31.25 x 38.5 in (79.4 x 97.8 cm) including frame
Winnipeg-based artist Diana Thorneycroft is known for staged photographic tableaus that examine Canadian cultural mythology, national identity, and art history through satire and dark humour. In her series The Group of Seven Awkward Moments, Thorneycroft constructed detailed diorama sets that reframe canonical Canadian landscapes—specifically works by the Group of Seven, Tom Thomson, and Emily Carr—by populating them with plastic figurines, kitsch souvenirs, and absurd, disruptive narratives.
In Beaver and Woo at Tanoo, Thorneycroft appropriates the setting of Emily Carr’s 1913 painting Tanoo, Q.C.I., which records monumental Haida crest poles on Haida Gwaii. Against a backdrop reproducing Carr’s coastal landscape, Thorneycroft introduces a chaotic fictional tableau. A standing miniature totem pole is surrounded by plastic beavers gnawing on a fallen crest pole, while an eagle swoops through the upper sky carrying Carr’s pet monkey, Woo, on a tether. On the right, the scene is overseen by a large doll dressed as a logger holding an electric chainsaw. By combining national symbols, commercial toys, and canonical art, Thorneycroft interrogates resource extraction, colonial history, and the romanticization of the Canadian wilderness. The resulting composition operates as both an affectionate nod to Carr’s legacy and a sharp parody of the manufactured myths underpinning Canada’s national landscape tradition.
Mayberry Fine Art, Winnipeg
Private Collection, Winnipeg
Diana Thorneycroft: Canada, Myth and History; Group of Seven Awkward Moments, McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg, ON, October 24, 2009 – January 31, 2010; travelling to The Reach Gallery Museum, Abbotsford, BC, March 4 – May 9, 2010; Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, MB, June 12 – September 6, 2010; and Art Gallery of Windsor, Windsor, ON, September 10, 2011 – January 15, 2012.
Sharona Adamowicz-Clements et al., Diana Thorneycroft: Canada, Myth and History; Group of Seven Awkward Moments Series, Kleinburg, ON: McMichael Canadian Art Collection, 2009, reproduced in colour, page 55, catalogue no. 12.
Diana Thorneycroft
Diana Thorneycroft is a Winnipeg artist who has exhibited various bodies of work across Canada, the United States and Europe, as well as in Moscow, Tokyo and Sydney. She is the recipient of numerous awards including an Assistance to Visual Arts Long-term Grant from the Canada Council, several Senior Arts Grants from the Manitoba Arts Council and a Fleck Fellowship from the Banff Centre for the Arts.
Her work has been the subject of national radio documentaries and a CBC national documentary for television. Thorneycroft's photo-based exhibition, The Body, its lesson and camouflage was on an eight city tour from 2000 to 2002. A book by the same name was published.
Thorneycroft's work has been included in the 2002 released Phaidon Press publication Blink, which presents the work of 100 rising stars in photography. They have been selected by 10 world-class curators, each proposing 10 photographers who they consider to have emerged and broken new ground in the last five years.
Canadian Art Magazine selected Thorneycroft's most recent body of work "Group of Seven Awkward Moments" as one of The Top 10 Exhibitions of 2008.
1979-80
University of Wisconsin, Madison, Madison, Wisconsin
Master of Arts in Art
1975-79
University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Bachelor of Fine Arts Honours
Winnipeg Arts Council “Making a Mark” Award, 2009
City of Winnipeg Visual Arts Grant to Individuals, 2009, 2005,1999,1996, 1990
Manitoba Arts Council Major Arts Grant, 2009, 2001, 1997, 1991
Deep Bay Residency, Riding Mountain National Park, 2009, 2007
Canada Council Assistance to Visual Artists -Long-term, 2007-09
Manitoba Arts Council "A" Grant, 2006, 2005,1996, 1990, 1982
Established Artist Grant, Canada Council, 2003
Most Outstanding Teacher Award, School of Art, University of Manitoba, 2002
Nomination, Roloff Beny Award, 2002
Fleck Fellowship, Banff Centre for the Arts, 2001
Canada Council "B" Grant, Photography, 1999,1992
City of Winnipeg Visual Arts Grant to Individuals, 2005,1999,1996, 1990
Canada Council Explorations Grant, 1995
Video Pool First Video Fund, 1994
Canada Council "B" Grant, Interdisciplinary/Collaboration, 1993
Manitoba Arts Council Project Grant, 1991, 1984
Canada Council Project Grant, 1990, 1987
Major Fall Fine Art Auction
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