Shelley Niro: 500 Year Itch

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Shelley Niro, “The Rebel,” 1987/2022

hand tinted gelatin silver print (courtesy of the artist)

Shelley Niro: 500 Year Itch is the first major retrospective of work by the multimedia artist Shelley Niro, who grew up on the Six Nations Reserve, near Brantford, Ontario. For more than fifty years, Niro has been creating art reflecting contemporary life and building upon Kanyen’kehá:ka (Mohawk) philosophies, deep understandings of history and a woman-centred worldview. 

Her persistent vision is to represent Indigenous women and girls, advocating for self-representation and sovereignty. Her highly empathetic approach moves viewers to understand the issues at hand through her visually impactful and politically powerful manner. She uses parody, feminism and spirituality to examine identity and, in turn, brings political power to the realm of the personal. 

Accessible, humorous and peppered with references to popular culture, Niro’s art delves into the timeless cultural knowledge and generational histories of her Six Nations Kanyen’kehá:ka community to provide purpose and healing. Niro works in a wide variety of media, including painting, photography, mixed media and film. 

Featuring over 70 works, the exhibition is divided into four sections: Matriarchy, Past is Present, Actors and Family Relations. Each provides vantage points from which Niro probes ideas central to her experience and identity as a Mohawk woman, such as the story of Sky Woman, the gender roles and stereotypes imposed on her culture by patriarchal settler culture, and the persistence of Haudenosaunee matrilineal culture.