"Untitled" by Jim Denomie. Oil on canvas, 2005. (Photo courtesy Finlandia University)Beginning at 7:30 p.m. Denomie, a member of the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Ojibwe, will present a slide lecture about his work in the theatre adjacent to the gallery. The reception is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.
This is Denomie’s second visit to Finlandia University. In 2004 he participated in a brief visiting artist program.
"Although I was raised in Minneapolis, I always went back to the reservation for summer and winter breaks and stayed with my grand parents," Denomie says. "I am still strongly connected to my reservation and other Indian communities in the area by my many friends and relatives."
"Untitled" by Jim Denomie. Oil on canvas, 2005. (Photo courtesy Finlandia University)In 2005 Denomie embarked on a "Painting-a-Day" project, creating a painting every day of the year, resulting in over 430 small-scale works, of which approximately 300 are portraits. He calls the series "Rugged Indians"; and together the series reflects the powerful shifts of thought, emotion and events that mark daily life.
"During the Painting-a-Day project, I fell in love with portraiture but also tried a number of other ideas and subjects," says Denomie. "I will probably always do some portraits here and there, but I also intend to work on large canvases involving storytelling in the future. And I will always listen to new ideas that float my way and hopefully I will continue to evolve."
Artist Jim Denomie in his studio. (Photo courtesy Finlandia University)These quick studies of the face, the portal into the expressive and complex nature of an individual, are usually completed within 15 to 30 minutes.
What can you express about an individual in such a short time? In a 2005 article for mnartists.org, "Finding the New Country in the Old," Lightsey Darst describes the power of Denomie’s brushwork.
"He does not try to create a perfect work of art; instead he lets himself play with the paint. He uses the colors already on the palette or adds new ones based on his mood. Daily surges of emotion affect the work, sometimes directly -- one day’s face is grinning, another sour, one yelling (after the Red Lake shooting) -- but more often indirectly: the faces evolve their own personalities, their own neutral but suggestive expressions, so that looking at many of the faces at once is like staring into a crowd of strangers."
Jim Denomie received a bachelor of fine arts from the University of Minnesota in 1995. His work has been widely exhibited, most recently in solo exhibits at the Bockley Gallery of Minneapolis and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. His work is included in the permanent collections of the Westphalian Museum of Natural History in West Germany, the Tweed Museum of Art in Duluth, the Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum at the University of Minnesota and the Montana Museum of Art and Culture at the University of Montana.
The Finnish American Heritage Center is at 435 Quincy Street, Hancock. Gallery hours are Monday-Friday 8 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., Wednesday, 8 a.m. - 7 p.m., or by appointment. Please call 487-7500 for more information.
* For the text of this article, visit mnartists.org.
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