1. Robert Houle was born on 1947 and is a Saulteaux First Nations Canadian artist, curator, critic, and educator.
16 Facts About Robert Houle
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Robert Houle played an important role in bridging the gap between contemporary First Nations artists and the broader Canadian art scene through his writing and involvement in early important high-profile exhibitions such as Land, Spirit, Power: First Nations at the National Gallery of Canada.
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Robert Houle is predominantly a painter working in the tradition of Abstraction, yet he has embraced a pop sensibility by incorporating everyday images and text into his works.
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Robert Houle often appropriates historical photographs and texts, repurposing and combining them with Anishnaabe language and traditionally used materials such as porcupine quills within his works.
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Robert Houle was born in St Boniface, Manitoba on 9 March 1947 to parents Gladys and Solomon Robert Houle.
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Robert Houle was the eldest of fifteen children, all of whom were raised Roman Catholic and Saulteaux.
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Robert Houle earned his Bachelor of Arts in Art History from the University of Manitoba in 1972.
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In 1991 Robert Houle took a position as the first professor of Indigenous Studies at The Ontario College of Art, where he taught for fifteen years, mentoring artists including Bonnie Devine and Michael Belmore.
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Robert Houle's paintings have been exhibited at the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, the Canadian Cultural Centre in Paris, and the Stedelijk Museum.
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Robert Houle's artwork has been collected throughout Canada and in parts of the United States and Australia.
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From 1977 to 1981 Robert Houle was the first Indigenous curator of contemporary Indigenous Art at the Canadian Museum of Civilisation in Ottawa.
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Robert Houle travelled widely in pursuit of this work, becoming close with Abraham Anghik Ruben, Robert Davidson, Norval Morrisseau, Carl Beam, Daphne Odjig, Alex Janvier, and Robert Boyer in the process.
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However, the inhospitable, often irresponsible culture at museum began to take its toll, and after three years, Robert Houle resigned, later stating:.
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Robert Houle has curated and co-curated ground-breaking exhibitions such as New Work By a New Generation, at the Norman Mackenzie Art Gallery in Regina in 1982, and Land Spirit Power: First Nations at the National Gallery of Canada in 1992.
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Robert Houle was made a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts.
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Robert Houle's work is in public collections including the Art Gallery of Ontario, Heard Museum, Laurentian University Museum and Arts Centre, McGill University, and National Gallery of Canada.