Untitled - Portrait

Saskatchewan NAC bio: Dennis Bruce, of Saulteaux heritage, was born in 1961 in Lestock, Saskatchewan to the Muskowekwan First Nation. A self-taught artist, Bruce incorporated traditional Aboriginal symbols like the buffalo and the eagle into his work. Bruce's paintings have been exhibited across Saskatchewan, including at the 'First Peoples Art Exhibit' in Saskatoon in 1989 and at the Frances-Morrison Gallery (Saskatoon, 1988), and he received commissions to create murals for the Moskowekwan Band Hall (1987) and the Royal Saskatchewan Museum (Regina, 1992), and for a poster design for Census Canada (1992). Although Bruce used traditional symbols in his paintings, he broke with tradition in the way he employed fluid lines and bright, unexpected colours to bring surprising movement and energy to his canvases. Dennis Bruce taught clinics throughout Saskatchewan and in Edmonton in the 1990s, before moving to Vancouver, British Columbia. Dennis Bruce died in 2000.