Collection: Carl Beam

Carl Beam (1943-2005) was a groundbreaking Indigenous artist born in M’Chigeeng (West Bay) on Manitoulin Island. As an artist, Beam worked across many media, including painting, screen processes, and ceramics. His work in photo transfer processes and printmaking often brought together historical imagery, text notations, and drawings to speak to contemporary Indigenous experience. In 1986, he became the first contemporary Indigenous artist to have a work purchased by the National Gallery.

In 1980, Beam worked with Open Studio to produce the lithograph Spirit of the Eagle. He was awarded a Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts in 2005, and the National Gallery of Canada organised a major retrospective of his work in 2010-11, which toured across Canada and the United States.