Above the Beach 9

About Above the Beach 9

Rick Rivet’s powerful series of contemporary paintings called Above the Beach is designed to address the environmental threats against the Arctic. Pollution, climate change, the oil and gas industry, mining—all have had a profound effect on the indigenous way of life in the polar regions. The Metis artist has acquired an international reputation for his artwork which often offers a poetic, spiritual and historically relevant view of indigenous and Western cultures. Using his characteristic expressive brushstrokes Rivet portrays a large sperm whale at the bottom of the canvas; the shallow waters of the ocean swirling above it. The colour palette is symbolic—the red line signifies pollution, the white lines represent the different paths taken and the green the renewal of life. The ocean is rendered in bright yellow, turquoise and orange.

"When I was growing up in the North, I thought that animals were no less important than other life forms in the cosmos." Rick Rivet

Richard James Rivet was born in Aklavik in the Northwest Territories in a Metis family. He grew up on the land and his family lived by trapping, hunting and fishing. Rivet has four degrees from three universities. He completed his MFA at the U. of Saskatchewan in 1989 and began creating art full-time. Rivet has been the recipient of more than twenty awards, scholarships and bursaries including a Fellowship from the Eiteljorg Museum in Indianapolis, and the Andy Warhol Foundation Fellowship Residency Program for the Heard Museum in Phoenix. His work is held in private, corporate, and public collections in Canada and the US.