Bruno Canadien [Calgary]
Bruno Canadien is a Visual Artist whose multidisciplinary practice investigates Indigenous presence, kinship, and relationality in the contemporary colonial context, through painting, drawing, installation and walking. Bruno’s work has been included in national exhibitions at the Art Gallery of Alberta, the Winnipeg Art Gallery and the Biennale d’Art Contemporain Autochtone in Montreal. His paintings can be found in private and public collections, including Glenbow Museum, Global Affairs Canada, the Indigenous Art Centre, and Nickle Galleries.
Bruno Canadien is a member of the Deh Gah Got’ı́é Dene First Nation of Zhati Kǫ́ę́, Denendeh, a Deh Cho Region member of the Dene Nation. He is currently based in Black Diamond, Alberta, gratefully grounding himself in the landscapes and traditional territories of the Siksikaitsitapi, Tsuut’ina and Îethka Nakoda Wîcastabi nations.
Mural Title
“BILLIONAIRE”
Mural Statement
This design is rooted in my painting practice, meshing the floral imagery that reference my Dene heritage, with an original image of the Evening Grosbeak, a local bird, to create a dynamic, fun and expressive artwork. The Evening Grosbeak is a splashy finch of northern coniferous forests and year-round resident of the foothills (I took the original photo myself at Brown-Lowery Provincial Park southwest of the city). The leaves, flowers and background colouring represent the natural environment, and hint at sunshine filtering through the trees. The bird is perched on a yellow circle representing the summer breeding season, or the circle of life, while the yellow center of the flower in the top left also represents the summer sun. The floral element might seem to be a simple design, but it is nevertheless a strong and recurring theme in Dene visual arts. Here, my intent is not to foreground my culture but to inform the work with the artist’s practice. At this stage, this digital concept is a vision only, and requires sizing to the exact dimensions of the building. The main foreground elements of design and colour theme would of course remain, and the background, applied using spray gun and wet brushes & rollers, will produce a similar gritty layered effect. The concept for the wrap-around walls to the right of the main wall is to continue this background layering with leaf motifs, allowing for and giving space to existing signage, and incorporating white and red into the wall with the sign.