Artist Talk | Discussion avec les artistes : Nancy Barić and Steven J. Yazzie

Join us at the FOFA Gallery for a vernissage on March 21st, 2024 from 5-8 pm, including a discussion with the artists Nancy Barić and Steven J. Yazzie at 6 pm, introduced by Michelle McGeough.

The Nearness of Distance (on view in the Main Space from March 4th to April 12th) brings together films by Nancy Barić and Steven J. Yazzie, centering relationships with land and water. Alternating between documentary style representation and abstract imagery and sound, the two films explore issues of representation, ecology, and stewardship.

This event is co-presented with the Indigenous Futures Research Centre.

About the speakers

Steven J. Yazzie (Diné/Pueblo of Laguna/European descent) is a multi-disciplinary artist working with video, painting, sculpture, and installation environments. He is the co-founder of Digital Preserve, a video/film production project prioritizing collaborations with Indigenous communities, and arts and cultural institutions. He was a founding member of the Indigenous arts collective, Postcommodity. Yazzie's work has been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art, National Museum of the American Indian, National Gallery of Canada, Art Gallery of Ontario, the Museum of Contemporary Native Art, and the Heard Museum.

Nancy Barić is a filmmaker and a visual artist living and working in Tiohtià:ke/Montréal. Her films are featured in the collections of The Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema and La Grande Bibliothèque in Montréal. Her last fiction film, Veronika, was short-listed for Toronto’s International Film Festival’s (TIFF) Best Canadian Shorts Top Ten. Her films have been featured in magazines such as 24 images, no. 131 (Canada, Quebec), Let’s Panic (United States), and Terra Firma, no. 2 (United Kingdom).

Michelle McGeough (host/moderator) (Cree Métis/Settler) completed her PhD in Indigenous art history at the University of New Mexico. Prior to returning to school for her advanced degree, she taught Museum Studies at the Institute of American Indian Art and was the Assistant curator at the Wheelwright Museum of The Native American Indian in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Dr. McGeough has a Master’s degree from Carleton University as well as a BFA from Emily Carr and an undergraduate degree from the Institute of American Indian Art. She also has a B.Ed. degree from the University of Alberta. Dr. McGeough currently teaches at Concordia University in the Art History department.