Biography and Collections Information

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  Carl Beam Biography

  Creative Campus Galleries

  Carl Beam (1943-2005), born Carl Edward Migwans at M’Chigeeng First Nation (West Bay), Manitoulin Island, was a ground-breaking contemporary artist who created opportunities for future generations of Indigenous artists working in Canada. He is recognized as the first contemporary Indigenous artist to have work purchased by the National Gallery of Canada.

  Born to an Ojibwe mother and American father, Beam’s elders gave him the name “Ahkideh” from the Anishinaabe word “aakode,” which means “one who is brave.” From the age of ten to eighteen, he was sent to the Garnier Residential School, in Spanish, Ontario, an experience that influenced much ... Read More

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  Crossroads

  Creative Campus Galleries

  Until 2005, Carl Beam worked on a new collection, which remained unfinished at the time of his death. Crossroads was inspired by a popular song titled “Cross Road Blues” by the American blues musician Robert Johnson. According to his wife, Ann Beam, he used the artwork in this collection to consider his own hybrid identity. In Crossroads, Beam used printing techniques to depict musicians, historical figures, scientists, and celebrities such as Albert Einstein and Cher. The figures are juxtaposed with images of animals, insects, and birds, incorporating hand-drawn elements and text. Like in The Whale of Our Being, the use of very bright, highly-saturated colours suggests a reflection on humanity’s departure from nature, a theme seen throughout Carl Beam’s earlier artwork.

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  The Whale of Our Being

  Creative Campus Galleries

  The Whale of Our Being
  

  From the late 1990s to the early 2000s, Carl Beam produced a body of work titled The Whale of Our Being. The series includes serigraphs (screen prints), etchings, large-scale photo-emulsion works, and sculptures that reflect on humanity’s departure from and inability to live in harmony with the natural world. The colour-saturated artworks include collage-style compositions that incorporate photographs of Indigenous historical figures, Christian symbolism, magazine clippings, and images representing scientific discovery. This period also marked his earliest use of celebrity imagery, which is prominent in this exhibition.