Gathering

"Gathering" possesses a quiet simplicity like his other works, but here the figures are ambiguous. Two couples step out of the cold winter night into a festive dance hall. The artist's broad brushstrokes highlight the intense contrast in the composition. The warm inner light falls gently on the figures, welcoming them inside. Allen Sapp, a Nehiyaw (Plains Cree) artist who was born on the Red Pheasant Reserve in northern Saskatchewan and descends from Chief Red Pheasant and the Nehiyaw leader Poundmaker, has become a significant force in the renaissance of Native culture. His subject matter is drawn largely from his early childhood memories of growing up on the reserve during the 1930s and 1940s and from dream imagery.