Art Metropole

#05635

Terrance Houle: GIVN'R

Artist

Terrance Houle

Date

2012

Publisher

Art Gallery of York University

Format

Catalogues

Details

Softcover

ISBN

978-0921381389

Size

15.5 × 23 × 1 cm

Length

95 

Genre

Indigenous Art & Artists, Performance Art, Photography

Givn’r: (verb)
Canadian, particular to rural areas, especially in the Western provinces, meaning:
1) to work very hard
2) to get wasted and rock as hard as possible
3) to finish a job or task in an efficient and quick manner
– introduction

This monograph accompanies Terrance Houle’s first major solo exhibition, an installation inspired by his own father’s experiences. Houle’s father grew up on the Sandy Bay Reservation in Manitoba and attended Residential School all the while learning the traditions of the Salteaux (Ojibway) First Nations People. Joining the Canadian Armed Forces at a time when Aboriginal men were rare in the service, he traveled around the world, writing to his mother weekly. Offering insight into a young Native man’s journey and relationship with his Ojibway mother, this work speaks of home, connection, place, and time.

With texts by Anthony Kiendl, Emelie Chhangur, and Richard W. Hill, this is the first monograph on Terrance Houle. It was designed by Sébastien Aubin.
Terrance Houle is an internationally recognized interdisciplinary media artist and a member of the Blood Tribe. Involved with Aboriginal communities all his life, he has traveled to reservations throughout North America participating in Powwow dancing and native ceremonies. Houle utilizes performance, photography, video/film, music, and painting. In addition, Houle’s practice includes tools of mass dissemination such as billboards and vinyl bus signage.

A graduate of the Alberta College of Art and Design, Terrance Houle received his BFA in 2003. His groundbreaking art quickly garnered him significant accolades and opportunities, including an invitation to participate in a thematic residency at the Banff Centre for the Arts in 2003. This residency focused on 34 international indigenous people exploring issues of colonization and communion. Houle received the 2006 Enbridge Emerging Artist Award presented at the Mayors Luncheon for the Arts, City Of Calgary. In 2008 Houle was a semi-finalist for the prestigious Sobey Art Award. After many screenings of his short video/film work at the Toronto 2004 ImagineNATIVE Film Festival, Houle received the Best Experimental Film award. His work has been exhibited across Canada, the United States, Australia, Europe, and England. Terrance Houle lives and maintains his art practice in Calgary. He is a founding member of Indigeneity Artist Collective Society.