Doug Donley

“The fish means a lot of things. I think fish are the closest thing we have to aliens. They’re very mysterious fellows. They live just below the surface – something like people. And they live in a completely different environment than we do. Of course, they’re also icons, and icons are full of all kinds of meanings.”

Doug Donley ¹

“Owa giigoon adamoomigad nowonj dnowaa. Ndo inendam giigoon aawi memaanji besha enowendaagwog e’yaamang bakaanikiing aba onjibaajig. Aawiwog aapaji gwa giimodendaagozijig. Dazhiikewog anamiwiing – owi dibishko bemaadizijig. Miinwaa dazhiikewog gichi bkaan akiing giinwi dash ayaa-ing. Aabdeg dash, ayaawiwog age mazinchiganag, miinwaa mazinchiganag moshkin nowonj edamoomigag.”

Doug Donley ¹

The fish occur in incongruous human-like situations such as lying in bed and talking with a partner before falling asleep, on a couch wrapped in a blanket with a fresh cup of tea on a nearby table, or presiding over a courtroom wearing a bench wig with a gavel nearby. These fish are not pictured in water but appear to swim through air inexplicably. While these scenes could be viewed as fish personified, these fish just as often appear alongside human figures. Laid Up depicts a woman in a nurse’s uniform caring for a fish in a hospital bed. By placing an anomalous being in place of human, Donley offers viewers an alternative narrative to our day-to-day experiences, where “the Fish is sometimes uncanny master of its own fate, sometimes the omniscient observer of our fate, sometimes haplessly caught and doomed by the net of human circumstance.”²

Gewe giigoonig bagami yaawog zhiwe bkaan dnowaa bemaadizid dibishko eshchigewaad diboshko gonaa nibaagining zhigizhing miinwaa ginonaawaad wiijikiwewin jibwaa nibaang, zhiwe gichi pabwining wiikwepizad waabowaaning temigag oshki niibiishaabo zhiwe besha etemigag dopiwin, maage dibaamjigewaad owi dibaaknige gamig biiskamiwaad miinjisekaajigan bakite’igaans besha temigag. Gwanda giigoonig gaawii mazinibiigaasiiwog nibiishing dash zhinaagoziwog dibshko adaa bagiziwog biitwi nodin gaawii nisaschigaadesinag. Aanowi gwa newen ezhinaagwog a’daazhi ginowaabmjigaadenon owa giigoon bemaadizid aawid, gwanda giigoonig gagwech gwa minwe-aapii ayaawog shiwe bemaadizijig mazinchiganag. Aatawaabiigishin waabmdowemigad kwe biiskan mashkikii-kwe gwiwinan naagidowenimaad owa giigoon zhiwe aakozii-gamig nibaagan. Owi ozhishmind owa gwiinwendaagozid ayaawid meshkod dash bemaadizid, Donley miinaan genwaabmjigejig owi bkaan inaajimowin owi gdo ensa giizhigag bimaadiziwinan, zhiwe “owa giingoonh aangwadinong aawid giiwaadendaagozid naagaanziitang ezhiwebizid, aangwodnang owa kina gekendang e’waamdang gdo zhiwebiziwinaa, aangwodnang wiiyaga debinigaaziwaad miinwaa binaajichigaaziwaad owi asabi owi bimaadizing ezhiwebak.”²

Humans are not the only subjects that Donley replaces with fish throughout the Estuary series. Several works feature fish replacing inanimate objects such as a weathervane, a football, and the top of a hot air balloon. Fish can also stand in for other animals such as a dog on a leash in Walking Fish and Beware of Fish, farm animals in Ranch Fish and Barn, and even an insect in Pollinate. There is no limit to the uncanny situations in which the fish finds itself.

Bemaadizijig gaawii goweta aawiziiwog owa Donley meshkoshimaad giigoonin maziwe owi Nibiish Gnigaagimisingh aankesingh. Gmaaminig mazininiganan waabmdowemigad giigoon meshkidosing bemaadiziimigasinag gego dibishko gonaa izhiwebak kiing baamskobideg, bakwaakwod, miinwaa giiji-iing owi gezhideg nodin ombasijigan. Giigoon age adaa meshkodshin gewe bkaan wesiinig dibishko gonaa nimokaajiin ayaad dikobijiganing zhiwe Bemised Giigoonh miinwaa Ayaangwaamizin owa Giigoonh, gitigaan okaanag zhiwe Getigaazad Giigoonh miinwaa Okaan gamig, miinwaa age gnimaa manidoshens zhiwe Maajiigichigewin. Gaawii gego tesino nigaasijigan owi giiwaadendaagwog ezhiwebak zhiwe owa giigoon makodizad.

Text plays an important role in the development of Donley’s ideas. Inspired by the burgeoning world of computers and text analysis, Donley pulls from Biblical stories and common saints’ lives to explore piscatorial encounters with Saint George, Saint John the Baptist, the Grim Reaper, and even the Devil. Donley remarks on the role of narrative in his work stating “some texts are more present in our life… art than first realised.”³

Zhibiigan miigwemigad owi gechi piitendaagwog ayaawong zhiwe owi zhichigaadeg newen Donley ado inendamowinan. Ombimendamong onji owi maajiigingh enigokwaag owi waasamo-asabi mazina-iganan miinwaa zhibiigan dibizhigaadeg, Donley onjibidoon newen Gagiikwe-mazinigan dibaajimowinan miinwaa gichitwaa endaagozid bimaadiziwinan awii nda-gikendang giigoonkengh nakweshkigaaziwaad gewe Gichitwaa Endaagozid George, Gichitwaa Endaagozid John owi Baptist, owa Maanaadaajimowin Baadood, miinwaa age owa Maji Manidoo. Donley kida owi enaabidag owi dibaajimowin zhiwe ado nankiiwin kidad “aanin zhibiiganan woshme temigadoon gdo bimaadiziwininaa… mazininiganan dash owi ntam gikendamang.”³

Doug Donley, Hook, 1999. Coloured pencil on rag. Collection of the Art Gallery of Sudbury | Galerie d’art de Sudbury.

Doug Donley, Magiskan, 1999. E’titemigag zhibiiginaatig zhiwe gidagiigining. Maandosijigan owi Mazininigewinan Waabmdoweng Gamig odi Sudbury.

This is Not a Fish is a clear reference to Surrealist painter René Magritte’s The Treachery of Images (1929, known colloquially as This is not a pipe). Magritte’s artwork depicts the image of a pipe, with clean cursive writing beneath it declaring “Ceci n’est pas un pipe”. Donley’s parody includes a rendering of a man smoking a pipe with a fish coming out of the bowl, while a dog looks at both the man and the fish from the background. Donley and Magritte share a certain softness to their works, a visual similarity shared amongst the surrealist artists of the 1920s to 1950s.

Gaawii maaba Aawisii Giigoonh aawon gagwek omjibaamigad owa Naamdamiwin mezinibiiged René Magritte’s The Treachery of Images (1929, gikenjigaadeg dinaangidowin aawong Gaawii maaba aawisii pwagan). Magritte adi mazinibiigan waamdowemigad owi mazinshingh owi pwaagan, owi weweni naagwog waawiye biigan naamiwiing owi wiindamaagemigag “Gaawii maaba aawisii pwagan”. Donley ado gikinwaazaamijigan digosin owi azhidebiiwin owa nini zigaswaanaad pwaaganan digoshingh giigoon zaagijiyaad owi boskinaagan owa pwaagan, bekish nimosh ginowaabmaad owa nini miinwaa giigoon onji shkwe-aang. Donley miinwaa Magritte naasaab bashigendaanaa-aa owi bezhig nokaamigag ado nakiiwiniwaa, owi waabmjigewin zhowaaj maadookidaadiwin gewe inaamdamiwin mezinibiigejig apii 1920 apiinish 1950.

Doug Donley, This is Not a Fish, 1992. Coloured pencil on rag. Collection of the Art Gallery of Sudbury | Galerie d’art de Sudbury.

Doug Donley, Gaawii maaba Aawisii Giigoonh, 1992. E’titemigag zhibiiginaatig zhiwe gidagiigining. Maandosijigan owi Mazininigewinan Waabmdoweng Gamig odi Sudbury.

“Sometimes active, sometimes observant – – very often autobiographical – – the fish effects in the viewer a sense of reflection, epiphany or catastrophe, occasionally all in the same drawing.”

Pamela Krueger ⁵
Director/Curator LUMAC

“Aangwodinong dataadibaag, aangwodinong kowaabmdamiwin – gichi wewiiba bemaadizid dibaajimowin – owa giigoon medookidang owa genwaabmdang owi ishaayaawin owi naagidowendamowin, makowaadendamowin maage gichi binaajichigewin, aangwodinong kina zhiwe naasaab mazinibiigan.”

Pamela Krueger ⁵
Gimaa owi LUMAC

Works like Spawning and Hidden Danger do reference concerns about environmental pollution, fish encountering large drainage pipes spewing refuse in various shades of green. In the piece Not Only to Fish a fish is caught up in a cloud of exhaust smoke from a car. Faintly in the background, a human figure can be seen playing with a dog in a park. While the fish is the one primarily impacted by the pollution in the image, the other figures are just as affected. Now that we have seen the fish experiencing our lives, can we fathom experiencing theirs?

Kidiwinan dibishko Waakoon miinwaa Aagwasingh Neniizaanag a’nowendaagwod zinagendamowinan owi aki wiininaamowin, giigoonig nakweshkamowaad gichi okikwaagiko nagish bimijiwong webinigan owi nowonj ozhaawishkwaandemigag. Owi masina’igan Gaawii Goweta Giigoonh owa giigoon baataashing owi ankwad owi gaa-andaabitemigag onji daabaan. Gaawaan gwa zhiwe shkwe-aang, owa bemaadizid mazinshing adaa waabmjigaaza wiidokwaad nimoon zhiwe gojiin enji minendaagozing. Aanowi gwa owa giingoon aawi bezhigwod madookidaagwad owi aki wiininaamowin zhiwe owi mazinaatesing, gewe aanin mezinishinajig gewiinwaa madookidaagaaziwog. Miidash agii waabmdaming owa giigoon gikendang gdo bimaadiziwinaa, gdaa nisawendaanaa ani gikendamong awiin bimaadiziwin?

Doug Donley, Do Not Litter, 1999. Coloured pencil on rag. Collection of the Art Gallery of Sudbury | Galerie d’art de Sudbury.

Doug Donley, Gaawii Webinigeke, 1999. E’titemigag zhibiiginaatig zhiwe gidagiigining. Maandosijigan owi Mazininigewinan Waabmdoweng Gamig odi Sudbury.

Doug Donley, Bar, 1991. Coloured pencil on Alpharag. Collection of the Art Gallery of Sudbury | Galerie d’art de Sudbury.

Doug Donley, Minikwe Gamig, 1991. E’titemigag zhibiiginaatig zhiwe Gidagiigining. Maandosijigan owi Mazininigewinan Waabmdoweng Gamig odi Sudbury.

Doug Donley, Alley Way, 1991. Coloured pencil on Alpharag. Collection of the Art Gallery of Sudbury | Galerie d’art de Sudbury.

Doug Donley, Dikamojiigan, 1991. E’titemigag zhibiiginaatig zhiwe gidagiigining. Maandosijigan owi Mazininigewinan Waabmdoweng Gamig odi Sudbury.

Doug Donley, Dragnet, 1992. Coloured pencil on Alpharag. Collection of the Art Gallery of Sudbury | Galerie d’art de Sudbury.

Doug Donley, Agwaabinaagan, 1992. E’titemigag zhibiiginaatig zhiwe gidagiigining. Maandosijigan owi Mazininigewinan Waabmdoweng Gamig odi Sudbury.

Dragnet depicts three fish sharing a drink around a cocktail table, but rather than the fish being overcome by the beverages they are sharing, their evening is disrupted by the human activity of fishing through the use of a dragnet. While the interpretation of these works can vary from viewer to viewer based on prior experiences and knowledge, the message speaks the loudest in Donley’s works where fish are in their proper context.

Agwaabinaagan waabmdowemigad nisiwi giigoonig maamowi minikwewaad gaataawiing minikwe doopiwin, dash meshkod owa giigoon zhaagoowigwad newen minikwewinan waaji minikwewaad, ado oshki naagishig nashkwechigaademigag owi bemaadizijig enakiiwaad giigoonkewaad zhiwe owi nikaaziwaad owi agwaabinaagan. Aanowi gwa aanikanootamang ninda nankiiwinan adaa bakaan-aad bezhig genwaabmdang apiinish owa bekaanzid genwaabmdang onjibaamigag newen zhaazhigwaa agaa zhiwebiziwaad miinwaa gikendamowin, owi wiindamaagewin maanji gizhiiwemigad zhiwe Donley ado nakiiwinan owi giigoonig ayaawog ado gagwek endazhiikewaad.

“Beer doesn’t catch fish, fish catches beer”

Doug Donley ⁸

“Zhingowaabo gaawii debinaasiin giigoonin, giigoonig debinaan zhingowaabo”

Doug Donley ⁸