David Garneau: Dark Chapters and Reading the Ruins

David Garneau: Dark Chapters and Reading the Ruins comprises a pairing of exhibitions by Canadian Métis artist and scholar, David Garneau. Dark Chapters, curated by Arin Fay, uses metaphorical still life paintings to share the lived experience of contemporary Indigenous people contending with the legacy of colonialism and institutional containment.

Reading the Ruins, curated by Dick Averns, continues the vein of still life paintings to contemplate current conflicts in Ukraine and Palestine, and the ongoing legacy of the Dark Times that followed the repression of Métis people. Reading the Ruins, includes new paintings featuring NWMP-era artefacts from the holdings of University of Calgary Libraries, Special Collections and Archives. The re-contextualized paramilitary artefacts are also displayed.

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Image credits L-R: Dark Chapter, 2024. Acrylic on panel, 60” x 36.” Ceinture Fléchée des Temps Noirs, 2025. Acrylic on panel, 48” x 16”.