Ahmoo Angeconeb (19 April 1955 – 9 June 2017) was a Canadian

Ojibwe The Ojibwe (; Ojibwe writing systems#Ojibwe syllabics, syll.: ᐅᒋᐺ; plural: ''Ojibweg'' ᐅᒋᐺᒃ) are an Anishinaabe people whose homeland (''Ojibwewaki'' ᐅᒋᐺᐘᑭ) covers much of the Great Lakes region and the Great Plains, n ...

artist. His style was influenced by the Woodlands School, but incorporated elements from different cultures and artistic traditions. He travelled widely and found success as an artist in Europe as well as Canada.

Early life and education

Angeconeb was born to George and Patricia Angeconeb on 19 April 1955 in

Sioux Lookout, Ontario Sioux Lookout is a town in Northwestern Ontario, Canada, with a population of 5,838 people (up 10.8% since 2016). Known locally as the "Hub of the North", it is serviced by the Sioux Lookout Airport, Ontario Highway 72, Highway 72, and the Sioux ...

. He was raised in Whitefish Bay, part of the

Lac Seul First Nation Lac Seul First Nation is an Ojibwe First Nation band government located on the southeastern shores of Lac Seul, northeast of the city of Dryden, Ontario. Though Lac Seul First Nation is a treaty signatory to Treaty 3, the First Nation is a me ...

. As a young child he showed an affinity for art, and would make drawings on the walls of the family home. His early education took place in the residential school system. Angeconeb later attended

Beaver Brae Secondary School Beaver Brae (BBSS) (2022 population 550) is a secondary school situated in Kenora, Ontario, Canada. Beaver Brae Secondary School offers grades seven through twelve, and has 65 staff members. The school offers trades, college, and university lev ...

Kenora, Ontario Kenora (), previously named Rat Portage (), is a city situated on the Lake of the Woods in Ontario, Canada, close to the Manitoba boundary, and about east of Winnipeg by road. It is the seat of Kenora District. The history of the name exten ...

. Angeconeb studied visual arts at

York University York University (), also known as YorkU or simply YU), is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 53,500 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, ...

from 1976 to 1977, and attended

Dalhousie University Dalhousie University (commonly known as Dal) is a large public research university in Nova Scotia, Canada, with three campuses in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Halifax, a fourth in Bible Hill, Nova Scotia, Bible Hill, and a second medical school campus ...

from 1985 to 1989, also spending some time at

Humber College The Humber College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning, rebranded as Humber Polytechnic since 2024, is a public Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning, college in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1967, Humber has three mai ...

. Additionally, during the 1970s and 80s he travelled through Europe, Asia and Morocco to study other artistic traditions. Angeconeb graduated from

Lakehead University Lakehead University is a public research university with campuses in Thunder Bay and Orillia, Ontario, Canada. Lakehead University, shortened to 'Lakehead U', is non-denominational and provincially supported. It has undergraduate programs, gradua ...

with a

Bachelor of Fine Arts A Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) is a standard undergraduate degree for students pursuing a professional education in the visual arts, Fine art, or performing arts. In some instances, it is also called a Bachelor of Visual Arts (BVA). Background ...

in 1993. He served as a teacher of native studies at Dalhousie University.

Artistic career

Angeconeb worked in multiple mediums, including painting, printmaking, drawing and carving. His art was strongly influenced by the Woodlands School, particularly the works of

Norval Morrisseau Norval Morrisseau (March 14, 1932 – December 4, 2007), also known as Copper Thunderbird, was an Indigenous Canadian artist from the Bingwi Neyaashi Anishinaabek First Nation. He is widely regarded as the grandfather of contemporary Indigeno ...

, but incorporated elements from different cultures and artistic traditions. Western artists that influenced him included

Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (;''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''"Warhol" born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director and producer. A leading figure in the pop art movement, Warhol ...

Johannes Itten Johannes Itten (11 November 1888 – 25 March 1967) was a Swiss expressionist painter, designer, teacher, writer and theorist associated with the Bauhaus (''Staatliches Bauhaus'') school. Together with German-American painter Lyonel Feining ...

and

Kenneth Noland Kenneth Noland (April 10, 1924 – January 5, 2010) was an American painter. He was one of the best-known American color field painters, although in the 1950s he was thought of as an abstract expressionist and in the early 1960s as a minimal ...

. Carol Podedworny described Angeconeb's works as "beyond homages to his ancestral Ojibwe heritage, visual statements which imply the significance, beauty, and complexity of the arts and cultures of so-called 'primitive' world cultures". Angeconeb's art became popular in Europe as well as in Canada. He worked to promote other First Nations artists and organized international exhibitions of indigenous art. His works are held in the collections of the

Canadian Museum of Civilization The Canadian Museum of History () is a national museum on anthropology, Canadian history, cultural studies, and ethnology in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. The purpose of the museum is to promote the heritage of Canada, as well as support related res ...

, the

Royal Ontario Museum The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) is a museum of art, world culture and natural history in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is one of the largest museums in North America and the largest in Canada. It attracts more than one million visitors every year ...

, the

Art Gallery of Nova Scotia The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia (AGNS) is a public provincial museums of Canada, provincial art museum based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The art museum's primary building complex is located in downtown Halifax and takes up ...

, the

Thunder Bay Art Gallery The Thunder Bay Art Gallery is Northern Ontario's largest art gallery specializing in the work of contemporary Indigenous artists. It is located on the campus of Confederation College in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. The Thunder Bay Art Gallery is ...

, the

MacKenzie Art Gallery The MacKenzie Art Gallery (MAG; ) is an art museum located in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. The museum occupies the multipurpose T. C. Douglas Building, situated at the edge of the Wascana Centre. The building holds eight galleries totaling to of ...

, and the

McMichael Canadian Art Collection The McMichael Canadian Art Collection (MCAC) is an art museum in Kleinburg, Ontario, Canada. The museum is located on a property in Kleinburg, an unincorporated village in Vaughan. The property includes the museum's main building, a sculpture gar ...

. His sculpture ''Man from the Caribou Totem'' is installed at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery's entrance. Collections outside Canada include the

Institute of American Indian Arts The Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) is a public tribal land-grant college in Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States. The college focuses on Native American art. It operates the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (MoCNA), which is housed ...

in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and

Osnabrück University Osnabrück University () is a public research university located in the city of Osnabrück in Lower Saxony, Germany. The university is known for its many interdisciplinary degree programmes, some of them rare or even unique among German uni ...

in Germany.

Personal life

Angeconeb raised two adopted children with his wife Barb; the couple later divorced. In 2010 Angeconeb suffered a stroke, which left him unable to carve, but he continued to draw. He died of a heart attack on 9 June 2017.

Notes

References

Ojibwe male artists Ojibwe artists 20th-century Canadian artists People from Sioux Lookout Academic staff of Dalhousie University Woodlands style 1955 births 2017 deaths 20th-century First Nations painters 20th-century Canadian painters {{Authority control