Joyce Wieland — True North Strong and Free

Late Canadian Artist's Work More Relevant Than Ever

by

What would Joyce Wieland do, if she was still alive, about the tariff-loving Donald Trump?

Would the late Toronto artist portray Trump as a bully, a buffoon or an ogre devouring Canada? Whatever the choice, there would undoubtedly be enough subtlety that Trump would think it a tribute, rather than a criticism.

It is impossible to avoid thinking of Trump while visiting the new Wieland retrospective, Heart On, at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. Wieland (1930-98) wore her fierce Canadian patriotism on her sleeve — and on her artworks, which include paintings, wall hangings, films, photographs and assemblages. Hers was a patriotism stoked by love of country and fears American imperialists had nefarious designs on Canada.

Sounds a lot like today, doesn’t it, with the current U.S. president seemingly intent on crushing the Canadian economy so the country will feel compelled to become the 51st state? Indeed, Stéphane Aquin, director of the Montreal museum, has noted the timing of the Wieland exhibition has “an extraordinary relevance” to the current Canadian-American tensions.

Wieland’s art, including the wall hanging Betsy Ross, Look What They’ve done with the Flag You Made with Such Care, 1966, and the oil painting Experiment With Life, 1983, critique American warfare in Vietnam. A little touch here and there could turn these works into a critique of Trumpian imperialism against Canada, but minus the napalm.

Throughout her decades-long career in Toronto and New York, Wieland made her political points in artwork awash in maple leaves, unique presentations of O Canada, dashes of pop culture, daring decorative penises and buckets of sly humour. Her ouevre became like a flag itself for Canadians joyously to rally around.

Laura Secord, the patriotic Canadian who trudged 20 miles to warn the British that American invaders were coming during the War of 1812, was one of Wieland’s most treasured heroines. Wieland, too, had a career warning us the Americans are coming. 

Wieland’s work was often playful but people did not always get the joke. Take her famous quilts emblazoned with the words Reason over Passion in English and French. The phrase was the personal motto of then-prime minister Pierre Trudeau. 

Trudeau apparently so loved the quilts that one of them was transported to the prime ministerial home at 24 Sussex Drive. Margaret Trudeau ripped off the letters during a lively battle with her husband. Mrs. Trudeau was opposed to Pierre’s reason always dominating passion. So was Wieland, who felt there must be a balance between the two philosophies. Her quilts parodied, not supported, Trudeau’s thinking.

Trump, unlike the elder Trudeau, puts passion before reason, or perhaps we should say emotion before reasom. His passions include chaos and trade tariffs — tariffs being “the most beautiful word” in the dictionary. Wieland definitely could have had a lot of fun quilting Trump.

The Wieland retrospective is a joint project of the Montreal museum and the Art Gallery of Ontario, where Heart On will be exhibited during the summer. This is the first Wieland retrospective since 1987 at the AGO. The title Heart On is borrowed from Wieland’s massive linen wall hanging of the same name tracing the lifecycle of a woman.

A Wieland retrospective at the National Gallery of Canada was held in 1971 and titled True Patriot Love. It was the first solo show there by a living Canadian woman artist. The show was organized by Pierre Théberge, a young curator at the time who later became director of the Montreal museum and then of the National Gallery. Théberge called Wieland “one of the great visionary artists of our time” and compared her “vulnerability and rawness” to that of Dutch artist Vincent Van Gogh. 

In Montreal, the exhibition begins with Wieland’s early abstract paintings from the 1950s and 1960s, including Laura Secord Saves Upper Canada, 1961, picturing an imaginative aerial view of Secord’s wartime route. These early paintings are impressive, almost forgotten gems that should be exhibited more often.

The curators then take us into Wieland’s adventures in feminism — she quilted and embroidered to show that traditional women’s “crafts” were really fine art. Next is a room for the most patriotic of Wieland’s art, including the Reason over Passion quilt, the I Love Canada quilt and a series of lipsticked blots on paper from a mouth silently singing the words to O Canada.

This latter room holds the beating heart of Canada. If Trump should visit that room, would he suddenly realize this is a country too uniquely precious to become the 51st state? Probably not. I suspect you need to be a true blue Canadian to “get” Wieland’s most memorable room. ■

Heart On is at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts from Feb. 8 to May 4, 2025.

Heart On then travels to the AGO in Toronto from June 21, 2025 to Jan. 4, 2026.

A third venue, yet to be announced, is expected to follow Toronto.

A small companion show, Pucker Up! The Lipstick Prints of Joyce Wieland, runs from Feb. 7 to Oct. 26, 2025 at the National Gallery in Ottawa.

PS: Worried you missed something? See previous Galleries West stories here or sign up for our free biweekly newsletter.

Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.jpg

Montreal Museum of Fine Arts

1380 Sherbrooke Street W, Montreal, Quebec H3G 1J5

514-285-2000

Visit Website