Fred McDonald’s Ancestral Portraits
Book launches a new series from University Press
When Fred McDonald agreed to go with a friend to a book launch two years ago at the University of Calgary's Little Gallery, he had no idea that his own book would start its journey to print that evening. He was approached by Walter Hildebrandt, director of the University of Calgary Press, about doing a book to initiate a new series called Artists in Profile. Fred had been an undergraduate student at the University and was just beginning his Masters program. He saw a serendipitous possibility in the project, a way to "allow two birds to fly at once." The book project, titled Ancestral Portraits, grew to include not just McDonald’s paintings, but the text of his Masters thesis and a number of poems arising from his visual works.
McDonald says the people at the press encouraged him to pursue the project, and Fred became so involved that he even wound up doing fund-raising. Before turning to art, McDonald had spent over 10 years working in the oil industry in his home community of Fort McMurray, so he called up his old boss at Syncrude and the company agreed to be the main sponsor.
McDonald’s decision to become an artist was a difficult one that was not always understood or supported by his friends and family. But he didn’t leave his heritage far behind – his paintings pay respectful homage to his First Nations ancestry, and the northern way of life he enjoyed as a boy.
"My art is about everyday life and about the stories that come from my family and our ancestors. My art is also about those legendary people of the past who are still important today."
McDonald’s paintings show the progression of an intense, colourful individual style over almost two decades, a style he calls "the colours of my people." In his early works, paint and canvas seem barely able to contain his energy and enthusiasm in recording incidents of his past and his people’s history. In those pieces, the influence of predecessors like Arthur Schilling (now deceased) and friends like Joanne Cardinal-Schubert can be traced. But over the years his own voice emerges more strongly and the latest works are unique – confident and assured in their control of composition, colour and imagery.
The text is a series of personal stories and philosophical meditations told in McDonald’s straightforward conversational style, as if he were writing in a personal journal, or chatting across a kitchen table. For non-aboriginal readers, it provides a rare insight into the experience of one contemporary First Nations artist. He describes a common dilemma – his background gives him a unique character, yet success as an artist is measured and supported only within the framework of the dominant mainstream: "I want to be recognized as a Cree artist but, as a First Nations artist, I know I am on the periphery."
McDonald’s next project, along with this well-distributed book, may be the opportunity for many more viewers (aboriginal and non-aboriginal) to become acquainted with his work. He is currently completing four new large paintings with accompanying poems to be included in an upcoming exhibition at the Walter Phillips Gallery in Banff from August 2 to October 6. Mapping Our Territories, curated by Lee Ann Martin, includes work by four First Nations artists born and living within Treaty 6, 7 and 8 territories: McDonald, Delia Cross Child, Faye HeavyShield and Lionel Peyachew.
McDonald argues for a society where all cultures are respected equally, referring to the famous two-row wampum treaty (Albany, 1664), which states, "we shall travel the river together, side by side, but in our own boat. Neither of us will try to steer the other’s boat." In a century becoming ever more cynical and fraught with conflict, his call for understanding is especially poignant: "Let us go into the future with open minds, and let us welcome differences, just as our ancestors did." |
