Keep Yourself Alive
My Fairy King - Freddie Mercury, Courtesy of the Ahnisnabae Art Gallery
Debut Solo Exhibition at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery
By Tiffany Jarva
Ojibwe Woodland artist Jim Oskineegish finds a way to balance big and heavy themes with fun and lightness in his debut exhibition at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery. A nod to the song by Queen, Keep Yourself Alive, curated by Caitlyn Bird,features 13 large-scale portraits inspired by Oskineegish’s heroes over the years: from pop culture icons like Jimi Hendrix and Evel Knievel to more personal heroes like his older brother and the doctor who performed surgery on him.“
Jim has created a love letter for each of these paintings,” explains curator Penelope Smart. “The show is very autobiographical, and you get an immediate sense of him. Some of the paintings are big and loud like 80s rock, and you can feel the energy. There is also a lot of trauma and sadness alongside the spirit and joy.”
Oskineegish is from Eabametoong First Nation. He studied visual arts at Lakehead University in the early 1990s. He shares his stories through his paintings, like the moment his brother spun a Queen album and he heard Freddie Mercury’s voice for the first time, stressing how pivotal and comforting music was for him growing up as a foster child experiencing loneliness and racism during the 60s Scoop. The show also includes an emotionally poignant portrait of his brother, who died tragically in a car accident. The painting features Oskineegish looking up at his brother immortalized as part of the night sky, marking a much larger spiritual presence.
“The paintings are beautiful. No one has seen this series before—they have been in storage waiting to bring love and healing to people who see it,” says Smart.
Ahnisnabae Art Gallery’s owner Louise Thomas wholeheartedly agrees. “When I saw the hero series and heard what Jim went through as part of the 60s Scoop, and the abuse he suffered in foster homes, I knew deep down it should be a show, so I pushed for it. That was in 2013.” Over 10 years in the making, and with support from traditional healing, the much anticipated show has come to light. “I know that there are a lot of people who have gone through what he has gone through, and I think this series can be part of others’ healing as well,” says Thomas.
In the 1970s, Thomas says that in addition to music, Oskineegish would turn to his favourite TV shows (a painting of an actor from Bonanza is also included in the series) during dark times, which helped him stay connected on a day-to-day basis. “I think many of us can relate to this type of connection,” explains Thomas. When Thomas opened her gallery, Oskineegish was one of her first painters featured, and he continues to be one of her best-selling artists.
Jim Oskineegish: Keep Yourself Aliveexhibition features a series of 13 paintings from his Hero Series, and is part of the Thunder Bay Art Gallery’s Under the Sun: Summer Party. The show runs June 21–September 15.