Ojibwe artist opens exhibition in Minneapolis

by Clara NiiSka

Joe ‘Mishakeebaneesh’ Geshick is opening an exhibition, “The Feeding of the Spirit,” at Horst Galleries, 315 Lincoln Street Northeast, in Minneapolis on Friday, December 6th, from 6 – 10 p.m.  Opening events will include Ojibwe singing and drumming, as well as the more formal exhibition-opening traditions of the Minneapolis art connoisseur community.  The exhibition will be open through January 10th.

Joe Geshick’s art work achieved international recognition during the sixteen years he spent living and painting in ‘artist quarter’ warehouse digs in downtown St. Paul.  He and his fiancée LeeAnn McCombs, a weaver and fiber artist, moved to Ely last year and are, LeeAnn said, very much enjoying the less harried pace and rural quiet of the northcountry.

Joe, a Bois Forte enrollee, studied art at the Art Students League in New York during the late 1970s, as well as working at the Museum of the American Indian, and teaching art at Lac la Croix reserve in Canada and in Reno, Nevada.

Joe’s work has been described by reviewers as characterized by “clear, integral designs and richly textured layers of earth tones,” which “express a sense of calmness and simplicity, illustrative of fundamental strength and deep spiritual connection with the natural world.”  Many of Joe’s recent paintings are masterpieces reflecting Joe’s mastery of renaissance techniques of complexly layered glazes of earth tones, and most of his work expresses and explores his traditional Ojibwe spiritual orientation.

In addition museum-quality oil paintings, Joe’s current work includes high-quality Giclee reproductions, art prints, and the covers for many of Louise Erdrich’s books.