A complete list of Carl Beam’s exhibition history and a bibliography can be found in the National Gallery of Canada’s publication Carl Beam: The Poetics of Being (see details below). The following selected list has been drawn from this source.
Exhibition History (Selected)
Solo Exhibitions
1977
Carl Beam, Eagle Down Gallery, Edmonton
1979
Carl Beam, Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque
1982
Two Sides to All Stories: Carl Beam, Important Art for the 1980s, Scharf Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
1984
Altered Egos: The Multimedia Work of Carl Beam, Thunder Bay National Exhibition Centre and Centre for Indian Art. Travelled to the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg; Woodland Indian Cultural Educational Centre, Brantford; Laurentian University Museum and Arts Centre, Sudbury; and Art Gallery of York University, Toronto
1985
Carl Beam, Art Gallery of York University, Toronto
The North American Iceberg and Related Works, Brignall Gallery, Toronto
1989
Carl Beam: The Columbus Project, Phase I, a joint show at the Art Gallery of Peterborough and Artspace, Peterborough
A Piece of My Life: Prints by Carl Beam, Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Queen’s University, Kingston
1990
The Columbus Project, Phase II, Artspace, Peterborough
1992
Carl Beam: The Columbus Boat, The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, Toronto. Travelled to the Two Rivers Gallery, Minneapolis, Minnesota; Weil Gallery, Corpus Christi State University, Texas; Arnold Gottlieb Gallery, Toronto; and Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba, Brandon, in 1993
1993
The Columbus Suite, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
Adobe Project: Living in Mother Earth, London Regional Art Gallery and Historical Museums
Carl Beam: The Columbus Boat, travelled to four venues in Italy: Leonardi V-Idea, Genoa; Neon Arte Contemporanea, Bologna; Circolo Arcinboldo, La Spezia; and ViaFarini, Milan
1999
Reconstructing Reason: The Koan of Carl Beam, Carleton University Art Gallery, Ottawa
2000
Parallel Histories, The Reinventions of Carl Beam, Tom Thomson Memorial Art Gallery, Owen Sound
2001
Carl Beam: Interpreting the World, Robert Langen Art Gallery, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo
2002
Carl Beam: The Whale of Our Being, Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa. Travelled to the Thames Art Gallery, Chatham-Kent, in 2003
2005
The Columbus Suite, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
2006
Flying Still: Carl Beam, 1943–2005, Carleton University Art Gallery, Ottawa. Travelled to the Kópavogur Museum, Iceland
Group Exhibitions
1980
Indian Art ’80, Woodland Indian Cultural Educational Centre, Brantford
Anishnabe Mee-kun, Ojibwe Cultural Foundation in M’Chigeeng, Manitoulin Island
1981
Carl Beam, Lynn Tillery, Amiel Scharf, Lutz-Bergerson Gallery, Taos, New Mexico
1982
The Painted Pottery of Ann and Carl Beam, Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque
New Work by a New Generation, Norman MacKenzie Art Gallery, Regina
1983
Contemporary Indian and Inuit Art of Canada, United Nations, New York, and Indian and Northern Affairs, Gatineau. Travelled until 1985
1984
Indian Art ’84, Woodland Indian Cultural Educational Centre, Brantford
1985
Indian Art ’85, Woodland Indian Cultural Educational Centre, Brantford
1986
Indian Art ’86, Woodland Indian Cultural Educational Centre, Brantford
Cross-Cultural Views, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
1988
Indian Art ’88, Woodland Cultural Centre, Brantford
In the Shadow of the Sun. Opened at the Museum am Ostwall and Museum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte, Dortmund, Federal Republic of Germany, in 1988–89. Travelled to the Canadian Museum of Civilization, Gatineau, in 1989–90; and the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Halifax; the Museon, The Hague, Netherlands; and the Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde, Leiden, Netherlands, in 1990
1989
Indian Art ’89, Woodland Cultural Centre, Brantford
Political Landscapes #1: Canadian Artists Exploring Perceptions of the Land, Tom Thomson Memorial Art Gallery, Owen Sound
1991
Strengthening the Spirit: Works by Native Artists, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, 1991–92
First Nations Art ’91, Woodland Cultural Centre, Brantford
Political Landscape #2: Sacred and Secular Sites, Tom Thomson Memorial Art Gallery, Owen Sound. Travelled to the Ojibway Cultural Foundation and Kasheese Studios & Art Gallery, West Bay, Manitoulin Island
1992
Land, Spirit, Power, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. Travelled to the MacKenzie Art Gallery, Regina, in 1993; Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, Texas; and Nickle Arts Museum, Calgary, in 1994
Indigena: Perspectives of Indigenous Peoples on Five Hundred Years, Canadian Museum of Civilization, Gatineau. Travelled to the Winnipeg Art Gallery and the Dalhousie University Art Gallery, Halifax, in 1993 (under the title Indigena: Contemporary Native Perspectives); the Art Gallery of Windsor; Heard Museum, Phoenix, Arizona; and Glenbow Museum, Calgary, in 1994; and the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, in 1995
1993
Seeing a New World: The Works of Carl Beam and Frederic Remington, Art Gallery of Gettysburg College, Pennsylvania
1996
Oh! Canada, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
1997
Cultural Imprints: Contemporary Works by Seven First Nations Artists, Burnaby Art Gallery
2000
Cultural CRITICS, W. Keith and Janet Kellogg University Art Gallery, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, California
Novak Graphics Print Show, Shenzhen and Shanghai, China
2002
Shamans and Ravens: Carl and Ann Beam, DeLeon White Gallery, Toronto
2003
All Things Are Connected, Gardiner Museum, Toronto
2004
It’s All Relative: Carl, Ann and Anong Beam, Canadian Clay & Glass Gallery, Waterloo. Travelled to the Art Gallery of Algoma, Sault Ste. Marie; Thunder Bay Art Gallery; and Art Gallery of Peterborough in 2006
Further Readings
Carl Beam’s art is held in many public gallery and museum collections across Canada, including the National Gallery of Canada, which holds his archive, the Art Gallery of Ontario, the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, and the Beaverbrook Art Gallery.
Beam, Carl, et al. New Work by a New Generation. Regina: Norman MacKenzie Art Gallery, 1982. Exhibition catalogue.
Beam, Carl, and Elizabeth McLuhan. Altered Egos: The Multimedia Work of Carl Beam. Thunder Bay: Thunder Bay National Exhibition Centre and Centre for Indian Art, 1984. Exhibition catalogue.
Beam, Carl, and Shelagh Young. Carl Beam: The Columbus Project, Phase 1. Peterborough: Artspace and the Art Gallery of Peterborough, 1989. Exhibition catalogue.
Beam, Carl, and Shelagh Young. “The Columbus Project Phase III,” Sub Rosa 1, no. 5 (Winter 1992): 1–7.
Bell, Michael. A Piece of My Life: Prints by Carl Beam. Kingston: Agnes Etherington Art Centre, 1989. Exhibition catalogue.
Eichhorn, Virginia. It’s All Relative: Carl Beam, Ann Beam, Anong Migwans Beam. Waterloo: Canadian Clay & Glass Gallery, 2005. Exhibition catalogue.
Ernst, Stacy. “Going Beyond the Archival Grid: Carl Beam and Greg Curnoe’s Decolonization of a Colonizing Space.” World Art 6, no. 1 (2016): 85–102.
Hill, Greg A. Carl Beam: The Poetics of Being. Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada, 2010. Includes essays by Gerald McMaster, Virginia Eichhorn, Alan Corbiere, Crystal Migwans, and Ann Beam. Exhibition catalogue.
McLuhan, Elizabeth. “Renewal.” In Renewal: Masterworks of Contemporary Indian Art from the National Museum of Man. Thunder Bay: Thunder Bay National Exhibition Centre and Centre for Indian Art, 1982. Exhibition catalogue.
McMaster, Gerald, and Lee-Ann Martin, eds. Indigena: Contemporary Native Perspectives. Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 1992. Exhibition catalogue.
Murray, Joan. Carl Beam: The Whale of Our Being. Oshawa: Robert McLaughlin Gallery, 2002. Exhibition catalogue.
Nemiroff, Diana, Robert Houle, and Charlotte Townsend-Gault, eds. Land, Spirit, Power: First Nations at the National Gallery of Canada. Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada, 1992. Exhibition catalogue.
Patten, James. Carl Beam: Living in Mother Earth. London: London Regional Art Gallery and Historical Museums, 1993. Exhibition catalogue.
Rhodes, Richard. Carl Beam: The Columbus Boat. Toronto: The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, 1992. Exhibition catalogue.
Ryan, Allan J. The Trickster Shift: Humour and Irony in Contemporary Native Art. Vancouver: UBC Press, 1999.
Smart, Tom. “Carl Beam’s Columbus Suite.” Devil’s Artisan [DA], no. 84 (Spring/Summer 2019): 9–65.
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