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Shelley Niro, The Rebel (detail), 1982, reprinted 2022. Hand-tinted gelatin silver print, 20.3 × 25.4 cm. Collection of the artist. © Shelley Niro
Shelley Niro: 500 Year Itch
Shelley Niro: 500 Year Itch is the first retrospective exhibition of the multi-media work of Mohawk artist Shelley Niro, who is based in Brantford, ON.
Spanning four decades of photography, film, painting, installation, sculpture and mixed-media practice, this major exhibition highlights the themes Niro constantly returns to: Past Is Present, Matriarchy, Actors, and Family Relations.
Niro’s persistent vision is to represent Indigenous women and girls, advocating for self-representation and sovereignty. Her highly empathetic approach moves viewers to understand the issues at hand through her visually impactful and politically powerful manner. She uses parody, feminism, and spirituality to examine identity, and in turn, brings political power to the realm of the personal.
The exhibition features more than 70 works, some in series (totaling 136 pieces) coming from public and private collections across Canada and the US. It also includes close to 20 artworks from the National Gallery of Canada’s collection.
Organized and circulated by the Art Gallery of Hamilton with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian and with curatorial support from the National Gallery of Canada. Major support for this project is provided by the Canada Council for the Arts and Terra Foundation for American Art.
Date
Location
Shelley Niro, Abnormally Aboriginal (detail), 2014, reprinted 2022. Inkjet prints, triptych, 137.2 × 86.4 cm each. Collection of the artist. © Shelley Niro
About
the Artist
Born in Niagara Falls, New York, in 1954, Shelley Niro is a member of the Turtle Clan of the Kanien’kehaka (Mohawk) Nation, from the Six Nations of the Grand River territory. Her artworks have been featured across Canada and internationally. In 2009, her first feature film, Kissed by Lightning, premiered at Toronto’s imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival and won the Santa Fe Film Festival’s 2009 Milagro Award for Best Indigenous Film. Her short film The Shirt was presented at the 2003 Venice Biennale and the 2004 Sundance Film Festival. Films include: Honey Moccasin, It Starts with a Whisper, The Incredible 25th Year of Mitzi Bearclaw and a feature film released in 2023, Café Daughter.
In 2019, Niro received an honorary doctorate from the Ontario College of Art and Design, where she completed her undergraduate studies; she was also the 2019 Laureate of the Paul de Hueck and Norman Walford Career Achievement Award for Photography. In 2017, Niro received both the Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts and the Scotiabank Photography Award, two preeminent contemporary art awards in Canada. In 2017, Niro also received the Hnatyshyn Foundation REVEAL Indigenous Artist Award, and the Arts and Culture Award from the Dreamcatcher Charitable Foundation. She was the inaugural recipient of the Aboriginal Arts Award presented through the Ontario Arts Council in 2012. She completed her Master of Fine Arts at the University of Western Ontario.
Artwork
Shelley Niro, 500 Year Itch, 1992. Gelatin silver print heightened with applied colour, mounted on Masonite, 186.3 × 125.3 × 5 cm. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. Gift of Victoria Henry, Ottawa, 2003. © Shelley Niro. Photo: NGC
Shelley Niro, 500 Year Itch, 1992. Gelatin silver print heightened with applied colour, mounted on Masonite, 186.3 × 125.3 × 5 cm. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. Gift of Victoria Henry, Ottawa, 2003. © Shelley Niro. Photo: NGC
Shelley Niro, Raven's World, 2015. Oil on canvas, 203.2 × 142.3 cm. Art Gallery of Hamilton. Purchased in part through the support of the Elizabeth L. Gordon Art Program, a program of the Gordon Foundation and administered by the Ontario Arts Foundation and the Permanent Collection Fund, 2021. © Shelley Niro. Photo: Robert McNair
Shelley Niro, Raven's World, 2015. Oil on canvas, 203.2 × 142.3 cm. Art Gallery of Hamilton. Purchased in part through the support of the Elizabeth L. Gordon Art Program, a program of the Gordon Foundation and administered by the Ontario Arts Foundation and the Permanent Collection Fund, 2021. © Shelley Niro. Photo: Robert McNair
Shelley Niro, Pandemic Moon (Post-Industrial / Pre-Colonized), 2023. Duratrans in circular lightbox, 91.4 × 91.4 × 10 cm, edition of six. Co-published with Barr Gilmore, The MORE (or less) Farm, Algonquin Highlands, ON. © Shelley Niro
Shelley Niro, Pandemic Moon (Post-Industrial / Pre-Colonized), 2023. Duratrans in circular lightbox, 91.4 × 91.4 × 10 cm, edition of six. Co-published with Barr Gilmore, The MORE (or less) Farm, Algonquin Highlands, ON. © Shelley Niro
Shelley Niro, The Shirt, 2003. Digital video, colour, sound, 5:55 minutes. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. Purchased 2007. © Shelley Niro
Shelley Niro, The Shirt, 2003. Digital video, colour, sound, 5:55 minutes. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. Purchased 2007. © Shelley Niro
Shelley Niro, Resting with Warriors, 2001. Woodcuts on wove paper, 207 × 106 cm, edition of 4. Art Gallery of Hamilton. Purchased through the Permanent Collection Fund, 2016. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. Purchased 2008. © Shelley Niro. Photo: Robert McNair
Shelley Niro, Resting with Warriors, 2001. Woodcuts on wove paper, 207 × 106 cm, edition of 4. Art Gallery of Hamilton. Purchased through the Permanent Collection Fund, 2016. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. Purchased 2008. © Shelley Niro. Photo: Robert McNair
Shelley Niro, My Stone Cold Heart Needs a Bed Too, 2018. Stones, beadwork on velvet, 7.6 × 25.4 × 38.1 cm. Collection of the artist. © Shelley Niro. Photo: Robert McNair
Shelley Niro, My Stone Cold Heart Needs a Bed Too, 2018. Stones, beadwork on velvet, 7.6 × 25.4 × 38.1 cm. Collection of the artist. © Shelley Niro. Photo: Robert McNair
Shelley Niro, Black Whole, 2021. Oil on canvas, 149.9 × 230.2 cm. Collection of the artist. © Shelley Niro. Photo: Robert McNair
Shelley Niro, Black Whole, 2021. Oil on canvas, 149.9 × 230.2 cm. Collection of the artist. © Shelley Niro. Photo: Robert McNair
Shelley Niro, 1779, 2017. Mixed-media sculpture with video, velvet, beads and stiletto heels, 77 cm diameter; 127 cm high (with base). Art Gallery of Hamilton. Gift of the Women’s Art Association of Hamilton, 2018. © Shelley Niro. Photo: Joseph Hartman
Shelley Niro, 1779, 2017. Mixed-media sculpture with video, velvet, beads and stiletto heels, 77 cm diameter; 127 cm high (with base). Art Gallery of Hamilton. Gift of the Women’s Art Association of Hamilton, 2018. © Shelley Niro. Photo: Joseph Hartman
Shelley Niro, Time Travels through Us, 1999. Gelatin silver print, cotton and beaded mat work, silver painted wood frame, 94 × 83.8 cm (framed). CMCP Collection, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. Purchased 2002. © Shelley Niro
Shelley Niro, Time Travels through Us, 1999. Gelatin silver print, cotton and beaded mat work, silver painted wood frame, 94 × 83.8 cm (framed). CMCP Collection, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. Purchased 2002. © Shelley Niro
Shelley Niro, Ancestors, 2011. From the series M: Stories of Women. Colour inkjet print, 139.7 × 88.9 cm. Collection of the artist / National Museum of the American Indian, New York, NY / Washington, DC. © Shelley Niro
Shelley Niro, Ancestors, 2011. From the series M: Stories of Women. Colour inkjet print, 139.7 × 88.9 cm. Collection of the artist / National Museum of the American Indian, New York, NY / Washington, DC. © Shelley Niro
Catalogue
Shelley Niro: 500 Year Itch
Pushing the limits of photography, Niro incorporates imagery from Traditional Stories to focus on contemporary subjects with wit, irony, and parody. Throughout her work — in her portraiture, sculptures, landscape paintings, photography, and film and video work — Niro challenges common preconceptions about gender, culture, and Indigenous Peoples.
Available in English and French in the Gallery Boutique and online.
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