Roy Thomas exhibit closes with tribute to artist

An overflow crowd filled the Thunder Bay Art Gallery September 7 to hear Louise Thomas present a talk on the last work of her late husband, artist Roy Thomas.
It was an evening of laughter and tears as Allen Towegishij, Chief of Long Lake 58 First Nation, and Elders and friends of Thomas including Herb Nabigon, Harold Tookenay and Gelineau Fisher all shared memories and reflections of their friend.
The occasion was to mark the closing of “VISION CIRCLE: The Art of Roy Thomas,” a retrospective of the late artist’s work that has been showing at the Gallery since June.
Sharon Godwin, Director at the Art Gallery, said that in the three months that the exhibit has shown, it came “very close” to reaching the committee’s target goal of 7000 viewers, attracting people from France, China, Japan, Australia, Scotland, England, Nairobi, the Netherlands and New Mexico, as well as North America.
The evening began with a smudging ceremony by Tookenay, who said, “It’s so gratifying to see how much people are interested in Roy’s work.”
Tookenay noted the distinctive bright colours of Thomas’ paintings and said, “All the bright colours—that’s how he was. He would shine all the time. Even though the work has stopped, the meaning of his art work will continue to have profound meaning for those men and women who will come and take a look at the work he has done. Something inside of us will become awakened and we will see that there is meaning to his works.”
Nabigon pointed out that the bear, loon, fisher and Thunderbird clans were represented in the evening’s speakers. He spoke of the clans walking in unity and referenced Thomas’ painting of the four men, each of a different colour, in the same canoe.
Nabigon said it was Thomas’ belief that all races and cultures work together and understand each other, and that Thomas shared that vision through his paintings.
Nabigon spoke of the meanings in many of the paintings, concluding that Thomas “left us in his work what our people have done for thousands of years. He was a beautiful man. We lost a valuable human being.”
Fisher, an artist from Longlac, whose work has also been featured at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery, said that Thomas “was like my big brother. We did art together. A lot of the things he taught me are still with me.”
Louise Thomas spoke of her years with her husband, saying, “He had a great sense of humour. He was a happy person. She said that when he was diagnosed with cancer, his reaction was not, “Why me?” but “Why not me?”
“When we were told about his cancer, he said, ‘We’re gonna beat this cancer.’” It was at that time that he started his new series of paintings, which he called Time and Life.
Done in four colours: white, red, yellow and blue, they represented the four seasons, beginning with winter. Louise Thomas said the paintings took her husband eight months to complete.
“He always loved to put the four colours of people in somewhere. He would say, ‘These people are part of my art.’ The canoe means we’re all going in the same direction.
“We had our time together. It’s now my time to share his work. I am proud to carry on his legacy,” Louise added.
Godwin acknowledged the long relationship between Louise and Roy Thomas’ and the Thunder Bay Art Gallery, and the influence Louise continues to have promoting not only her husband’s work, but the work of more than 200 First Nations artists to countries all over the world through the Anishnabe Art Gallery and its website.
Godwin said that the Thunder Bay Art Gallery organized the Thomas retrospective because, “We felt so strongly that he needed this retrospective of his work. We’ve had a long history with him. His funeral was held in this gallery.”
The exhibit closed September 9 and will travel to Esplanade Art Gallery in Medicine Hat and McMaster Museum of Art in Hamilton.