Preface

IT HAS BEEN A REAL PRIVILEGE to write this book.I admit it has been in the making for decades, during which time I have gathered material, interviewed artists, curated exhibitions, and written about work in various books, catalogues, and articles.My goal in these pages is to bring the depth, scope, and importance of the creativity of Western Canadian artists to the fore.Much groundbreaking art in all media has been created in our four western provinces, spelling new directions for Canadian art as a whole.In reality the excellence of art from the region is far too vast to cover in one volume.Nonetheless, I felt it was important to address some of the key ideas, themes, and significant milestones in Canadian art that have emanated from Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia.Excellent exhibition catalogues, monographs, and volumes dedicated to art in individual provinces abound, but the literature on Canadian art has been missing an overview of the West as a whole.I hope Western Voices in Canadian Art fills that gap, and meets my commitment fifty years ago to author and art historian Russell Harper, who, in 1970, challenged me to write about the work of Western Canadian artists.In a volume such as this many artists and much strong and substantive work cannot be included.For that I am sorry, and I am all too aware of omissions.Space was limited and selections were difficult.In the end decisions were based on my years working with Western Canadian art.My curatorial career began as Manitoba was celebrating its Centennial year and has been spent in the West since.It therefore seems fitting that this manuscript was submitted to the University of Manitoba Press fifty years later, in Manitoba's 150th anniversary year, and on the eve of British Columbia's 150th in 2021.The diversity in Western Canadian art includes the richness of the visual perceptions of First Nations and Métis artists-the Blackfoot, Cree, Anishinaabe, Oji-Cree, Haida, Kwakwaka'wakw, Coast Salish, to name but some.Pre-and post-Second World War immigrants from many parts of the globe-including the United Kingdom, western and eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, South America, Mexico, and the United States-have added immeasurably, too.First-to fifth-generation Canadians are core to our visual story, as are the contributions of artists who left to travel, study, and live elsewhere, and returned with new perspectives.My focus is on the pioneering visual directions from the Canadian West that became significant turning points in Canadian art.Examining past and present insights and approaches, I have woven innovations by themes rather than delineate work according to provincial borders.This means there will be recurring references to some artists as their work addresses different themes of this volume.As Alberta Indigenous artist Terrance Houle aptly said, "We don't have geographical boundaries." 1 Neither do the ideas and impacts of the work of the artists of the West.

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