Carl Beam's Major Painting Themes - Essay Example

Carl Beam’s Research Essay Teacher This essay, written primarily for the of ‘Contemporary Aboriginal Art in Canada’, focuseson the work of a contemporary native artist, Carl Beam. The purpose of this essay is to highlight the major themes adopted by Beam in his paintings. Also it centres on the different kind of media used by Carl in his paintings. Moreover, paper the focuses on the native Indian paintings that Beam created in order to elaborate on his connection to his culture and origin. Furthermore, it writes about some of his paintings that describe the way in which the European culture dominated the native Indian one. Also his portrayal of the human condition today is a part of the essay. Biography In the year 1943, on 24th May, in the west bay of the Manitoulin Island, a legend was born – Carl Beam. His real name was Carl Edward Migwans. His mother, Barbara Migwans was an Ojibwe (native Indian) and his father was Dominic Migwans – the then Chief of the Ojibways of West Bay. On the other hand Carl’s father was from a European Background. The different parental cultures that he experienced at a young age were a reason why later Beam was so keen to paint images that depicted differences and the influences in mixed cultures. And the age of 10, Beam was departed for the Garnier Residential School, in Spanish Ontario where he got his early education and then dropped out to work at certain places. In the early 70s however he managed to come back into education and studied at the Kootenay School of Art and culture. Later he left for the University of Victoria BC for his BA with majors in Fine Arts. Also, he completed his Masters in Fine Arts from the University of Alberta where he also carried out some post graduate research. In the late seventies he married Ann Elena Weatherby – Ann was an artist herself and worked for a while as an instructor at the Art of Gallery of Ontario. His style of imagery Up to the late 70s, Beam had developed a unique individual fashion of himself. Utilizing his existing knowledge about screen processes, Polaroid instant prints, solvent transfer method, and photo etching, he mixed screen printing and photographic transfers with a variety of other chemicals and materials1. He mainly used a traditional style of imagery through which he inserted symbolic meanings into his paintings. Through the use of eclectic combinations of photos he tried to disguise his intentions thereby forcing the viewer to involve actively in trying to decipher the meaning behind the painting. 2 The images that Beam constructed always resulted as collages– like printings or paintings with historical images, snapshots of the present, technological world and the nature. To unify the different images as a whole picture plane or surface, Beam made the application of strokes of brushes and color wash over the symphony. It resulted to be the cause of diverse images coming out from a cloudy mist. Beam’s work always included a complex narrative between different parts in that specific image, and it always includes a deeper thought with it. The varying formats that he used combined some textual fragments from the ancient times with those of the present.3 Mostly it was observed that his paintings also had handwritten notations.4 One of the examples of his handwritten notations is that which is present in his painting ‘Big Dissolve’ (2002) where he states ‘the little pieces and the little pixels all worked in a weird harmony leaving only a memory of an incomplete poetry...5’ Carl as mentioned before used combinations of images in his paintings. Trickster (or the term he used for his unique style)6 comprised of puzzles that explained the idea of gathering different imageries together, to create a new narrative. Also as Ryan relates, he did this to find out the relationship between everyone and everything and to find out what he meant by “we’re all basically human...” Beam was particularly skilled to raise questions among the minds of the viewers about the exchange of the cultures and the individuals. Ian McLachlan, talking about one of Beam’s projects (Columbus Boat) says that Beam, in his paintings tried to show people what they normally considered lies. Also he made people to think over things that humans did not notice. 7 His Works One of the very early works of Carl Beam was ‘Exoricism’ that was exhibited at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery at Peterborough in 1984. Before that he had exhibited once with his wife at an exhibition called “The Painted Pottery of Ann and Carl Beam”. This exhibition took place in the University of New Mexico, at the ‘Maxwell Museum of Anthropology’. ‘Exorcism’ was a large scale work, and was completed in a dramatically moving way at the opening of the exhibition which was the shooting of arrows on to the painting. ‘Exorcism’ impressed people to such an extent that David Aurandt the executive director of the Thunder Bay Art Gallery commented on it saying that this painting showed him what Indian Art really was. Also he stated that for the first time he was able to recognize the bias with which the First Nation artists were not appreciated while they really were deserving. The work of Carl Beam according to David Aurandt also represented the fact that Beam worked with his own culture,that was unique to his birth and experience.8 Like ‘Exorcism’, Beam made other paintings that were related to his native Indian culture. The most famous of one of these paintings was the painting of the Sitting Bull that was created in 1980. The painting is as follows. Fig 2.1 Untitled, 1980 Acrylic and collage on paper In the above painting Beam uses the Sitting Bull, the head of the horse and the hatchet express his own life as a member of the first nation in 20th century. This work of Beam includes a famous painting of the head of Sitting Bull in the middle, and the head of horse on the other side. Sitting Bull was a great warrior who later performed in Wild West shows and met Queen Victoria. Although he was from the Indian background, Sitting Bull did not stand aside of the Europeans. Instead he urged the people to adopt the Western Culture. The artist uses the image of the Sitting Bull as something to reflect himself. He tries to elaborate on the fact that he, like Sitting Bull, considers himself a participant in Western culture. This is because his mother was Ojibwe while his father was from Europe. Hence in this painting, he tries to represent his parental lineage stressing that he belongs to both Europe and the First nations. The face in the middle (that he portrays to be his) is numinous along with the head of the horse. However, the hatchet, on the left hand side of the painting, since it reflects the violent history of the past, lies in a dimmer setting. The horse also represents the life of the first native people in the 19th Century. To bridge the differences between the North American and the European culture further, Beam also made other paintings. One of the most famous ones of them was “The North American Iceberg” which was created as a reply to the “The European Iceberg” – the Art Gallery where the 1985 exhibition of Ontario took place. Using some of his early prints from “Altered Ego”, he created this large acrylic paint and photograph work on Plexiglas. The painting is as follows. Fig 2.2 1985, Carl Beam acrylic, photo-serigraph, and graphite on Plexiglas 213.6 x 374.1 cm The above pasted picture is of the painting by Beam, in which he illustrates the modern European works and raises eyebrows in the context to how the present European fashions are many a times not acceptable in the North American art. In his Iceberg, he attracts the viewers towards the Aboriginal art, cultural and historical aspect, which was previously marginalized on similar lines. This mainly deals with the conventional viewpoint of Aboriginal people. In the said masterpiece, three contemporary pictures of Beam are visible, alongside the historical visualizations of an Aboriginal man and woman dating back to the initiation of the 19th century. These sets of visuals were utilized mainly for contrasting a romantic vision of the noble Indian warrior or of a princess. Beam’s self presence in this picture is used to symbolize the modern, unique, specific individuals in opposition to the historical photographs of unnamed Aboriginal people. Hence, Aborigines are portrayed as people who are not treated as individuals and so are dying as a culture. Other images in the painting include the chief Geronimo. Geronimo was the one who, in the late 1800s, led his men for opposing white resolution in New Mexico and Arizona. Therefore, in the picture, Carl acts as a representative of the Aboriginal peoples’ resistance to European immigration towards the Northern side of America. Furthermore, there is another contrast between a European dressed aboriginal man and two traditional dressed aboriginal women. This can also be used to symbolize the culture assimilation after arrival of the European. There is also another contrast between the flying eagle and a launching rocket. The eagle is a symbol of the natural world and representing the environmental issue while the rocket represents the artificial world of science. This picture was bought by the Canadian National Gallery, and thereby, making Beam the first local artist whose work was bought, and placed into the Canadian National Gallery’s collection for the section of modern art. 9 One of the other early works of Carl Beam was the “The Artist and Some of his Concerns” the painting of which is as follows. Fig 2.3 The Artist and Some of His Concerns, 1982 watercolour, 101,6 x 152,4 cm Indian Art Centre, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada This painting of his locates the artist in a world where there are some of the images of the assassination of the public figure Anwar Sadat. Also there are some drawings of the heads of the horses. The presence of the bald eagle represents the Native American spirituality. Here he questions again and again the new technology and tries to show that there is a knowledge that is far greater and better than the knowledge suggested by science10 With time, Carl changed his format to include the photographic emulsion process so that his images could appear to surface like a spirit, glowing from the inside of the prints. He also utilized a heat transfer technique, with his work on paper and Plexiglas, and initiated to take account of assorted media on paper, and huge scale canvas works. Also he began to draw historic images and events. During the year 1989, the focus of his work changed direction and moved towards the celebration of 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ voyage towards Northern America, with celebrations due in 1992. He realized that it would be during this event that a wealthy foundation for a dialogue on the nature of culture and history would be laid. During this phase of his career, Beam brought a vast mediation involving printings, and painting with mix media, etching, mixed media construction and installation and also a 20 foot long reconstruction of a Columbus boat. Beams visualization for the Columbus voyage was vastly based on cross-cultural aspects, and also comprised of primary visualizations of Columbus along with the native people. The project also contained visuals of various individuals from history containing the likes of Kennedy, Luther King, Italian Christian icon, animal species of various sorts, own portraits and technological advancements that got to do with war-fare. One of the most recent and critically acclaimed works of Beam was the ‘The Whale of Our Being’ that was exhibited in 2002 in the Robert McLaughlin Gallery. “The Whale of Our being” is different from the other works that Beam had done before. This is because of the relatively greater size and the relatively simpler composition. (For example the whale).Most of the work from ‘The Whale of our being’ is a big photo mixture that works on canvas, large scale paper, construction, and ceramics. In comparison with the masterpieces that he created earlier, Beam’s work in ‘the whale of our being’ had a sense of baroque style in it, with an assortment of references including celebrities such as Jennifier Lopez. Colors of the some prints are overly saturated, and in day glow colour. In these paintings, the whales become the means to contain experience and discuss the world people are living in right now. Because whales are killed for commoditisation and money, it symbolizes the many things that are going on nowadays. For example the way people are often blinded by money and cannot see the beauty of things at the other side. Two of the paintings are as follows. Fig 2.4 and 2.5 Mystery (left) and Summa (right), 2002 Photo emulsion and Mixed media on canvas Through the above paintings, Beam examines the moral fallout that has occurred today where there is an absence of spirituality. He also elaborates on the media construction of violence. Furthermore, using Jennifer Lopez’s image, he criticises the fascination of the public with the celebrities, where in fact those who are really intellectual should be praised. 11 Conclusion To conclude, throughout his career Beam raised many issues that are related to the human condition today. His paintings carry a message- a message that engages the viewers on social and personal levels. He urges the people to think about the various issues faced by the people in the world today. Also, through his paintings he tries to show that no culture should be treated as inferior. He depicts that every culture is rich and there is a need for cultures to accept each other. This was all that Carl Beam was able to tell his viewers before he passed away on July 30, 2005. ILLUSTRATIONS Figures 2.1 The Sitting Bull (page 5) 2.2 American Iceberg (page 6) 2.3 The Artist and some of his concerns (page 8) 2.4 Mystery (page 10) 2.5 Summa (page 10) Bibliography AGO, “Carl Beam: The Columbus Suite”. Art Gallery of Ontario. http://www.ago.net/carl-beam Bearclaw Gallery, “Carl Beam -  1943-2005”. Contemporary Canadian Aboriginal Art.http://www.bearclawgallery.com/Artists.aspx?ArtistID=33 CyberMuse, “Carl Beam”. CyberMuse Research Site. http://cybermuse.gallery.ca/cybermuse/docs/bio_artistid354_e.jsp Ryan, Allan J. “Carl Beam – Essay.” Canada Council for the Arts http://www.canadacouncil.ca/prizes/ggavma/2005/we127542526423735000.htm (Also add the sources you used for the presentation) Read More