Michael Bjornson’s print, Wolfe/Montcalm #1 was included in a group exhibition at the Richmond Art Gallery in 1986 titled Printmakers. In an artist statement from that exhibition, Bjornson explains his interest in using lithographic print media, citing lithography’s demanding and exacting process and the capacity to use the media in a painterly manner uncommon in most other print media. In Wolfe/Montcalm #1 the artist is referencing debates which took place in Canada in the 1980’s by illustrating General Sir James Wolfe and Le Marquis de Montcalm in their fight for Canada over 200 years earlier. The debates addressed issues which included the repatriation of the Canadian Charter, the amendment of Canadian Constitution and the reconsideration of the use of capital punishment. With this work he is reflecting on the struggle and turmoil out of which Canada was born.   

Michael Bjornson received a Bachelor of Arts in Art History and another in Architecture from the University of British Columbia in 1967 and 1970 respectively. He went on to earn a diploma from the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design in 1985. His works are held in public collections, the Burnaby Art Gallery and Simon Fraser University and corporate collections, Air Canada and BC Tel. Bjornson works in film, architecture and fine arts and is co- owner of the Bjornson Kajiwara Gallery in Vancouver.