Canadian Woman Artist #8
July 9, 2008
Joyce Wieland
And They’ll Make Peace (Arts Theatre Workshop Productions) 1961
photo-offset lithograph in blue on calendered wove paper
56.4 x 43.8 cm
Purchased 1979
National Gallery of Canada
Joyce Wieland is legendary for her contribution to the development of contemporary visual arts in Canada. A self-described “cultural activist” she is best known for celebrating Canadian national identity and bringing forward feminist issues within the predominantly male art culture of the time. Initially a painter and filmmaker, she also used traditional women’s media such as quilts and sewn collages. In her mind, the landscape and ecology of Canada was female. Issues of gender and nationality were interchangeable. Concern with the protection of Canadian confederation and gender issues would repeatedly surface in her quilts, films and assemblages.
