War & Peace & Smoky the Cow Horse

Métis artist Jean Paul Langlois is in Vancouver with a solo exhibition that explores the juxtaposition of his Métis and Scottish settler heritages through vibrant pop culture motifs.

The exhibition’s title originates from a conversation with Langlois’ mother, who, when asked about her favourite book, replied without hesitation: “War and Peace,” before adding, “…and Smoky the Cowhorse.” Now 85 and living with Alzheimer’s and vascular dementia, her unexpected answer struck Langlois as both humorous and profound. For the artist, this unlikely pairing captures the paradoxes that define his life and practice: the duality of Métis identity, the contradictions between his parents’ worlds, and the tension between the complex subject matter of his work and its playful, ultra-saturated execution.

-Fazakas Gallery

Central to the show is a narrative series recounting the story of Henry Vivier, a Métis father from North Dakota who stormed a residential school to reclaim his children at gunpoint. The story evokes a memory of the artist’s great-grandfather rescuing relatives from the St. Bernard’s Residential School in Grourard, Alberta. 

The subject of residential schools in Canada remains topical, especially in the arts, a grave reminder that a commission of inquiry found that the forced removal of indigenous children from their families was tantamount to genoicide. (See numerous previous Art Junkie posts with art covering residential schools here).

The exhibition at Fazakas Gallery in Vancouver runs through Dec. 19, 2025.

Jean Paul Langlois’ website, here.

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Image Credit for the painting at the top of this post: A Young Prince, Hounded By Ignoble Beasts (Pressed Into Mans Servitude), Acrylic on canvas, 48 x 72 inches. Installation photography by Byron Dauncey