Visual Arts
Ashukan (Jean-Pierre Fontaine and Isabelle Courtois)
 

Photo of Jean-Pierre Fontaine and Isabelle Courtois
Thumbnail of Innu Thumbnail of Innu devant sa tente Thumbnail of Innu devant une rivière Thumbnail of Aînée fabriquant une raquette Thumbnail of Oie prenant son envol
Thumbnail of Les enseignements de l'aînée, livre d'artiste d'Ashukan Thumbnail of Le jeu d'un Innu, Jeu d'échec d'Ashukan Thumbnail of Chandeliers Thumbnail of Innue en costume Thumbnail of Tête
Anisheniu Jean-Pierre Fontaine, born in Uashat on the North Shore, is a painter and sculptor, as well as a singer-songwriter-composer. In his performing career he developed a concern for direct communication with spectators, which carries over intact in his visual artworks. We are struck by the lightning clarity of his visions, hitting us with an urgency to be recognised for the insight they bring. Each of this artist's works becomes part of the most authentic expressions of the soul of the First Nations.

Isabelle Courtois, born in France, found the space of freedom and truth she needed in First Nations art. Attentive to the fragile signs which express the souls of the living, she devotes all her creativity to convey the authentic emotion coming out of the encounter between her universe and that of the Innus.

Ashukan is a link between two creators, a bridge between two cultures coming together around a multidisciplinary body of work combining song, visual arts and traditional crafts to provide a sensitive and respectful portrait of contemporary First Nations.