THE ART OF RON NOGANOSH

RON NOGANOSH’s sculptural assemblages integrate aspects of his Ojibway heritage with contemporary civilization’s garbage to create scathingly ironic comments on ecology, racism and socio-economic hierarchies. His goal is to encourage viewers to think, to cry, to laugh and to try to make a change. His work has been exhibited at the National Gallery and the Museum of Civilization in Canada, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, the Ethnological Museum of Russia, and the Museo Nacional de Mexico amongst others. His solo retrospective Ron Noganosh: It Takes Time toured Canada from 2000 - 2003. In the summer of 2004, his work was exhibited at the Musée National des Beaux Arts de Québec in Double Jeu:Identité et Culture along with works by Willie Cole of New York and Richard Purdy of Quebec. The publications, "Ron Noganosh: It Takes Time", by Lucy Lippard and Tom Hill and "Double Jeu: Identité et Culture, by Joyceline Lupien and Jean-Philipe Uzel feature his sculpture.

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RON NOGANOSH - BIOGRAPHY

Junk like rusted chainsaw blades and old hubcaps, becomes art, in the skilled hands of Ojibway sculptor Ron Noganosh, who works in a world of humour and irony to bring new meaning to discarded objects, while exploring questions of culture and identity. In addition to his imaginative use of recycled "garbage", Ron also makes sensitive use of the more natural materials he finds -- feathers, wood, stone and bone. "If it
is natural, it feels good," he says. "It's like the thing is still living. The sculpture gives it another life and I use it in a way that's respectful. In a sense, that helps me spiritually."

Over the years Ojibway sculptor Ron Noganosh has worked as a zoo keeper, a sign painter, a miner, a scrap dealer, an art professor and an alligator wrestler. Born on the Magnetawan Reserve on Georgian Bay, he is currently living and working as an artist in Ottawa.

Ron's found-object sculptures and installations take a witty but very critical look at serious issues faced by First Nations communities around the world -- issues of culture, technology, identity, community, and the environment.

Since Ron began exhibiting, his art has won critical acclaim in
exhibitions at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, the Museo Nacional de Mexico, the National Museum of Costa Rica, the Ethnological Museum of St. Petersburg, Russia and the Canadian Cultural Centre in Paris as well as in national museums and galleries in Japan, Taiwan. Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Denmark, and Finland.

In Canada it has been shown at the National Gallery of Canada, the Canadian Museum of Civilization, the Vancouver Art Gallery, and the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art in Toronto. Ron Noganosh: It Takes Time, his solo retrospective, which opened at the Ottawa Art Gallery, crisscrossed Canada for three years. It was the subject of the book, Ron Noganosh: It
Takes Time, by Lucy Lippard and Tom Hill, which won the Canadian Museum Association’s award for the best art book of 2002. Most recently, in 2004, his work was part of the exhibition Double Jeu: Identité et Culture at the Musée National de Quebec, and was featured in the book Double Jeu: The Art of Willie Cole, Ron Noganosh and Richard Purdy, which was written by Joyceline Lupien and Jean-Philippe Uzel. Ron’s concern for protecting the environment, valuing First Nations’ peoples and cultures, and preserving and maintaining their land and heritage is paramount. His sculpture depicts the fury of native people caught in a web of technological, sociological and environmental ‘advances’ that threaten their culture and their very survival.

The Voices Crying in the Urban Wilderness series, examines the pain, impotence and rage that First Nations people experience when forced to live lives of abject poverty in urban areas. Found objects are carved and woven together in a fusion of old and new, pristine and corrupt, ugly and beautiful, to make a dramatic statement about native realities.

Major sculptural installations such as Forget Me Not, Innu, Does Anybody Know What Time It Is? Where The Buffalo Roam, If You Find Any Culture Send It Home and The Only Good Indian, speak of the destruction of whole civilizations, while on a more personal level, Anon Among Us examines the effects of cultural decimation on his own family.

His Shield Series, utilizes 20th century garbage to create iconic language that speaks with cynicism about the world. Thus Shield for A Vanishing Indian, Shield for an Internet Warrior, Shield for a Vanishing Buffalo, Shield for a Vanishing Metis, That’s All It Costs, and Shield For A Yuppie Warrior speak of a disappearing world given up to urban encroachments, and
the human and social costs involved. Although his themes and materials reflect his native ancestry, the pieces he creates comment on issues such as ecology, racism, and socioeconomic hierarchies that are universal to all.

“I never thought that I would live to see the new millennium. In my lifetime I have hopped a steam train in the woods near my reserve, and watched a man walk on the moon. I have camped under a bridge, cooking and eating a goose for dinner while hitchhiking home for Christmas, and flown first class to Europe and Central America and Africa. I have seen starving children in developing countries and dined with millionaires and
presidents. If this has taught me one thing, it is that we are all powered by similar emotions, desires and needs.

My work explores the destruction of the environment, of societies and of people. This destruction is not just inflicted from without, but from within as well. We are the architects of our own downfall. Humanity fails, when we as humans fail to safeguard our own altruism. This is the guiding ethos of my work. The garbage we discard is the media with which
I work and through which I speak. If art is breaking out of the mold, then art for me is helping my people to break out of the mold that has imprisoned them for the past 500 years. I hope that my audiences everywhere, will see with new eyes, hear with new ears, and resonate with new laughter. If my work encourages people to think, to cry, to laugh and to try to make a change then I believe that I am succeeding at what being an artist is all about.”

RON NOGANOSH - RESUME

BORN

May 3, 1949
Magnetawan Reserve, Ontario

STATUS

Ojibway - Member Magnetawan First Nation

ART MEDIA

Paintings, Drawings, Prints, Sculpture, Installations

EDUCATION

Diploma in Graphic Design, George Brown College, Toronto, ON
Bachelor of Fine Arts Program (3 years) University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON

EXHIBITIONS

2005 Make Art like Ron
Ron Noganosh and Students of Kahnawake Reserve, National Film Board, Montreal, QC and Kahnawake Reserve School, Kahnawake, QC.

2004 Double Jeu: Identité et Culture
Ron Noganosh, Willie Cole and Richard Purdy, Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec, Québec, QC.

2003 Transitions: Contemporary Canadian Indian and Inuit Art Ethnology Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia

2002 - 2003 Transitions: Contemporary Canadian Indian and Inuit Art Museo Nacional de Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico

2000, 2001 & 2002 Ron Noganosh: It Takes Time
Solo Exhibition, Ottawa Art Gallery, Ottawa, ON; Woodland Cultural Centre, Brantford, ON; MacKenzie Art Gallery, Regina, SK; Thunder Bay Art Gallery, Thunder Bay, ON; Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Victoria, BC.

2000 Who Stole the Teepee?
Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, New York, NY (travelled across the US for 3 years)

2000 Ron Noganosh: It Takes Time
Solo Exhibition, Ottawa Art Gallery, Ottawa, ON
1998 Transitions: Contemporary Canadian Indian and Inuit Art
National Gallery, San Jose, Costa Rica

1997 Bee That as it May
Indian Art Centre Gallery, Hull, QC

1997 Transitions: Contemporary Canadian Indian and Inuit Art
Canadian Cultural Centre, Paris, France

1995 Indian Time
Rovaniemi, Finland

1994 Indiansk Tid
Brandts Klaedenfabrik, Odense, Denmark

1993 Nomads
Artist in Residence, Banff Centre, Banff, AB

1992 Canada's First People
Travelled Across Canada and Japan 1992

1992 New Territories: 350/500 Years after
Les Maisons De La Culture, Montréal, QC

1992 Autobiography - First Nations Art
Ufundi Gallery, Ottawa, ON

1992 the Summer Solstice
Galerie L'imagier, Aylmer, QC

1992 Ron Noganosh: Recent Work
Ufundi Gallery, Ottawa, ON

1991 Strengthening the Spirit
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, ON

1991 L'amerindienne: Regards Sur L'animal
La Musée National De La Civilization Québec, QC

1991 En Hommage a Un Cadeau D'eva Hesse a Sol Lewit
Axe-neo 7, Hull, QC

1990 Hard and Soft
University of Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC

1990 Cardinal Points: Amerindian Art Today
La Macaza, QC

1989 Beyond History Art Gallery of Vancouver, Vancouver, BC

1989 Decelebration Saw Gallery, Ottawa, ON

1989 in the Shadow of the Sun: Contemporary Indian and Inuit Art Stuttgart Museum, Stuttgart, Germany and Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hull, QC

1989 Solstice D'ete: La Grand-mere
L'Imagier, Aylmer, QC

1988 Doux Amer
Axe-neo 7, Hull, QC

1988 Snakes in the Garden
Arts Court, Ottawa, ON

1988 Solstice D'ete: La Fraise
L'imagier, Aylmer, QC

1988 Zeitgenossische Kunst Der Indiane Und Eskimos
Museum Am Ostwal, Dortmund, Germany

1987 Artists Choose Artists
Jamaica Art Centre, Jamaica, NY, USA

1986 Indian Art '86
Woodland Cultural Centre, Brantford, ON

1986 Artist in Residence Winterlude
Ottawa, ON

1986 Contemporary Indian and Inuit Art Workshop
McMichael Art Gallery, Kleinburg, ON

1986 Contemporary Indian and Inuit Art
United Nations Headquarters, New York, NY

1985 Contemporary Indian Art at Rideau Hall
Governor General's Residence and Ottawa Congress Centre, Ottawa, ON

1984 Points of View - Works by Five Native American Artists
The Community Gallery, Manhattan, NY

1983/1984 Contemporary Indian and Inuit Art of Canada
UN Headquarters, New York, NY, OAS, Washington, DC, Duke University, Durham, NC, Hall of State, Dallas, TX, South West Museum, Los Angeles, CA, Palm Springs Museum, Palm Springs, CA, Fine Art Centre, Colorado Springs, CO

COLLECTIONS

Canadian Museum of Civilization, National Indian Art Centre, Ottawa Art
Gallery, Woodland Cultural Centre, MacKenzie Art Gallery, Private and
Corporate Collections

AWARDS

2003 Canada Council “A” Grant for Senior Artists
2000 Canada Council “B” Grant For Mid Career Artists
1994 Ontario Arts Council “A “Grant Senior Artists
1993 Canada Council “B” Grant For Mid Career Artists

RON NOGANOSH - BIBLIOGRAPHY (Selections)

2006 Make Art Like Ron Noganosh
Educational movie produced by the National Film Board of Canada on location at Kahnawake School, Kahnawake, QC.

2005 Engaging Authenticity
Featured Speaker 4th Annual New Sun Conference on Aboriginal Arts, Carleton University, Ottawa ON.

2004 Double Jeu: Identité et Culture - Ron Noganosh, Willie Cole and Richard Purdy, Joyceline Lupien and Jean-Philippe Uzel. Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec. Québec, QC.

2003 CBC TV Art Spot
60 second public service vignette on Ron Noganosh’s art for network television. Ron Noganosh web site on CBC TV’s Internet site.

2002 Ron Noganosh: Sculpting Politics and Passion Meg Walker, Canadian Medical Association Journal, October 15, 2002.

2001 It Takes Time:
The Art of Ron Noganosh
Lucy Lippard and Tom Hill, Ottawa Art Gallery, Ottawa, ON - Winner of Canadian Museums Association National Art Book Award, 2002.

1999 The Trickster Shift, Humour and Irony in Contemporary Native Art, Dr. Allan J. Ryan UBC Press, Vancouver, BC & University of Washington Press, Seattle, WA.

1996 Peace Now... Das 1st Der Aufrur des Indianischen Kunstlers Ron Noganosh ADAC Special das Reisemagazin NR32/April.

1995 The Trickster Shift: A New Paradigm in Contemporary Canadian Native Art Allan J. Ryan, PhD Thesis, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC.

1993 Ron Noganosh Native Artist
Aboriginal Voices - Director Doug Mackenzie, CHRO TV, Ottawa, ON

1992 Post Modern Parody: A Political Strategy In Contemporary Canadian Native Art Allan J. Ryan, Art Journal, Fall, Vol 51, No. 3.

1992 Picture a Place, Art Contemporain d’Ici
The Gallery at Arts Court, Ottawa, ON.

1992 New Territories, 350/500 Years After,
Les Maisons de la Culture, Montreal, QC.

1992 Canada’s First People
Syncrude Canada Ltd, Fort McMurray, AB 1992 Aboriginal Artists Open New Territory Anne Duncan, The Gazette, Montreal, QC, Saturday, August 8th, 1992.

1992 Extra Muros: Arts Court’s Haunting New Exhibit
Mike Anderson, Metro, Ottawa, ON, August 21 - September 3, 1992.

1991 Visions of Power- Contemporary Art by First Nations, Inuit and Japanese Canadians Earth Spirit Festival, Toronto, ON

1991 En hommage à un cadeau d’Eva Hesse à Sol Lewit
Axe-Neo 7, Hull, QC.

1991 Native Artist Throws Comic Curves But With a Serious Twist Nancy Beale, Ottawa Citizen, Ottawa, ON, February 27, p. D7.

1990 Hard and Soft: Collaborative Works by Ottawa Artists Viviane Gray and Ron Noganosh ARTSCRAFT, Spring, P. 16 - 17 Ottawa, ON.

1990 Decelebration
Gerald McMaster and Lee-Ann Martin, ARTSCRAFT, National Indian Arts and Crafts Corporation, Ottawa, ON.

1990 Will the Canoe Ever Look the Same?
Gerald McMaster ARTSCRAFT, National Indian Arts and Crafts Corporation, Ottawa, ON.

1990 Indian Sculptor Practises Art of the Cosmic Giggle
Nancy Beale, The Ottawa Citizen, Ottawa, ON, May 8, 1990.

1990 Mixed Blessings - Contemporary Art in a Multicultural America Lucy Lippard, Pantheon Books, New York, NY.

1990 Decelebration
Jacqueline Fry and Brian Maracle, Runge Press, Ottawa, ON.

1990 Hard and Soft
Jacqueline Fry, University of Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC.

1990 Im Schatten Der Sonne - Zeitgenossische Der Indianer und Eskimos in Kanada Gerhard Hoffman, Edition Cantz, Stuttgart, Germany.

1989 Beyond History
Karen Duffek, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, BC.
..
1989 Art and Issues
Clive Robertson, FUSE, August, 1989 Toronto, ON.

1989 Le Dur et le Flexible Viviane Gray et Ron Noganosh
Le Tribune, Dec. 2, 1989 Sherbrooke, QC. 1989 In the Shadow of the Sun Press Clippings, Dec. 9, 1988 - Feb.28, 1989 Dortmund, Germany.

1988 Snakes in the Garden
Gary Mainprize, Arts Court, Ottawa, ON.

1988 Arts Festival Puts on Best Show Ever
Nancy Beale, The Ottawa Citizen, Sept 17, 1988 Ottawa, ON.

1985 Artist Conveys Political Views in Visual Satire
Nancy Beale, The Ottawa Citizen, Feb 2, 1985, Ottawa, ON.

1984 Decking the Halls in Lower Midtown
Diana Freedman, ART SPEAK, Vol. V1, No. 8, Dec. 1984, New York, NY.

RON NOGANOSH - CONTACT INFORMATION

RON NOGANOSH
143 IVY CRESCENT
OTTAWA, ON, K1M 1X7
Tel: 613.749.8789
Fax: 613.741.1866
E-MAIL: maxmom@reachme.ca