A Cree Story for Children. Illustrated by George Littlechild; translated by Freda Ahenakew. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan: Fifth House, 1988

Ahenakew, Freda, ed. Napesis ekwa apakosis acimowinis: atayohkewin. Illustrated by George Littlechild; translated by Freda Ahenakew. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan: Saskatchewan Indian Cultural Centre, 1988 [In Cree; English translation on p.28. Story about a boy and a mouse. Written by Cree-speaking students in an intermediate Cree course at Saskatoon in 1982]

Alibhai, Amir Ali B., ed. George Littlechild. Surrey, BC: Surrey Art Gallery, 1996

"Ancestral Passages." Vancouver Sun, 27 October 1990, p. D10. [Review Derek Simpkins Gallery of Tribal Art, Vancouver BC]

"Artist transcends ravaged childhood, history (Profile)." Calgary Herald, 14 November, 1989 p. E6

"Award (Asum Mena) gives boost to George Littlechild. Windspeaker 4, no. 23 (15 August 1986): 13

"(Calgary) art show features five Native artists. Windspeaker 4, no.46 (23 January 1987): 10

"George Littlechild (Plains Cree ancestors)." Western Living (Vancouver Edition) 21, no. 1 (January 1991): 74

Gustafson, Paula "Dis-placed Indians: The Sixties Scoop." Artichoke: Writings About the Visual Arts 9, no. 2 (Summer 1997): 48-49 [Review: Surrey Art Gallery, Surrey, BC]

Littlechild, George. George Littlechild: Red Horse/Red Indian. Thunder Bay, Ontario: Thunder Bay Art Gallery, 1990

Littlechild, George. This Land is Your Land. San Francisco, CA: Children's Book Press 1993

Littlechild, George. We are All Related: A Celebration of our Cultural Heritage. Vancouver, BC: George T. Cunningham Elementary School, 1996

Lunn, Dr. John, et al. Canada's First People: A Celebration of Contemporary Native Visual Arts. Fort McMurray, Alberta: Syncrude Canada; Alberta Part Art Publications Society, 1992

Methot, Suzanne. "George Littlechild: Transformation and reclamation" Aboriginal Voices 5, no. 2 (March/April 1998): 37-40

Michell, Patrick. "Littlechild's art reflects the tragedy of Indians in white society." Windspeaker 6, no. 22 (5 August 1988): 8

"Painted Beads" Windspeaker 7, no. 7 (21 April 1989): 14 [Review: Front Gallery, Edmonton, Alberta)

"Proud noble warrior." Vancouver Sun, 19 October, 1991, p. D11 [Review: Derek Simpkins Gallery of Tribal Art, Vancouver BC)

Review: Anna Leonowens Gallery. Halifax Chronicle Herald, 18 March 1988, p. 3-E

Ryan, Allan J. The Trickster Shift: A New Paradigm in Contemporary Canadian Native Art, Ph.D. diss, University of British Columbia, 1995

"Past and Recent Work." Vancouver Sun, 21 September 1996, p. C5, C16. [Review: Surrey Art Gallery, Surrey, BC]

"A Story of Pain behind the paintings" Vancouver Sun, 31 December 1993, D. 18

"Titles, humor convey Littlechild's messages" Windspeaker 12, no. 19 (5-18 December 1994): 12

Townshend, Nancy. Review: Glenbow Museum, Calgary, AB. Art Post 7, no. 2 (Winter/Spring 1990): 32-34

"Two nations, one voice [George Littlechild & Linda Dayan Frimer]." Vancouver Sun, 17 December 1994, p. D7 [Review: Sidney & Gertrude Zack Gallery, Vancouver, BC]

VIEW SHORT BIOGRAPHY