Joshim Kakegamic: The Litman Collection
As a resident of Kenora and later Winnipeg, Dr. Jerry Litman (1928 - 2020) brought a genuine excitement to collecting works of Indigenous art that reflected the communities in which he worked. Dr. Litman practised as a dentist in remote areas of Ontario and Manitoba where there was limited access to dental services, and also worked with Indigenous communities in these areas.
It was through this work that Litman encountered many remarkable artists, including Joshim Kakegamic and Norval Morrisseau. He became lifelong friends with Kakegamic and an enthusiastic patron of his art. With an eye for quality and a love for this flourishing contemporary art movement, Dr. Litman collected over 250 paintings by Kakegamic and other contemporary Indigenous artists.
There are various reasons that a person becomes an avid art collector. Often, it is circumstance, but what all collectors have in common is a passion and a desire to acquire more of the art they love. It’s rare that they collect as an investment. Many of our museums have large collections of artwork donated by passionate collectors.
Much of the Litman collection has been dispersed among museums and university collections close to the family’s heart, notably the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg and “The Muse” - Douglas Family Art Centre in Kenora.
Mayberry Fine Art extends its thanks and appreciation to Winnipegger Shelley Litman for entrusting our gallery with this significant portion of her father’s vast collection.
The Litman Collection exhibition, curated by Mayberry Fine Art, showcases some of the finest artworks that Joshim Kakegamic produced during the 1970s and early 1980s.
Joshim (Josh) Kakegamic was born in 1952 in Sandy Lake, Ontario, and had seven brothers and five sisters. Kakegamic and his wife, Georgina, had four children. Little more is known about his life before he began receiving attention for his art.
Those who knew Kakegamic described the Cree artist as a hard-working, quiet man of few words who preferred to let his art speak for itself.
While Kakegamic was discovering his style in the late 1960s, Canada and its art world was quickly changing amid a burgeoning Indigenous rights movement across Canada and the United States. Momentum was building in pursuit of Indigenous rights, of which conversations naturally made their way to galleries, collectors and artists. Two years after Indigenous peoples’ right to vote was granted in Canada in 1960, Norval Morrisseau’s groundbreaking show at Toronto’s Pollock Gallery sold out, raising the profile of Indigenous artists and their work in the process.
In 1971, a group of seven Indigenous artists – Daphne Odjig, Alex Janvier, Jackson Beardy, Norval Morrisseau, Carl Ray, Joseph Sanchez and Eddy Cobiness – came together in Winnipeg to advocate for equal access to art funding for Indigenous artists and to address the scarcity of exhibition opportunities for their artwork in contemporary galleries.
The collective called themselves The Professional Native Indian Artists Inc. Also known as the “Indian Group of Seven,” the artists gathered at Odjig Indian Prints of Canada Ltd. (later named Wah-Sa Gallery) located on Donald Street in downtown Winnipeg.
Two of the collective’s artists – Norval Morrisseau and Carl Ray – were hugely inspirational to Kakegamic. Ray and Morrisseau gave workshops in remote Canadian communities, and one at Sandy Lake would prove particularly transformative for the young Kakegamic. Moreover, Morrisseau was married to Kakegamic’s sister, Harriet, which strengthened their opportunity for collaboration.
Josh Kakegamic was the first of his brothers to work in the Woodlands style as part of the school’s next generation. His first solo exhibition at the Trajectory gallery in London, Ontario in 1972 enjoyed moderate success. A two-person exhibition at Toronto’s Aggregation Gallery with his older brother Goyce followed in 1974. Reviews of Kakegamic’s exhibitions often compared him to Morrisseau. While his early work drew inspiration from the mishomis (grandfather) of contemporary Indigenous art, Kakegamic quickly developed his own distinct style of painting.
Also in 1972, the landmark exhibition “Treaty Numbers 23, 287, 1171” opened at the Winnipeg Art Gallery. The exhibition aimed to re-contextualize the works of Jackson Beardy, Alex Janvier and Daphne Odjig as contemporary art made by artists who “happened to be Indian.” By this point, Woodlands-style art and Morrisseau’s paintings were quickly becoming iconic and sought after in Canada.
Within his lifetime, Kakegamic was referred to as a member of the Woodlands School, perhaps most significantly in an important international exhibition in 1976. Organized by the Royal Ontario Museum, the show entitled “Contemporary Native Art: Woodland Indians” also travelled to London, England and Lahr, Germany that year.
After learning printmaking techniques at Open Studio in Toronto, the Kakegamic brothers –Josh, Goyce and Henry – opened the Triple K Co-operative, a silk screening operation in Red Lake, Ontario in 1973. It operated for 10 years, producing high quality, limited edition prints of the works of several Woodlands artists. In 1977, the Royal Ontario Museum mounted an exhibition entitled “Silkscreens of Famous Native Artists from Northern Ontario” with accompanying catalogue Contemporary Native Art of Canada – Silkscreens from the Triple K Co-operative.
On December 29, 1993, Joshim Kakegamic died tragically at the age of 41. Kakegamic and Charles Kalaserk, a preacher from Rankin Inlet and a personal friend of the artist, had answered a call to retrieve some young snowmobilers who were stranded on Nikip Lake. First responders believed that Kalaserk fell through the ice and Kakegamic dove into the frigid water to save him. They both perished.
After his death, Kakegamic was recognized as a “major contributor to Woodland School of painting” and remembered for his significant contribution to art from the region with a body of work that has endured the test of time.
Today, Joshim Kakegamic paintings are held in private and public collections, including the National Gallery of Canada, University of Manitoba, Royal Ontario Museum, the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, and “The Muse”- Douglas Family Art Centre (Kenora).
Joshim Kakegamic (R) and his brother Goyce Kakegamic
Photo credit: Pam Wheaton, Triple K Co-Operative
Great thanks are extended to the following for providing invaluable resources for this research: Royal Ontario Museum, National Gallery of Canada, Red Lake Heritage Centre, University of Manitoba School of Art Gallery, Pam Wheaton (former manager, Triple K Co-operative) and Judy Gouin (printmaking mentor to Kakegamic).
References
“Indian Artist’s Distinct Style Rates High In Interest.” London Evening Free Press, December 23, 1972
“Josh Kakegamic, Always a Friend,” Wawatay News, January 13, 1994
Bunny Sicard, “An Interview with Goyce Kakegamic,” The Native Perspective, 1978, Volume 3, No 2, 53
Jacqueline Fry, Treaty Numbers 23, 287, 1171 (Winnipeg, MB: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1972)
Bernhard Cinader, Contemporary Native Art in Canada - The Woodlands Indians (Toronto, ON: Royal Ontario Museum, 1976)
Judy Gouin and Pam Wheaton in conversation with Mayberry Fine Art
Carol Sanders, “Artist Gave Life Trying to Save Friend,” The Chronicle-Journal Sunday, January 9, 1994