Carl Beam

Carl Beam R.C.A., (1943-2005), (born Carl Edward Migwans) made Canadian art history as the first artist of Native Ancestry (Ojibwe), to have his work purchased by the National Gallery of Canada as Contemporary Art. He worked in various photographic mediums, mixed media, oil, acrylic, spontaneously scripted text on canvas, works on paper, Plexiglas, stone, cement, wood, and found objects, in addition to etching, lithography, and screen process.

Childhood

Carl Beam was born Carl Edward Migwans on the 24th of May 1943, in M'chigeeng First Nation. His mother, Barbara Migwans was the Ojibwe daughter of Dominic Migwans who was then the Chief of the Ojibways of West Bay (later renamed M'chigeeng First Nation). "The Beam family's true name is Migwans which means "feather" or "bird"." [Virginia Eichorn, It's All Relative Catalog, 2005, p. 5] His father Edward Cooper, was an American soldier, who died as a POW in WWII. "He was raised by his grandparents Dominic and Annie for most of his young life. His exceptional qualities were observed by his elders at a young age, and he was given the name "Ahkideh" meaning "one who is brave" in the Ojibwe language." [Ann Beam in converation with Anong Beam, Manitoulin Island, 2008] He was sent to Garnier Residential School, in Spanish, Ontario, from the age of ten until he left as a young man.

Education

After working at a variety of jobs, from construction work on the Toronto Subway, to working as a millwright in Wawa, Ontario, Beam entered Kootenay School of Art (1971). He went on to earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Victoria in 1974, and entered into post-graduate studies at the University of Alberta, (1975-76). He left the University of Alberta over a dispute about his thesis on native art, and returned to Ontario.

Early Work

The direction of Carl Beam's visual style was firmly established by the late seventies. In 1979 Beam met and married his wife, Ann Beam. "In developing his work over the years, Beam has been accompanied by his wife, Ann, herself and artist and a former teacher at the Art Gallery of Ontario. Often they have worked as collaborators" [Joan Murray, The Whale of Our Being Catalogue, 2002, p.4] . At this time he incorporated multiple photographic images onto a single picture plane. "He disregarded the illusory deep space of Renaissance depiction, in favor of a flat tableau, where a dialog of multiple images could take place" [Ann Beam in converation with Anong Beam, Manitoulin Island, 2008] . At this time his photographic imagery was achieved primarily via screen process, photo-etching, Polaroid instant prints, and a solvent transfer technique also used by Robert Rauschenberg.

Living in the Southwestern United States

In 1980, Beam and his family, Ann, and daughter Anong, moved to Arroyo Seco, New Mexico to live and work. "We developed a dialog together in everyday living, politics, world events, ceramic technique, painting, and all things art, that would continue for the next 26 years" [Ann Beam, in converation with Anong Beam, Manitoulin Island, 2008] . Said Beam of the time "It was in the southwest years later with Ann and Anong, who was a baby, that I saw my first Mimbres bowl, or rather a cupboard full of Mimbres bowls in a gallery on the square in downtown Santa Fe, New Mexico. Some were completely intact, some had been restored, but all shared a bold adventurous design. When I discovered they were done 1,000 years ago, I was completely surprised." [Carl Beam, It's All Relative Catalog, 2005, p.8] Beam and his wife Ann exhibited their ceramic work together in "The Painted Pottery of Ann and Carl Beam" at the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM.

Return to Canada

Although he had achieved a level of success in the United States, with art dealers in both Taos, and Santa Fe, Beam returned to Canada, where he felt his work had an important contribution to make. "A return to canada in 1983 at first meant no change in format: one ceramic work by Beam of a shaman family, in the collection of the Woodland Cultural Center in Brantford, Ontario, has the central image Beam favored in New Mexico, though now one that represents his current situation. Here a shaman figure holds the hands of a figure to either side, likely a veiled reference to his wife, Ann, aand his daughter, Anongonse, born in 1980." [Joan Murray, The What of Our Being catalgue, 2002, p.5] The family moved to Peterborough, Ontario, and in 1984, Beam was comissioned to make an art work for the Thunder Bay Art Gallery. He titled the piece "Exorcism". This became part of a "breakthrough exhibition" [Ann Beam in conversation with Anong Beam, Manitoulin Island, 2008] for him, which had a catalog, and was titled "Altered Egos" the Multi-media Artwork of Carl Beam. It was curated by Elizabeth McLuhan. Living in the east end of Peterborough, Ontario, Beam created an early set of large format etchings, consisting of nine prints. There are many signature images in this print collection which Beam later used to form the image backbone of his iconic work "The North American Iceberg". This work was purchased by the National Gallery of Canada, making Beam the first artist of Native ancestry to have his work purchased into the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Canada as contemporary art.

Mature Style

By the mid-eighties, Beam was working with new techniques for incorporating photo-imagery into his work. He utilized a heat transfer technique learned from fellow artist Ann Beam, with his work on paper and Plexiglas. He also began working with photo emulsion and mixed media on paper and large scale canvas works.The works contained various juxtapositions of imagery from the spiritual, the natural, and political world, and incorporated his ownpoetic inscriptions and math equations. "My works are like little puzzles, interesting little games. I play a game of dreaming ourselves as each other. In this we find out that we're all basically human... My work is not fabricated for the art market. There's no market for intellectual puzzles or works of spritual emancipation" [Carl Beam in conversation with the author. In Allan J. Ryan, "The Trickster Shift:Humour and Irony in Contemporary Native Art", Vancouver and Seattle, UBC Press and University of Washington Press, 1999, p. 151.]

The Columbus Project

The subject matter of his work turned towards the rapidly approaching 500th anniversary in 1992 of Christopher Columbus, and his arrival in North America. He found in this event, a rich source for a discussion on the nature of culture, as well as revisions and versions of history. He created at this time,(1989-1992) a body of work entitled "The Columbus Project". It's first stage had exhibition venues in Peterborough, Ontario at both ArtSpace (curated by Shelagh Young), and also the Art Gallery of Peterborough. The second phase of the Columbus Project was an exhibition at The Power Plant in Toronto, curated by Richard Rhodes entitled the "Columbus Boat". The exhibition continued on to venues in Italy and the United States. Beam's imagery for the Columbus Project was cross-culturally vast, and contained the primary images of Columbus, and Native peoples, but also images of Martin Luther King, John F. Kennedy, Italian Christian iconography, diverse animal species, Albert Einstein, and Abraham Lincoln. There were two sculptural elements, "Voyage" a partial reconstruction of the Santa Maria, and the "Ampulleta", a six foot tall hour glass, with one obstructive stone within the sand, as well as several installations, and a video performance of Beam in the Domincan Republic, making a representational graveyard on the beaches where the landing could have taken place.

In 1992 Carl Beam and Ann Beam built an adobe house on Manitoulin Island."Their adobe house became to a certain extent, a large scale project which evolved naturally out of their earlier experiences with Native American pottery and the building vernacular of the American southwest." [Virginia Eichorn, It's All Relative Catalog, 2005, p.6] Their life experience was incorporated in his exhibition "Living in Mother Earth", and her exhibition "Sub-division Suite/Earth Builder's Narrative".

The Whale of Our Being

Beam entered the new millennium with the body of work entitled "The Whale of Our Being", in this work "Beam examines the calamitous moral fallout from what he perceives as a profound spiritual absence in contemporary society, symbolized by a great whale of primordial proportions" [Allan J. Ryan, 2005 Governor General's Awards for Excellence in Visual and Media Arts Catalog, p.18,21,] . featuring large photo emulsion works on canvas, constructions, large scale paperworks, and ceramics. "Compared to eariler work, "The Whale of Our Being" exhibits a positively baroque complexity, a dizzying assortment of references, sometimes printed in oversaturated, fluorescent colour, . "Mystery", for instance, is pink-Day-Glo-coloured pink. The colour in "Summa" ranges from Day-Glo yellow-green to orange; the images from Einstein and the Hubble Telescope, and astronaut, and Sitting Bull to and image of the First Nations, and more besides." [Joan Murray, The Whale of Our Being catalog, 2002, p.3] His imagery had become vast and all inclusive, in "The Whale of Our Being" "He re-examines the media construction of violence and infamy and the public facination with celebrity". [Allan J. Ryan, 2005 Governor General's Awards for Excellence in Visual and Media Arts Catalog, p.21] Said Beam at a panel discussion for the Beyond History exhibition in 1989, "If an artist has a legitimate premise, there is nothing which isn't within their field of inquiry" [Carl Beam, panel discussion, Beyond History exhibition, Vancouver, 1989] .

Crossroads

His last body of work was in process until the time of his passing in 2005. It was titled "Crossroads" from the blues song by Robert Johnson. The work included images of pop stars, gangsters, scientists, native leaders, politicians, writers and poets, musicians (Robert Johnson, Bob Dylan, Marilyn Manson, Jerry Garcia, Britney Spears, John Lennon), TV personalities (Martha Stewart), animals, and birds. He had completed Plexiglas works, and 22"x30" paperworks for "Crossroads" and was in the middle of a suite of etchings at the time of his passing.
Carl Beam received the Governor General's Award for Excellence in Visual and Media Art in 2005.

It's All Relative

In 2004 the Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery in Waterloo, Ontario, created a travelling exhibition, curated by Virginia Eichorn, of 50 ceramic pieces by Carl Beam, Ann Beam, and Anong Migwans Beam. This marked the first time all three exhibited together. It was his last exhibition during his lifetime. It continues to tour to this day.

Legacy

Carl Beam was the first artist of Native ancestry to have his work purchased by the National Gallery of Canada as contemporary art (1986), thus opening the door for a generation of Native artists to enter. "Despite Beam's reluctance to be defined as a "Native Artist", his art deals with the struggles of his people." [Dierdre Hanna, NOW magazine, Vol.9, #26, 1990] Beam brought an innovative approach to all the media he worked in. "Technically Beam is regarded as an innovator for his intentional blurring of diverse art practices, thereby enabling certain methodologies and techniques to aquire new contexts. His innovative techniques, in fact, have been emulated by a new generation of artists-Native and not." [Virginia Eichorn, It's All Relative Catalog, 2005, p.5] "He evolved his own unique techniques as needed in photo-etching and photo based painting, to name a few, and his passionate discourse on all things political and practical inspired many people." [Ann Beam in discussion with Anong Beam, Manitoulin Island, 2008]

Personal Life

Beam married his first wife in the early 60's. They had 5 children, Clint, Veronica, Leila, Carl Jr, and Jennifer. The Marriage was later annuled. Beam married Ann Elena Weatherby, their daughter is Anong Migwans Beam.
Beam passed on July 30th 2005, at Ottawa General Hospital, from complications due to diabetes.

References