Don’t miss Robert Houle

Take a journey through fifty years of what matters to First Nations and Settler relations with an artist who was always ahead of time.  Robert Houle: Red is Beautiful  is a solo exhibition featuring over 90 artworks created between 1970 and 2021 by Anishinaabe Saulteaux artist Robert Houle, currently on view in the Sam & Ayala Zacks Pavilion on Level 2 of the Gallery. Changing the way we see contemporary Indigenous art, Houle went from residential school to art school to museum boardrooms and on to the art world stage as an artist, curator and writer. When speaking to CTV, Houle explains, “I always believed that I was always better than what I was being called. I always knew that and that gave me inner strength.” 

Art critic Kate Taylor from The Globe and Mail describes Houle as “a central figure both in advancing Canadian abstraction and in pioneering a new Indigenous contemporary art.” Spotlighting key artworks in her review, Taylor notes, “The careers of Kent Monkman or Brian Jungen, both artists of mixed Indigenous and settler heritage, would be unthinkable without Houle’s precedent-setting work.” 

Sharing a similar sentiment in his review for the Toronto Star, journalist Jonathan Dekel writes, “Since 1970, Houle has made the evolving reckoning between Indigenous and Western culture a cornerstone of his work.”

“Two years in the making,” points out Indigenous Canadian news network APTN News. Speaking to the reporter, Wanda Nanibush, AGO Curator, Indigenous Art, emphasizes on how the art world is giving the recognition Houle deserves. “I think that people will feel the beauty of his work, the emotion and passion, and you know, the greatness of the colour,” explains Nanibush. “He does come from the idea that colour is a spiritual thing and you can really feel it in the show, so I want people to understand him as an artist and a colourist. But then also I think that we can finally grapple with the history of this country because it’s here in all the work.”

The depth of Houle’s retrospective astonished visitors, including Donna Sound from CTV News’ Indigenous Circle. “Each room, a different era of his life. Fifty-one years as an artist showcased at the Art Gallery of Ontario,” said Sound. “Turning his pain into art has helped him survive and thrive.” 

“It’s amazing how he’s taken parts of his life and put it on a wall,” said Kris King from Art in Toronto. “So we’re actually entering into some of his most painful times of his life, as a residential student.”

The experience is simply unforgettable. This rings particularly true for Camille Georgeson-Usher from Galleries West. She has heard many say that “Houle’s work is painfully beautiful” but felt “unprepared for the immensity of experiencing this retrospective in Toronto.” She writes, “Winding its way through huge exhibition rooms, Houle’s work is connected by his attention to detail, and through his specific and intentional artistic decisions. In this retrospective, one can see how his work has adapted, shifted and responded over the years.”

Join the buzz and come see Robert Houle: Red is Beautiful before it closes April 18. The exhibition is organized by the Art Gallery of Ontario and curated by Wanda Nanibush, Curator, Indigenous Art. Sign up to AGOinsider and stay up-to-date with our exhibitions, events and programs.