Clemence Wescoupe

Self-taught Anishinaabe painter Clemence Wescoupe was also known as Ozaa-Bines, meaning Brown Thunderbird. Of Saulteaux background, he was born in 1951 on Long Plain First Nation. Wescoupe mastered the use of negative space, sweeping lines, and restrained colour in his paintings, and was a founding member of the Woodland School of Art, along with friends and fellow artists Norval Morrisseau, Daphne Odjig, Carl Ray and Jackson Beardy, which left a strong artistic legacy that is celebrated globally. Clemence and his Art Agent, the late Nick Lebessis, travelled together in Europe and the United States to promote Clemence’s art works. His works were sold to visitors from around the world in Nick Lebessis’ family run gallery Northern Art Impressions, in Lake Louise, Alberta. Wescoupe also had one-artist shows at the Nicholas Gallery in Ottawa, Gallery Phillip in Toronto, Craft Guild in Montreal, Eagledown Gallery in Edmonton, an “Environmental” show in Los Angeles and solo exhibitions in Frankfurt and the University of Heidelberg. His last show was at the Winnipeg Art Gallery

Alternate spelling of Indigenous name: Oo-za-biness