Lori Blondeau facts for kids

Lori Blondeau is a talented artist born in 1964. She is Cree, Saulteaux, and Métis. She creates amazing art, especially performance art, but also installations and photography. Lori is part of the Gordon First Nation and lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Lori Blondeau's Early Life and Education

Lori Blondeau was born in Regina, Saskatchewan, in 1964.

When she was young, Lori learned a lot from her family. Her mother and grandmother taught her about storytelling. Her grandfather was a woodworker, and her mother was a quilter. Her brother, Edward Poitras, is also an artist, and his work inspired her.

Lori earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in 2003. In the 1990s, she spent three years learning from Luiseño performance artist James Luna in California.

In 1995, Lori helped start Tribe. This was a special place for artists to show their work. It focused on showing art by modern First Nations artists in Canada.

Lori Blondeau's Art and Themes

Much of Lori Blondeau's art explores how First Nations women are sometimes shown unfairly in movies, TV, and other media. She looks at how old, often untrue, ideas about Indigenous women affect how they are seen today.

Lori uses her art to challenge these ideas. For example, in her photo-based works like COSMOSQUAW (1996) and Lonely Surfer Squaw (1997), she takes on and changes harmful stereotypes.

Key Performance Artworks

Some of her important performance art pieces include:

• The Ballad of Shameman and Betty Daybird (2000)
• Are You my Mother? (2000)
• Sisters (2000)
• A Moment in the Life of Belle Sauvage (2002)

Collaborations with Other Artists

Lori Blondeau often works with other artists. She has collaborated with performance artist Adrian Stimson. In 2004, they had an exhibition called Buffalo Boy and Belle Sauvage: Putting the WILD Back into the West. In this show, Adrian played Buffalo Boy, and Lori played her character Belle Sauvage. Their art explored Indigenous perspectives on cowboy stories and how people are represented.

She has also worked with famous artists like James Luna and Shelley Niro.

In October 2015, Lori performed "The Birds, The Bees, The Berries" with Adrian Stimson. This performance was part of an event at the Remai Modern Art Gallery of Saskatchewan. The artwork talked about environmental threats to bees and how everything in nature and cities is connected.

Tribe Artist Run Centre

In September 1995, Lori Blondeau helped create Tribe: A Centre for the Evolving Aboriginal Media, Visual and Performing Arts Inc. She started it with Bradlee LaRocque, April Brass, and Denny Norman.

Today, Lori is the executive director of Tribe. Tribe is a traveling art center that works with different galleries. Its goal is to highlight Indigenous art and important issues.

Their most recent big project was an exhibition called The Fifth World. This show was at the Mendel Art Gallery in Saskatoon, which is now the Remai Modern Art Gallery of Saskatchewan. The title "The Fifth World" referred to an old Hopi prophecy. It spoke about a choice between conflict and peace. It also shared the idea that we all share the Earth and are connected to it and to each other.

The Pass System Documentary

Lori Blondeau shared her personal and family stories in the documentary film The Pass System. This film is about the racial segregation of Indigenous communities by the Canadian government. This segregation happened for 60 years and greatly affected her community.

Other well-known Indigenous artists and activists, like Alex Janvier and Tantoo Cardinal, also contributed to the film. Alex Williams directed the film, and Tamarack Productions produced it. It first showed at the Vancouver International Film Festival in 2015.

Awards and Recognition

Lori Blondeau received the prestigious Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts in 2021. This award recognizes her important contributions to art in Canada.