Name/Title
Bison Mask 2Entry/Object ID
2023.03.01Description
Painting
This striking image depicts a Modernist stylized bison mask set against a textured collage-type red and taupe background divided into triangular quadrants. The term FOUR QUADRANTS and the numbers 1234 appear in the image as do the four points of the compass (NEWS) and other symbols whose meaning is not understood, although the four lower right circular x-images could be a reference to Pacific Northwest Coast First Nations ceremonial button blankets. The bison was considered a sacred animal to Métis and First Nations peoples and was absolutely essential to their survival and income in the 18th century and into the 19th century.Type of Painting
EaselArtwork Details
Medium
Oil on canvasSubject Place
Region
Great PlainsContinent
North AmericaContext
From the early 1800s until the 1870s, plains bison were the main source of subsistence (food, clothing and household articles) and income for the Métis, known as the "Buffalo Hunters". The Métis are an Indigenous people whose historical homelands include Canada's three Prairie Provinces, as well as parts of B.C. and the Northwest Territories, with smaller populations in northwest Ontario and the northern U.S.
The Métis dominated in the lucrative pemmican* trade in the late 1700s into the 1800s, beginning with their organization of the buffalo hunt and the institution of "Laws of the Prairies" in order to try to protect this finite resource. The Métis Nation's gross national product from this source was reportedly larger than that of either the fledgling nation of Canada or the United States. Of note, there was a custom called "dancing the buffalo" reported to have been used when hunters had difficulty finding buffalo (reported in the The Weekly Republican Cherryvale, Kansas, USA, July 22, 1887). Later in the 19th century, bison nearly became extinct through hunting and disease. However, recovery efforts in North America have been successful with a resurgence of populations in national parks and in the wild.
The number "four" referenced in the painting is sacred to many First Nations and Métis peoples as it represents the four seasons, the four human needs (physical, mental, emotional and spiritual), the four kingdoms (animal, mineral, plant, and human) and the four sacred medicines (sweetgrass, tobacco, cedar, and sage). This image may also reference the four quadrants (needs) of an Indigenous medicine wheel seen to be the most basic elements of health and wellness common to all human beings and essential to the balance of interdependence within oneself and all living things. Or the quadrants may represent the four corners of the world or four quarters of the world corresponding approximately to the four points of the compass, or alternatively, have astrological, celestial or astronomical meanings. This painting seems both a tribute and a cry for lost worlds, expressed with reference to various mythologies, symbols, spirits and shamanistic beliefs. Rivet blends the traditions of Modernist art with ancient cultures in both realistic and abstract ways.
Of note, the artist's early years were spent in the Canadian Arctic's Mackenzie River Delta in a Métis family which made its living by trapping, hunting and fishing. The Métis are a people of mixed heritage, descended from French, Scottish and English traders from the Hudson’s Bay and Northwest Companies who intermixed with Native peoples in the prairies and elsewhere in Canada. The town where the artist was born, Aklavik, was multi-ethnic, a trading centre for the region, with people from varied backgrounds including Métis, Gwich'in First Nation, Inuvialuit and European. For much of the 20th century the town served as the administrative, transportation and commercial capital of the western Arctic. Because of repeated flooding in this area, the government developed Inuvik to the east. Altogether this background speaks to the artist's exposure to and subsequent interest in and insights into the diversity and juxtaposition of a variety of cultures.
*Pemmican is a calorie-rich mixture of tallow, dried meat (traditionally buffalo), and sometimes dried berries, herbs, spices and honey.Made/Created
Artist Information
Artist
Richard James (Rick) Rivet, RCARole
ArtistDate made
1993Time Period
20th CenturyNotes
ARTIST STATEMENT
"The image relates to the shamanistic concept of earthworld/skyworld/underworld and the ability of a shaman to journey between the 3 cosmic zones with the aid of animal familiars. In this case the bison particular to the prairies of North America.
I see it also as a metaphysical symbol for the existential journey of humans within the matter/space/time continuum."
_____________________________
"...My work involves combining and re-interpreting the iconography of various aboriginal peoples in a contemporary perspective. The art is intuitive, expressionistic and individualistic in means and method. The approach is Expressionist/Primitivist with concerns related to aspects of my Native-Canadian reality and viewpoint. These concerns are expressed in two ways – in relation to the shamanistic/spiritual tradition and the historical/cultural/socio-political/eco-environmental viewpoint in the examination of issues related to my experience. The approach is introspective, involving the existential nature of being – the spiritual, the psychic and the physical aspects of human experience.
My art is eclectic in that both approaches are influenced by traditional symbolism and imagery along with contemporary ideas and techniques in the manipulation of visual imagery and artist materials. Elements from the two approaches are often incorporated together.
...My work aspires to the spiritual, to the recovery of the main tradition of creativity. The encounter with shamanic ideology and culture compels the contemporary artist to admit to the binding ties of a common spiritual heritage. The creative experience and its profound link to the unconscious forces artists to confront the on-going history of the human spirit, with its echoes from pre-history to the present."
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
Born in Aklavik, Northwest Territories of Canada, Richard James (Rick) Rivet is a Sahtú* Dene First Nations-Métis Canadian artist who has lived and worked in Terrace, B.C. since 1990. He pursued an extensive education and holds four degrees, all related to the arts, history, and the humanities: Bachelor of Arts (1969-1972, University of Alberta); Bachelor of Fine Arts (1976-1980, University of Victoria); Master of Fine Arts (1983-1985, University of Saskatchewan); and Bachelor of Education (1985-1986, University of Saskatchewan). He also did a painting/drawing Scholarship at The Banff Centre, Alberta (1980-81). Rivet has worked full-time on his art since 1989, mainly acrylic painting, mixed media and collage on canvas, with some drawing.
Rivet's Métis roots, and his experience in growing up in Canada's North, were important factors in his artistic development. According to Rivet, influences on his artwork are varied and originate from Shamanistic imagery of early peoples world-wide. Equally influential are Western historical and contemporary influences from artists from Canada and beyond (such as Paterson Ewen, David Milne, Edvard Munch, Robert Rauschenberg, Antoni Tapies and J.M.W. Turner) and art movements such as German Expressionism and Abstract Expressionism. According to the artist, his work, heavily influenced by ideas of the fusion of cultures, involves merging and re-interpreting their iconographies in a contemporary perspective. His earlier works challenged colonial actions while later works explore the journey of the human spirit. Rivet’s approach is "introspective, involving the existential nature of being - the spiritual, the psychic and the physical aspects of human experience."
Rivet has been the recipient of over twenty awards, scholarships and bursaries, including a Contemporary Masters Fellowship from the Eiteljorg Museum in Indianapolis. Since 1979, he has taken part in over forty exhibitions in Canada and abroad. His work is held in collections (private, corporate, museum and government) across Canada and internationally.
*The Sahtú are a Dene First Nations people of the Athabaskan-speaking ethnolinguistic group living near Great Bear Lake in the Northwest Territories. The geographic coverage of the Dene peoples stretches from the Canadian North and Alaska to the American southwest.Inscription/Signature/Marks
Type
Title, Date, InscriptionLocation
Verso canvas upper left in pencil:
Bison Mask - 2
Rick Rivet
1993
Plus gallery label (printed grey on black):
MARK LORIA GALLERY
Contemporary Indigenous Art
621 Fort Street, Victoria, B.C. V8W 1G1
markloriagallery.comDimensions
Dimension Description
Visible imageHeight
87.6 cmWidth
77.8 cmAcquisition
Acquisition Method
PurchaseDate
Mar 31, 2023Notes
Purchased with assistance of Mark Loria GalleryCopyright
Notes
Images are provided for research and reference use only. Permission to publish, copy, or otherwise use these images must be obtained from the copyright holder. It is the sole responsibility of the applicant to determine the copyright holder and to obtain permission(s) as needed.
