Leo Yerxa is a Canadian visual artist, medallist, and writer. As an illustrator of children's picture books he won the Governor General's Award in 2006."Winners of the 2006 Governor General's Literary Awards". Canada Council for the Arts (canadacouncil.ca). Archived 2012-09-19. Retrieved 2015-08-01. He lived in Ottawa, Ontario, then. He died on September 1, 2017.
Early life and education
Yerxa was born in 1947 on the Little Eagle Reserve, Couchiching First Nation, in northwestern Ontario. He studied graphic arts at Algonquin College (Ottawa), and fine arts at the University of Waterloo (Waterloo, Ontario).
Career
Yerxa began publishing poetry and participating in group art shows in the 1970s, and had his first one-man gallery show at the Thunder Bay National Exhibition Centre and Centre for Indian Art, entitled "Renegade: The Art of Leo Yerxa",Renegade: The Art of Leo Yerxa 1984.
Yerxa's designs were used for the Series Four 1975 (1976) Summer Olympic Coins. The coins bearing his designs included $5: Marathon Runner; $5: Women's Javelin; $10: Women's Shot Put; and $10: Men's Hurdles. His use of Algonquin art motifs in the design of these coins is considered an early example of Canadian public art expressions of indigenous values and aesthetics.Wayne Jacobs, "Symbolism in the Series V 1975 Olympic Coins", Mid-Island Coin Club Numismatic Journal.
Yerxa is the author or several books for children, including the critically acclaimed Ancient Thunder.Ancient Thunder Reviewed on Quill and Quire"ANCIENT THUNDER". Kirkus Reviews. for which he received a Governor General's Literary Award in 2006.Book Review | Ancient Thunder by Leo Yerxa; Napi Goes to the Mountain by Elisa Amado and Antonio Ramárez; Tarde de invierno/Winter Afternoon by Elisa Amado, Jorge Lujàn, and ... and Last Leaf, First Snowflake to Fall,"Small print: Reviews of books for kids and teens". Toronto Star.
Visual arts
Group exhibitions 1974 CANADIAN INDIAN ART '74, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Ontario. 1977 Links to Tradition, Bureau of Indian Affairs and Development. 1982 Renewal : Masterpiece s of contemporary Indian art from the Museum of Man, organised by Thunder Bay, Ontario. 1983 Contemporary Indian and Inuit Art of Canada organised by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Development, for UN-Headquarters, New York.
Individual exhibitions 1974 Evans Gallery, Toronto, Ontario 1975 Evans Gallery, Toronto, Ontario 1978 "bingo," Wells Gallery, Ottawa, Ontario 1978 Guild of Craft, Montreal, Quebec 1979 Guild of Craft, Montreal, Quebec 1980 "Wind, Rain and Snow," Ells Gallery, Ottawa, Ontario 1983 "Last Snows in Spring," Nishnawbe Arts, Toronto, Ontario 1984 "Renegade," Thunder Bay National Exhibition Center and Center for Indian Art, Thunder Bay, Ontario 1986 Galerie Francis Alexandre, Ottawa, Ontario 1988 Galerie Francis Alexandre, Ottawa, Ontario 2017-2018 (October 2017, 4th - February 2018, 25th) "Nordamerika Native Museum", Zurich: "Geschichten aus dem Waldland".
Public commissions Sketches for Olympic Medal series IV, 1976 Memorial for Ron Shackleton, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario.
Books
Author and illustrator
1993:Last Leaf, First Snowflake to Fall, Douglas & McIntyre Orchard Books NY"Last Leaf First Snowflake to Fall" Publishers Weekly.McNaughton, Janet. "Children's Books - Home Truths". Books in Canada. 1995:A Fish Tale, Or, The Little One That Got Away], Douglas & McIntyre 2006:Ancient Thunder Groundwood Books"Ancient Thunder." CM Magazine, Volume XIII Number 2, September 15, 2006Children's Book Review: Ancient Thunder by Leo Yerxa, Author . Groundwood/Anansi $18.95 (32p)
Illustrator
1969:Peter Desbarats, What They Used To Tell About, Indian Legends from Labrador, McClelland and Stewart"What They Used to Tell About" World Cat entry. 1994:Armand Garnet Ruffo, Opening in the Sky, Theytus Press 2001:Tomson Highway, Johnny National, Super Hero, Health Canada (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada),"Johnny National, Super Hero" 2002:Al Hunter, Spirit Horses Kegedonce Press 2014:Joanne Arnott, Halfling Spring: an internet romance Kegedonce Press
Awards
Governor General's Literary Award, Children's literature (illustration) 2006Patten, Cheryl. Author and artist receives literary award |Ontario Birch Bark, Volume 24, Issue 9, 2006. via Windspeaker - AMMSA: Indigenous news, issues and culture Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Illustrator's Award 1994 Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Canadian Picture Book Award 1994 Mr. Christie's Book Award 1993 Governor General's Literary Award, Children's Literature, nominee 1993
See also List of writers from peoples indigenous to the Americas Royal Canadian Mint Olympic Coins Governor General's Award for English-language children's illustration List of Canadian poets
References
External links