Michael Belmore employs a variety of materials and processes that at times may seem disjointed, yet, the reality is that together his work and processes speak about the environment, about land, about water, and what it is to be Anishinaabe. A graduate of the Ontario College of Art & Design, he completed his Masters of Fine Art at the University of Ottawa in 2019. Belmore’s work has been exhibited nationally and internationally and is represented in the permanent collections of various institutions and numerous private collections. His exhibitions include: Every. Now. Then: Reframing Nationhood at the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, Shapeshifting: Transformations in Native American Art at the Peabody Essex in Salem, Massachusetts and HIDE: Skin as Material and Metaphor at the National Museum of the American Indian – George Gustav Heye Centre in New York.

Seemingly small things, simple things, inspire his work; the swing of a hammer, the warmth of a fire, the persistence of waves on a shore. Through the insinuation of these actions, a much larger consequence is inferred.

Michael Belmore with Paul Robinson and John MacGregor Newman with his work A Gathering created for Art Toronto 2019. 

The North American landscape, especially its watersheds, continues to be shaped by our divergent tendencies to that of nature. Rivers have been dammed, streams redirected and wetlands drained all in order to better satisfy the demands of western society. Over the past few years my practice has focused primarily on stone carving and the traditional metal smithing technique of chasing and repoussé. Through the arduous process of hammering copper, I have continued to map out waterways through calculated and miscalculated blows.

ON RESISTANT:

Resistant is more of a reflection on a captured moment in time. For several years my work has revolved around our use of technology and how it has affected our relationship to the environment. Through the use of metal and stone I have worked to create a dialogue that examines that point in which the water meets the land. I have always been impressed by the myriad of streams, creeks and rivers that navigate the North American landscape. Long before there were roads and railways, and long before the information highway, the waterways of this continent connected us to each other and the outside world.

Using the metalsmithing techniques of chasing and repoussé, I started to hammer copper sheet into the topographical forms. These often-large works were meant to evoke consideration on issues of value, and the cultural and personal projections that come from this response. Copper is indigenous to many parts of North America and mountains are literally moved in order to satisfy our industrial needs, yet it is a metal that lacks the connotations of preciousness, compared to gold and silver. As a pure element, copper has been chosen to correlate to the purity of the landscape, yet it is malleable and readily takes an impression, whether from a calculated or an incautious hammer-blow.

Resistant utilizes a stone collected on a tributary that flows into Lake Superior along the northern shore. Like most stones found on the edge of a river, they have been worn and rounded. They have migrated from upstream, carried by the water over the millennia, yet all exhibit highly individualistic characteristics in colour, shape and composition, reflective of their origins. While these river rocks may not have the monetary value of precious gems, nevertheless they are representative of a greater universal value inherent in land. Concern in regards to environment often mimics the flow of water, sometimes trickling in our collective conscience like a small creek from a glacial melt, at other times rushing like a torrential waterfall created by spring runoff. In the end, Resistant, with its precious undulating sterling silver form acts like a snapshot. The seemingly insignificance of water flowing against a rock speaks of a time, a shared experience, a visual memory that most can relate to. Through the insinuation of this action, a much larger consequence is inferred. 

Resistant & Resistant (detail). Sterling silver, found stone, steel, 52 x 6 x 6 inches, 132.08 x 15.24 x 15.24 cm, 2012. Exhibited: Art Toronto 2019, 25-27 Oct 2019, Metro Toronto Convention Centre; Reproduced p. 58 Changing Hands: Art Without Reservation 3, The Museum of Arts and Design (MAD), New York, NY, 2012-2014; Exhibited: Changing Hands: Art Without Reservation 3, The Museum of Arts and Design (MAD), New York, NY, 2012-2014.

National Gallery of Canada (Ottawa, Ontario); National Museum of the American Indian – Smithsonian Institution (Washington D.C., United States); North American Native Museum / Nordamerika Native Museum (Zurich, Switzerland); Canadian Cultural Centre (Paris, France); Art Gallery of Ontario (Toronto, Ontario); Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada (Gatineau, Québec); McMichael Canadian Art Collection (Kleinburg, Ontario); Art Gallery of Peterborough (Peterborough, Ontario); Agnes Etherington Art Centre (Kingston, Ontario); MacKenzie Art Gallery (Regina, Saskatchewan); Macdonald Stewart Art Centre (Guelph, Ontario); Thunder Bay Art Gallery (Thunder Bay, Ontario); Woodstock Art Gallery (Woodstock, Ontario), Yukon Arts Centre (Whitehorse, Yukon) & numerous private collections.

EDUCATION

2017-2019 Masters of Fine Arts, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario
1990-1994 AOCA, Ontario College of Art, Sculpture/Installation, Toronto, Ontario

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2018 Somewhere Between Two States of Matter, Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba, Brandon, Manitoba, Canada. 

2018 thunder sky turbulent water, Central Art Garage, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. 

2017 Aashagan, Ojibway Cultural Foundation, M’Chigeeng First Nation, Ontario, Canada.

2017 mskwi = blood, Karsh-Masson Gallery, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

2016 fenda, Nogueira da Silva Museum, Braga, Portugal.

2015 Michael Belmore, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technologies Project Space Gallery, Melbourne, Australia.

2013 Toil, Woodstock Art Gallery, Woodstock, Ontario, Canada.

2010 Overland, Karsh-Masson Gallery, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

2009 Embankment, Station Gallery, Whitby, Ontario, Canada.

2006 Downstream, Forest City Gallery, London, Ontario, Canada.

2005 Stream, Rails End Gallery, Haliburton, Ontario, Canada.

2002 Vantage Point, Sacred Circle Gallery of American Indian Art, Seattle, Washington, United States.

2001 fly by wire, AKA Artist Run Centre/Tribe, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.

1996 Reformation, Garnet Press Gallery, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2019 Echoing the Land, Indigenous Art Centre Gallery, Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada, Gatineau, Québec, Canada. (September 23 – October 25​)

2019 Ways of Being: Yhonnie Scarce & Michael Belmore, Museum of London, London, Ontario, Canada. (September 14 – January 5, 2020)

2019 Michael Belmore – Édfice, Axenéo7, Gatineau, Québec, Canada. (August 14 – Augsut 31, 2019)

2019 Sense of Site, Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. (February 9 – May 12. 2019)

2018 Nkweshkdaadiimgak Minwaa Bakeziibiisan | Confluences and Tributaries: Michael Belmore and A.J. Casson, Ottawa Art Gallery, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. (October 11, 2018 – March 17, 2019)

2017 Landmarks2017/Repères2017, Canada’s National Parks – Wapusk, The Forks, Riding Mountain, Grasslands, Manitoba, Canada. (Summer 2017)

2017 Every. Now. Then: Reframing Nationhood, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (June 29 – December 10, 2017)

2017 Landfall and Departure: Prologue, Nanaimo Art Gallery, Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada. (January 27 – March 25, 2017)

2017 It’s Complicated, Central Art Garage, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. (June 15 – July 31st)

2016 Boundless, Definitely Superior Art Gallery, Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada.

2015 Into the Woods: Two Icons Revisited, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (May 23, 2015 – August 1, 2016

2015 Rocks, Stones and Dust, Justina M. Barnicke Gallery, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (October 22 – December 18, 2015)

2015 N2N: Widening the Narrrows, Orillia Museum of Art & History, Orillia, Ontario, Canada. (July 6 – September 26, 2015

2015 Eco-Indian, Wanuskewin, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.

2014 Land, Art, Horizons, North American Native Museum, Zurich, Switzerland.

2014 Reading the Talk, Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. (September 20, 2014 – January 04, 2015​)

2014 The Bonnie Blink Project, Centennial Museum, Sheguiandah, Ontario, Canada. (July 2014)

2013-14 Before and After the Horizon: Anishinaabe Artists of the Great Lakes, National Museum of the American Indian – George Gustav Heye Center, Smithsonian Institution, New York, New York, United States; Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (August 10, 2013 – June 15, 2014)

2012 Shapeshifting: Transformations in Native American Art, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts. (January 14, 2012 – April 29, 2012)

2012 Changing Hands: Art Without Reservation 3, Museum of Arts & Design, New York City, New York, United States. (June 26 – October 21, 2012)

2012 Material Wealth: Revealing Landscape, South Vitrines at Harbourfront Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (August 2012)

2011 Oh Canada!… beyond trees and water, Elaine L. Jacob Gallery, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, United States. 

2011 Close Encounters: The Next 500 Years, International Exhibition of Contemporary Indigenous Art, 109 Pacific Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. (January 22 – May 8, 2012)

2010 HIDE: Skin as Material and Metaphor, National Museum of the American Indian – George Gustav Heye Centre, Smithsonian Institution, New York, New York, United States. (March 6 – August 1, 2019)

2010 Ice Follies, WKP Kennedy Gallery, North Bay, Ontario, Canada.

2010 Warm Ice, Art Gallery of Peterborough, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada. (November 12, 2010 – January 9, 2011)

2008 Scout’s Honour, University of Lethbridge Art Gallery, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada; Urban Shaman Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada; Museum London, London, Ontario; Museum of Contemporary Native Art, Institute of the American Indian Arts, Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States. (September 12 – October 31, 2008)

2007 Terra Incognita, Macdonald Stewart Art Centre, Guelph, Ontario, Canada. (September 20 – November 4, 2007)

2007 What is Place, Tree Museum, Gravenhurst, Ontario, Canada.

2005 Cornerstone, Gallery 101, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

2004 The Three Rivers…wild waters, sacred places, Yukon Arts Centre, Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada; Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa, Ontario, Canada; Maltwood Art Museum & Gallery, University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada; Kelowna Art Gallery, Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada; Art Gallery of Peterborough, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada; Whyte Museum & Gallery, Banff, Alberta, Canada. 

2004 Dreaming Earth & Sky, Odd Gallery, Dawson City, Yukon, Canada. (May 20 – June 25, 2004)

2001 Hilando Fino, A Space, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (October 25 – November 24, 2001)

2001 Pool, York Quay Gallery, Harbourfront Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

2000 Beaver Tales, Oakville Galleries, Oakville, Ontario, Canada.

1997 staking Land claims, Walter Phillips Gallery, Banff, Alberta, Canada.

1994 Naked State – a selected view of Toronto art, The Power Plant, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

PUBLIC ART COMMISSIONS

2017 Landmarks2017/Repères2017, Canada’s National Parks – Wapusk, Riding Mountain, Grasslands.

2015 Replenishment, Kagawong River, Kagawong, Ontario, Canada.

2014 Inhalation, Sentier Art3, Sainte-Therese, Québec, Canada.

2014 Echo, Joel Weeks Park, City of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

2007 Colony, Macdonald Stewart Art Centre, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.

2004 Digital Stream, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada.

2001 Esker, Kawartha Rotary Sculpture Project, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada.

2000 Fireline, Thunder Bay Art Gallery, Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada.

AWARDS

2015 Ontario Arts Council – Chalmers Fellowship
2014 Canada Council – Project Grant
2013 Ontario Arts Council – Aboriginal Arts Research Grant
2010 Ontario Arts Council – Visual Arts Grant
2009 Canada Council – Project Grant – Travel Grant
2007 Ontario Arts Council – Visual Arts Grant
2005 Canada Council – B Grant
2004 Canada Council – Travel Grant
2003 Ontario Arts Council – Visual Arts Grant
2002 Canada Council – Travel Grant
2001 Canada Council – B Grant
2001 Ontario Arts Council – Visual Arts Grant
1999 Canada Council – Travel Grant
1999 Ontario Arts Council – Visual Arts Grant
1998 Canada Council – B Grant
1998 Ontario Arts Council – Exhibition Assistance through The Power Plant
1997 Ontario Arts Council – Visual Arts Grant
1997 Toronto Arts Council – Project Grant
1996 Canada Council – Emerging Artist Grant
1996 Ontario Arts Council – Visual Arts Grant
1995 Toronto Arts Council – Project Grant

SELECTED ARTICLES

2019 Land & Water. Reader’s Digest, “Our Countries, Our Stories,” October/November 2019 Edition. (Downloadable PDF)

July 9, 2014. Bonnie Blink exhibit a culmination of two years of research, development, Manitoulin Expositor by Alicia McCutcheon.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

2019 Nkweshkdaadiimgak Minwaa Bakeziibiisan | Confluences And Tributaries: Michael Belmore And A.J. Casson. Ottawa Art Gallery, Ottawa, Ontario. 

2018 Somewhere Between Two States of Matter. Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba, Brandon, Manitoba. (Downloadable PDF)

2017 mskwi•blood•sang. Karsh-Masson Gallery, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. (Downloadable PDF)

2017  Aashagan Bridge by Michael Belmore. Ojibwe Cultural Foundation, M’Chigeeng First Nation, Ontario. (Downloadable PDF)

2017 Every.Now.Then: Reframing Nationhood. Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario. (Link to Purchase)

2015 Reading the Talk. Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. (Downloadable PDF | Press Reader Version)

2015 Michael Belmore at Project Space Gallery. Royal Melbourne Institute of Technologies, Melbourne, Australia. (Downloadable PDF)

2013 Before and After the Horizons: Anishinaabe Artists of the Great Lakes, Museum of Native American Indian, Smithsonian Books, United States. (Link to Purchase)

2012 Shapeshifting Transformations in Native American Art. Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Massachussets, United States. (Link to Purchase)  

2011 Close Encounters: The Next 500 Years. Plug In Editions, Winnipeg, Manitobar, Canada. (Link to Purchase)

2010 HIDE: Skin as Material and Metaphor. Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, New York City, United States. (Downloadable PDF)