David Garneau (Métis) is a Professor of Visual Arts at the University of Regina. He is a painter, curator, and critical art writer who engages creative expressions of Indigenous contemporary ways of being. Garneau has given keynotes on mis/appropriation; re/conciliation; public art; museum displays; and Indigenous contemporary art. He presented, Dear John, a performance featuring the spirit of Louis Riel meeting with John A. Macdonald statues in Regina, Kingston, and Ottawa. David recently installed a large public artwork, the Tawatina Bridge paintings, in Edmonton. In 2023, Garneau was awarded the Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Art: Outstanding Achievement.

I am a member of the Métis Nation of Saskatchewan. Most of my family are urban, living in Edmonton and other cities for more than a century and a half. Laurent and Eleanor Garneau, my great, great Grandparents, had their river lot (#7) on the shore of the North Saskatchewan River in Edmonton. River ways are essential to Métis identity–even more than the Red River cart trails.

These paintings are part of the Dark Chapters series of still life paintings which reflect on Indigenous ways of knowing and being. Many in the series consider the complexity of being attached to the land while also being a contemporary and city-dwelling person.