Jeneen Frei Njootli
Art Gallery of Burlington
Jeneen Frei Njootli, wind sucked through bared teeth (detail), 2017. Photo: Mike Love
Produced by the Contemporary Art Gallery and presented to Vancouver audiences in Summer 2018, the solo exhibition and accompanying publication of Vuntut Gwitchin artist Jeneen Frei Njootli is now hosted by our touring partner, the Art Gallery of Burlington in Ontario.
Biography
Jeneen Frei Njootli is a Vuntut Gwitchin artist who has performed and exhibited her work internationally, from galleries to rooftops, casinos, runways, and the bush. She works across numerous media and modes, including performance, sound, installation, fashion, and with community, and is a co-creator of the ReMatriate Collective. Frei Njootli holds a BFA from Emily Carr University of Art and Design (2012) and an MFA from the University of British Columbia (2017). In 2016 she was one of three recipients of the William & Meredith Saunderson ,from the Hnatyshyn Foundation. She was longlisted for the Sobey Art Award in 2017 and in 2018, she was shortlisted for the same. Her work has been the focus of solo exhibitions at Fierman Gallery, NYC; Artspace, Peterborough; Southern Alberta Art Gallery, Lethbridge; and Definitely Superior Art Gallery, Thunder Bay. She has participated in the 2018 Biennale d’art contemporain autochtone (BACA) / Contemporary Native Art Biennial, and in group exhibitions at Western Front, Vancouver; ONE AND J + 1, Seoul; Mercer Union, Toronto; Available Light Film Festival, Whitehorse; LandMarks2017/ Repères2017, PAVED Arts, Saskatoon; Whitewater Gallery, North Bay, ON; Art Gallery of South Western Manitoba, Brandon; Vancouver Art Gallery, Trinity Square Video, Toronto; Yukon Arts Centre, Gallery 44, Toronto; and many others. Her work has been part of Indigenous Fashion Week in Toronto (2018) and Vancouver (2017) as well as at the Adäka Cultural Festival in Whitehorse (2015). Frei Njootli has completed multiple residencies at the Banff Centre for the Arts and, has collaborated with James Luna, Olivia Whetung, Tsēma Igharas, Krista Belle Stewart with Laura Ortman, Lyndsay Lachance, Dana Claxton, Angela Code, Tania Willard, Gabrielle l’Hirondelle Hill and Chandra Melting Tallow. Her work is in the Vancouver Art Gallery’s permanent collection. Jeneen Frei Njootli is currently a grateful, uninvited guest on unceded Tsleil-Waututh, Musqueam and Squamish territories.
Production of the exhibition and publication was supported by the Audain Foundation, Jane Irwin and Ross Hill, Macaulay & Co. Fine Art, Nada Vuksic and in Burlington by BDO.
