“I’m the grandfather. Instead of being Grandma Moses, I suppose I’m Grandfather Morrisseau or something like that. And they tell me that I have opened these doors for them.”
Norval morrisseau
Directed by Duke Redbird in 1974 for the National Film Board of Canada, this documentary short follows Norval as he works among the lakes and woodlands of his ancestors.
We see a remarkable Indigenous artist who emerged from a life of obscurity in the North American bush to become one of Canada’s most renowned painters. Morrisseau the man is much like his paintings: vital and passionate, torn between his Ojibway heritage and the influences of the white man’s world.
A great look at Norval Morrisseau’s life as he works alongside caring for his family. Interviews with Jack Pollock who helped launch Morrisseau into the mainstream while he navigates two worlds, both that of his traditional ancestors as well as his path to becoming the grandfather of Indigenous contemporary art.
Check out a more comprehensive, perhaps even the greatest list of outsider art must-watch documentaries.
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