NORVAL MORRISSEAU MAGIC

The old ones say that there are no coincidences, only the long, meandering weave of a story we haven’t yet fully read. One example of how Norval Morrisseau manifests in my life when least expected.

My wife and I flew in to Kelowna and made our way to Victoria to meet my stepson where we found a place to to stay through Airbnb. The condo we chose sat on Fisgard Street, and upon arrival, we found ourselves in the heart of Chinatown, where the air smelled of salt and old stories.  We went out for an afternoon walk and headed north until I found myself at the entrance of Fan Tan Alley.

It is a narrow path that stands tight as a brick ribcage. Some know it from the flicker of a

Charming and narrow, Fan Tan Alley in Victoria, BC, is a vibrant historical passage adorned with lanterns and open shops, known as the creation place of Morrisseau's 1982 mural, "Conquest of the Thunderbird."

movie screen: motorcycles zooming through it in a scene from Bird on a Wire (Mel Gibson/Goldie Hawn, 1990). But as I stood there, the air changed. I realized I was standing in the tracks of Norval Morrisseau. In 1982, Copper Thunderbird lived here for a brief period of time. It was here that he created Conquest of the Thunderbird, a painting that oozes with the power of myth. A 6 feet by 8 feet masterpiece I had shown National Gallery Curator Greg Hill and which is now in the National Gallery of Canada's permanent collection.

I made a point of talking to local business owners and spoke to a man named Clem, a shopkeeper who had been there since the 1970s. He showed me a doorway that Norval once crossed daily to reach the studio where he worked. I stood there awash in that familiar "Morrisseau Magic" that continues to manifest into my life, whispering that the veil between this side and the other is thin.

I had not planned this. Yet here I was, sleeping on the very street where he walked, finding myself drawn to the very doorway where he had dreamed up new art.

The universal weave of his life story, threading new knowledge for me.

We walked further, reaching Government Street. There, on the marquee of the McPherson Playhouse, displayed in bold letters: 

COMING EVENTS - APRIL 12: JOHN MCDERMOTT

I had to laugh. The sound of it carried on the wind. Mr. McDermott had been in a legal battle over a forged Morrisseau, it cast a shadow over the originals and the irony felt heavy.

I am a man who spent years steeped in books and academia (I still read science papers when I have time). My mind was trained to see patterns as mere survival, a trick of the brain to make sense of a chaotic world. I struggle with the idea of a Creator; I look for the logic in the gears of the universe. But when I am confronted by this - this persistent, rhythmic co-mingling of my life with Norval’s - the logic fails me.

Why does my soul feel a sudden, sharp ache of life when I stand before his work?

Einstein once said he knew there was a God because he had studied His handiwork in the math of reality. I wondered, standing in Fan Tan Alley, whether the brushstrokes of a troubled painter who saw the world in lines of power and light could point to the same truth.Coincidence itself is not magic, but it makes us pause and wonder if we are ever truly alone.

John Zemanovich is a Norval Morrisseau Expert and Chief Operating Officer of Art Experts Canada Inc.