Robert Gopher's 'The Grand Entry' featured art in September 2017

 Press release

Starting the school year 2017-2018, Robert Gopher (Chippewa Cree) is the September artist of the month at Montana State University-Northern's Office of Diversity Awareness and Multicultural Programs. He presents the piece "The Grand Entry" (acrylic, 24" X 30"). This is a scene that singles out four dancers entering an outdoor powwow. Because of the yellowish and orange tones, it sure gives the impression that the entry is taking place in the evening, at the real time of a grand entry in a powwow.

Gopher said that he dedicated several months to this piece, "matching the regalia to the dancer's posture required some adjustments and patience. As I loosely applied the basic shapes with an ocre colored wash, I thought that this painting might get interesting. I had many ideas to draw from. The connection with nature was important to me."

He adds that color, composition, and lighting are the source of his work. Gopher said he continues to admire the post-impressionist era and its contribution to modern art, "Edvard Munch [he was a Norwegian artist and printmaker] once said, 'Anybody who perceives color can become a painter. It's simply a question of whether or not one has felt anything and whether one has the courage to recount the things one has felt,'" Gopher said

Gopher holds a bachelor's in fine arts from Eastern Montana College, now Montana State University Billings. He currently lives on Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation and has been painting for over 30 years. While primarily a painter, Gopher has worked in mixed media as well and has exhibited nationally and internationally.

Northern's Office of Diversity Awareness and Multicultural Programs invites local and regional artists to exhibit their pieces, preferably those that have some link to multicultural themes. For more information, contact [email protected] or call 265-3589.