Canadian artist David Blackwood has been telling stories about Newfoundland in the form of epic visual narratives for the past 30 years. His stories draw on childhood memories, dreams,
superstitions, the oral tradition and the political realities of the community on Bonavista Bay, where he was born and raised. His collection of works has created an iconography of
Newfoundland that is as universal as it is personal, as mythic as it is rooted in reality, and as timeless as it is linked to specific events.
A comprehensive and sumptuously illustrated retrospective, Black Ice features over 70 prints, accompanied by essays from various disciplines - geology, history, folklore and literature. It
features an insightful interview with David Blackwood by Globe and Mail art critic Gary Michael Gault and contributions by pre-eminent scholars and writers in Canada and Ireland.
Award-winning author Michael Crummey writes a beautiful personal piece about outport Newfoundland; Sean Cadigan, head of Memorial University's Department of History, writes about Newfoundland
history; geologists Martin Feely and Derek Wilton describe the province's unique landscape; folklorist Caoimhe Ní Shúilleabháin the tradition of mummering; and the AGO's Dr. Katharine Lochnan
contextualizes Blackwood's work in an elegant piece about his artistic development.
