Ernest Marceau Jr.
Blackfeet Browning, MT
Exhibit Year: 2014-2015, 2015-2016
About the Artist
Ernest Marceau Jr.’s art influences have had a major effect on both his painting and his life. Born in 1961 to Anna Lou (Evans) and Ernest Marceau Sr., was raised on the Blackfeet Reservation in Browning, Montana. Marceau attended grade school in Heart Butte and Browning. He graduated from Browning High School in 1981. Marceau resides in Browning with his son, John.
One of Marceau’s most important influences in high school were instructors Cheryl Olson and Bill Hannah. These two teachers allowed for his creativity and taught him about different mediums of art. He then studied at Haskell Indian Junior College in Lawrence, Kansas from 1981-1983. During this time, he became a member of the Haskell Art Club and through this organization was introduced to the several Kansas City art galleries.
His paintings portray the warriors of the past, the buffalo horse culture of the Nineteenth century when the horse transformed the Blackfeet Nation into the dominant force on the Northern Plains. Marceau states, “I try to portray my art in a manner to let the viewer look in the painting, showing illusion, to be able to travel through the painting, being able to visualize the spirit world, the shadows, the illusion, and the illusion of the Nineteenth centry warriors. Expressing to the viewer that everything is not always perfect, that the use of lines are misused, the colors are misused, and that there are no boundaries.”
Marceau has shown his work at the Museum of the Plains Indian, the Blackfeet Heritage Center & Art Gallery, and the Lodge Pole Gallery (all in Browning, Montana); at Ulm Pishkum State Park (Great Falls, Montana); the Great Falls Native American Art Show; and at the charitable event, the Harvest Moon Ball (East Glacier, Montana).
– The Blackfeet Heritage Center & Art Gallery