About the Artist
Richard James Rivet was born in Aklavik, Northwest Territories in 1949. In addition to receiving a Masters degree in Fine Arts from the University of Saskatchewan, he has been the recipient of over twenty awards, scholarships and bursaries. Since 1979, he has taken part in over forty prestigious exhibitions throughout Canada and abroad. His paintings have been collected privately, as well as by the Museum of Civilization, the Government of British Columbia, the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Royal Bank of Canada and the Alberta Energy Company, among others. More recently in 2002, he was part of the 8th Native American Fine Art Invitational, a juried exhibition held by the Heard Museum of Phoenix, Arizona where he received an Andy Warhol Foundation Fellowship from the same institution.
Artist Statement
My work explores a Metis-Canadian sensibility with modernist concerns. I have an expressionist-primitivist approach to painting with subject matter related to two aspects of my Native-Canadian reality and viewpoint. These concerns are the shamanic/spiritual tradition of native peoples and the problem of resolving this tradition with contemporary artwork. My work involves combining and reinterpreting the iconography of ancient peoples in a contemporary perspective, using abstract poetic symbolism. Intuition, sensuality, emotive content and creative thought are all combined in an individualistic consideration of means and method.
The ancient tradition of Shamanic-based art offers huge potential in the development of new “Canadian” art. My work aspires to the spiritual, to the recovery of the main tradition of creativity. My role as an artist is not to represent ‘Indigenous,’ ‘Native’ or ‘First Nations’ art. My art represents aspects of my own culture and personal history, and in the wider archetypal sense includes all common human experience. -Rick Rivet |
Curriculum Vitae
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2005 Travel Maps, Gallery Geivk, Toronto ON
2004 String Games and Other Works, Simon Patrich Gallery, Vancouver BC
2003 New Work, Gallery Gevik, Toronto ON
2001 Art Exhibition, Taiwan Fine Arts Museum, Taichung, Taiwan
2001 FNAC, Taipei, Taiwan
2001 Wabash Gallery, Crawfordsville, Indiana
2000 Recent Work, Gallery Gevik, Toronto ON
1999-2000 Shamanic Images, Indian and Inuit Art Gallery, Department of Indian and Northern Affairs, Ottawa ON
1996 Simon Patrich Gallery, Vancouver BC
1996 Painting Exhibition, The Yukon Arts Centre, Whitehorse, Yukon
1996 Mask Series, Virginia Christopher Gallery, Calgary AB
1995 Alcheringa Gallery, Victoria BC
1994 Matter, Space and Time, Simon Patrich Gallery, Vancouver BC
1994 The Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Center, Yellowknife NWT
1994 Axis – North by Northwest, The Virginia Christopher Gallery, Calgary AB
1991-92 Directions, Thunder Bay Art Gallery, Thunder Bay ON
1990 Houston North Gallery, Halifax NS
1985 University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon SK
1985 MFA Graduate Show, Gordon Snelgrove Art Gallery
Selected Group Exhibitions
2010 UNLEASHED, Petley Jones Gallery, Vancouver BC
2002-03 8th Native American Fine Arts Invitational, The Heard Museum, Pheonix, Arizona
2002-03 New by Two 2002, Rick Rivet / Anita Fields, Andy Warhol Foundation Fellowship Show, The Heard Museum, Phoenix, Arizona
2000 Rick Rivet and Bob Boyer, Keyano Art Gallery, Fort McMurray AB
1999-2000 Contemporary Masters: The Eitljorg Fellowship for Native American Fine Art, Eitljorg Museum, Indianapolis, Indiana
1999 Osopikahikiwak, Rick Rivet and Jane Ash Poitras, Canadian Cultural Centre/ Canadian Embassy, Paris, France
1996-97 Topographies – Aspects of Recent British Columbia Art, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver BC
1995 The Great Northern Arts Festival, Inuvik, NWT
1995 Recent Acquisitions, Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Ottawa ON
1994 Arts from the Arctic, Maltwood Art Museum and Gallery, University of Victoria, Victoria BC
1994 Discoveries ’94, Simon Patrich Gallery, Vancouver BC
1993-95 Arts from the Arctic: Russia, Canada, Alaska, Greenland, Scandinavian Lapland, The Vancouver Inuit Art Society [touring international group exhibition]
1993 Artropolis ’93, Vancouver BC
1993 Native American Art and First Nations Peoples’ Art, The Western Gallery, Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington
1993 The Ethics of Gesture, Burnaby Art Gallery, Burnaby BC
1993 Indian Art Centre Gallery, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Ottawa, ON
1992 Drawing Exhibition, The National Arts Centre, Ottawa ON
1992-93 Canada’s First People: A Celebration of Contemporary Native Visual Arts, Alberta Part Art Publications Society, Edmonton AB and Japan
Recent Acquisitions, Thunder Bay Art Gallery, Thunder Bay ON
1992 The Great Northern Arts Festival, The Inuvialuit Corporate Centre, Inuvik NWT
1992 New Territories: 350/500 Years After, Les Ateliers Vision Planetaire, Montreal and Quebec City QC
1992-94 Indigena: Perspectives of Indigenous Peoples on Five Hundred Years, Indian and Inuit Art Gallery, The Museum of Civilization, Hull QC, Canada and USA
1992 Marion Scott Gallery, Vancouver BC
1991 Toronto Symphony’s Annual President’s Evening in support of the Canadian Native Arts Foundation, auction and benefit show, Roy Thompson Hall, Toronto ON
1991 Public-Private Gatherings: Recent Acquisitions, Indian and Inuit Art Gallery, Museum of Civilization, Hull QC
1990 The Great Northern Arts Festival, The Inuvialuit Corporate Centre, Inuvik, NWT
1990 Other Art Gallery, Halifax NS
1988 Juried exhibition, Memorial University of Newfoundland Art Gallery, Arts and Culture Centre, St. John’s NL
1986 Vinish Gallery, Saskatoon SK
1986 Juried exhibition, The Saskatchewan Open ’86, Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon, SK
1984 Gallery, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon SK
1984 Juried exhibition University of Saskatchewan Art ’84, Travelling Group Exhibition
1984 Graduate Students Group Show, The Gordon Snelgrove Art Gallery
1983 Juried Faculty Club Show, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon SK
1981 Juried Visual Arts Participants Show, The Walter Phillips Gallery, The Banff Centre, Banff AB
1980 The Armouries Building Show, Victoria BC
1980 Graduating Students Art Show, Maltwood Museum
1980 Gallery, University of Victoria, Victoria BC
1980 The Helen Pitt Graduate Awards Show, Burnaby Art Gallery, Burnaby BC
1979 Graduating Students Art Show, The Maltwood Museum and Art Gallery, University of Victoria, Victoria BC
Selected Public and Corporate Collections
Eitljorg Museum, Indianapolis, Indiana
Alberta Energy Co., Calgary AB
The Canadian Museum of Civilization, Gatineau QC
The Chateau Champlain, Montreal QC
Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Art Collection, Canadian Embassy, Moscow
The Gordon Snelgrove Art Gallery, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon SK
The Government of British Columbia Art Collection, Victoria BC
The Indian Art Centre, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Ottawa ON
Maltwood Museum and Art Gallery, University of Victoria, Victoria BC
The Memorial University Art Gallery, Memorial University, St. John’s NL
Mocal Energy, Ltd. [subsidiary of Mistubishi Corp., Japan] Fort McMurray AB
Royal Bank of Canada, Toronto ON
Thunder Bay Art Gallery, Thunder Bay ON
Vancouver Inuit Art Society, Vancouver BC
Canadian Pioneer Ltd., Calgary AB
Carmanah Resources Ltd., Calgary AB
Pan-Canadian Petroleum Ltd., Calgary AB
Art Gallery of Newfoundland and Labrador, St. John’s NL
Victoria Conference Centre, Victoria BC
Peabody-Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusets
Canadian Pacific Hotels, Toronto, ON
The University Collection, University of Victoria, Victoria BC
Canada Council Art Bank, Ottawa ON
Connacher Oil and Gas, Calgary AB
The University of Lethbridge Art Gallery, Lethbridge AB
The Heard Museum, Phoenix, Arizona
Wabash College, Crawfordsville, Indiana
Krebs Revocable Trust, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Numerous private collections
Honorary Title
RCA – Royal Canadian Artist
Education
2002 Andy Warhol Foundation Fellowship, Fine Arts Residence Program, The Heard Museum, Phoenix, Arizona
1999 Eiteljorg Fellowship recipient, Eiteljorg Museum, Indianapolis, Indiana
1985-86 B.Ed., Art and English
1983-85 MFA [painting], University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon SK
1980-81 Painting scholarship, The Banff Centre, School of Fine Arts
1976-80 BFA [painting], University of Victoria, Victoria BC
1969-72 BA, University of Alberta, Edmonton AB
Awards
1986 Saskatchewan Arts Board Grant
1988 Government of Newfoundland Arts and Letters Competition Award
1990 Canadian Native Arts Foundation Grant
1992 Canada Council Short Term Grant
1994 B.C. Cultural Services Grant
Canada Council Short Term & Travel Grants
1994 Canada Council Travel Grant
1994/96/97/98/99 B.C. Arts Council Grant
1996 B.C. Cultural Services Grant
1999 Canada Council Mid-Career Creation/Production Grant
1999 Eitljorg Fellowship, from Eitljorg Museum , Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.A
2002 Andy Warhol Foundation Fellowship, Fine Arts Residency Program, The Heard Museum, Pheonix, Arizona, USA
2004 Canada Council – Creation/Production Grant – Established Artists
Memberships and Appointments
2003 Jury member, Canada Council, Creation/Production Grants, Established Artists, Visual Arts, Ottawa ON
1998 Jury member, Canada Council- Project Assistance for Initiatives in Contemporary Visual Art and Architecture
1996 Visiting Artist, Boreal Institute of Indigenous Art, Keyano College, Fort McMurray AB
1995 Jury member for selection of work for the Canada Council Arts Awards, Short term and Travel Grants, Ottawa, ON
1993-1995 Board member for the Society of Canadian Artists of Native Ancestry (S.C.A.N.A)
1993 Jury member for selection of work for the Indian Art Centre, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Ottawa ON |
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