Shelley Niro: 500 year itch is the first major retrospective exhibition of the multi-media work of Mohawk artist Shelley Niro, who is based in Brantford, ON. Spanning four decades of her photography, film, painting, installation, sculpture and mixed media practice, the exhibition highlights the themes she constantly returns to: Indigenous Matriarchy, Memory, Performance/Actors, and Relations/Family. 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.

Featuring over 70 works by Shelley Niro, some in series (totalling 136 pieces) coming from public and private collections across Canada and the US, including new work to be debuted in Hamilton. The exhibition will be accompanied by a heavily-illustrated 304-page publication designed by Barr Gilmore, including texts by invited authors, in addition to curatorial essays: Lori Beavis, Sally Frater, Adrianna Greci Green, Bryce Kanbara, Madeline Lennon, and Hulleah J. Tsinhnahjinnie To be released in Spring 2023.

Shelley Niro: 500 year itch is organized and circulated by the Art Gallery of Hamilton with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI), with curatorial support from the National Gallery of Canada (NGC). Co-curated by Melissa Bennett, AGH Senior Curator of Contemporary Art, Greg Hill, Independent Curator, formerly Audain Senior Curator, Indigenous Art, National Gallery of Canada, and David Penney, Associate Director of Museum scholarship, Exhibitions, and Public Engagement at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian.