Tim Moore: A Day at the Races

A Day at the Races with Tim Moore – Main Gallery July 7 to September 3

Tim Moore utilizes the analogy of a horse race, along with the Dadaist techniques of collage and assemblage to examine his Indigenous ancestry, Metis identity and contemporary Indigenous issues. A style of deconstruction and amalgamation well suited to the discourse.

Born in 1974 in Saskatoon, Tim Moore lives and works in Round Lake, Saskatchewan. He studied at Okanagan University College and is a founding member of the Indigenous Peoples Artist Collective, in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan.

Tim Moore is a regional artist of national note. In 2009 his work was included in the exhibition “Mind the Gap”. Organized by the Dunlop Art Gallery, Regina Sk. “Mind the Gap” was the first exhibition to extensively showcase the provinces top emerging and mid-career artists. It featured at the Art Gallery of Ottawa in 2011. This exposure led to his inclusion in “The Painting Project”. A survey of national painting trends organized by Les Gallerie L’UQAM, Montreal and featured on the Virtual Museum of Canada web site. Tim is the chairperson for IPAC, The Indigenous Peoples Artists Collective of Prince Albert Inc.

Tim Moore enlists a combination of painting and collage to explore the question of identity. His hybrid images evoke the multicultural essence of Canadian identity and point up the complexity of the nation’s history. Which Beast Shall I Admire parodies the cover of a fictitious magazine called The Canadian Colour. With the image of a moose and cut-out words, the artist couples the emblematic animal of the boreal forest with reference to the development of British North America, adding, then crossing out, the mention of French and Aboriginal roots, as if they had been literally “erased from the map.” The various symbols – the maple leaf, the red of the Canadian flag, the moose, the allusion to Canada’s three founding cultures – are meant to shed light on Canadian diversity while verging on a political message. A creature of dual heritage emerges from the combination of these fragments: part moose, native to Canada, and part cow (suggested by the white spots), introduced by European colonists. As the title asks, which of these animals, which culture, stands for North America? J.B.

” My present concerns about my work revolve around settler/aboriginal relations, the appropriation of culture, mixed race identities and the complexities involved in societal integration within a Canadian context. ”

Tim Moore