Get 10% Off with promo code: GIFT
Cart 0

Kananginak Pootoogook

Kananginak Pootoogook, RCA (1935-2010) has been named as a participating artist in this years Venice Biennale, opening May 13, 2017. The late Kinngait (Cape Dorset) artist, known for his distinct figurative style and often humorous approach in both his graphic and sculptural works, is the first Inuit artist to be included in the fair.

The First TouristWell-known for his skillful and naturalistic portrayals of animal subjects, Pootoogook was attuned to social and cultural change in his community, evidenced by his iconic print The First Tourist (1992), the subject of our Last Look in the Winter 2016 issue of the IAQ dedicated to Photography, on newsstands now. “His intelligent eye is not overtly critical of Southerners and their ways; instead it finds the humor or incongruity in situations,” notedcurator Ingo Hessel in his feature on the artist from 2010. “His depictions of people are inspired variously by autobiography, history, and pure imagination; they evoke the past and myth without being romantic.

 

 

 

 

Fellow Canadians, 2016 Sobey Art Award winner Jeremy Shaw and multimedia artist Hajra Waheed join Pootoogook in the fairs central exhibition Viva Arte Viva while Vancouver artist Geoffrey Farmer presents work in the Canadian Pavilion. Curated by Christine Mace, chief curator of the Centre Pompidou, the International Art Exhibition, mounted across both the Arsenale and Central Pavilion of the Giardini, includes works from 120 artists hailing from over 55 countries.

“Art is the most precious part of the human being. [It] is the favourite place for dreams andutopias, relationships with other human beings, with nature and cosmos, as well as with a spiritual dimension,” explains Mace in her curatorial statement. She goes on to note that Viva Arte Viva will provide a platform to rediscover “those who passed away too early or those who are unknown to the public despite the importance of their works.”

On the occasion of Pootoogook’s passing, John Westren, Showroom Manager at Dorset Fine Arts, succinctly captured the artists’ unique legacy. “Kananginak perceived, recalled, and made into art those rare magical moments in human experience when ordinary events in nature and commonplace relationships among people are suddenly elevated and recognized by the heart and soul.”Pootoogook joins a handful of Indigenous artists from Canada who’ve had a presence at the Biennale.

The first, Edward Poitras, was the representative for the Canadian Pavilion in 1995, followed by Rebecca Belmore in 2005. Jordan Bennett has produced two projects, an offsite project Caboto (2011) and Ice Fishing (2015), a collateral exhibition to the Biennale’s main programming developed by the Terra Nova Art Foundation.

Biography:

Pootoogook was born at a traditional Inuit camp called Ikerasak, near Cape Dorset, Nunavut (then in the Northwest Territories) to Josephie Pootoogook, leader of the camp, and Sarah Ningeokuluk. The family lived a traditional lifestyle hunting and trapping while living in an iglu in the winter and a sod house in the summer and did not move into their first southern style house until 1942. In 1957 Pootoogook married Shooyoo, moved to Cape Dorset and began work for James Houston.[2]

Originally, Pootoogook did some carving, made prints and lithographs for other artists. At the same time he was a leader in setting up the West Baffin Eskimo Co-operative, the first Inuit owned co-op,[3] now part of the Arctic Co-operatives Limited and served from 1959 until 1964 as the president. Although Kananginak had worked with his father, Josephie, in 1959, it was not until the 1970s that Kananginak began work as a full-time artist producing drawings, carvings and prints. According to Terry Ryan, former Co-op manager, Pootoogook was both influenced by and an admirer of the works of his uncle, photographer and historian Peter Pitseolak.[2]

The inukshuk at Rideau Hall created by artist Kananginak Pootoogook for former Governor General of Canada, Roméo LeBlanc, for National Aboriginal Day, unveiled on 21 June 1997.

The World Wildlife Commission released a limited edition set in 1977 that included four of Pootoogook's images and in 1980 he was elected to the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts. In 1997 Pootoogook built a 6 ft (1.8 m) inukshuk in Cape Dorset for former Governor General of Canada, Roméo LeBlanc. The inukshuk was dismantled and shipped to Ottawa and with the assistance of his son, Johnny, it was rebuilt at Rideau Hall and unveiled on 21 June, National Aboriginal Day.[2][4]

Pootoogook had several exhibitions and showings of his work. In 2010, he went to Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Olympics and to open a showing of his work at the Marion Scott Gallery. He also had a showing of his work, his first solo exhibition at a public institution, at the Museum of Inuit Art in Toronto from February to May 2010.[5] He also received a 2010 National Aboriginal Achievement Award in the arts category from the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation.[2][6]

While working on his final, and unfinished, drawing of a Peterhead owned by his father, he was struck by coughing spells, which he declared was cancer. Along with his wife, Shooyoo, he flew to Ottawa, staying at the Larga Baffin home, and was diagnosed with lung cancer. In October 2010, he underwent surgery and did not recover. He died 23 November 2010 in Ottawa. He is survived by his wife, seven children and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He is buried in Cape Dorset.[2]

Footnotes[edit]

  1. Jump up^"Inuit artist Kananginak Pootoogook dies"ca. 2010-11-25.
  2. Jump up to:ab c d e f g Sandra Martin (4 December 2010). "The guiding voice of Cape Dorset artists chronicled the Inuit past"The Globe and Mail. Toronto, Canada: Phillip Crawley.
  3. Jump up^West Baffin Eskimo Co-operative
  4. Jump up to:ab The Unveiling of an Inuksuk at Rideau Hall
  5. Jump up^Museum of Inuit Art
  6. Jump up^2010 National Aboriginal Achievement Award recipients announced
  7. Jump up^The Small Owl on the McCord's Website
  8. Jump up^The DMA website

Exhibitions

On the Land       The Arctic Circle
Cape Dorset Graphics *59           (annual collection)
Cape Dorset Graphics *62           (annual collection)
Cape Dorset Graphics *63           (annual collection)
Cape Dorset Graphics *64/65     (annual collection)
Cape Dorset Graphics *66           (annual collection)
Cape Dorset Graphics *68           (annual collection)
Cape Dorset Graphics *69           (annual collection)
Cape Dorset Graphics *67           (annual collection)
Cape Dorset Graphics *70           (annual collection)
Cape Dorset Graphics *71           (annual collection)
Cape Dorset Graphics *72           (annual collection)
Cape Dorset Graphics *73           (annual collection)
Cape Dorset Graphics *74           (annual collection)
Cape Dorset Graphics *75           (annual collection)
Cape Dorset Graphics *76           (annual collection)
Cape Dorset Graphics *77           (annual collection)
Cape Dorset Graphics *78           (annual collection)
Cape Dorset Graphics *79           (annual collection)
Cape Dorset Graphics *81           (annual collection)
Cape Dorset Graphics *82           (annual collection)
Cape Dorset Graphics *83           (annual collection)
Cape Dorset Graphics *84           (annual collection)
Cape Dorset - A Decade of Eskimo Prints & Recent Sculpture           
National Gallery of Canada, in cooperation with the Canadian Eskimo Art Committee
Eskimo Sculpture           
Man & His World, Arctic Pavilion Canadian Eskimo Arts Festival   
Alaska Methodist University Galleries

Sculpture/Inuit: Masterworks of the Canadian Arctic      
Canadian Eskimo Arts Council Les Eskimos/De Eskimo's             
Studio 44 - Passage 44

Crafts from Arctic Canada/Artisanat de l'arctique canadien             
Canadian Eskimo Arts Council
Ulu/Inua: Form and Fantasy in Eskimo Art           Casino Gallery, Ravinia Park
Eskimo Art         Queens Museum
Cape Dorset - Selected Sculpture from the Collection of the Winnipeg Art Gallery      Winnipeg Art Gallery
We Lived by Animals/Nous Vivions des Animaux              Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development in cooperation with the Department of External Affairs
Cape Dorset Prints          London Art Gallery, Organized for the Central Huron Library
The Contemporary Eskimo Prints and Sculpture  Amon Carter Museum of Western Art
The Inuit Print/L'estampe inuit   Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and the
National Museum of Man
From the University Collection   University of New Brunswick Art Centre Gallery, Memorial Hall
Polar Vision: Canadian Eskimo Graphics  Jerusalem Artists' House Museum
Canadian Eskimo Art: a representative exhibition from the collection of Professor and Mrs. Philip Gray
Fine Arts Gallery, Montana State University
By the Light of the Qulliq: Eskimo Life in the Canadian Arctic   
Smithsonian Institution, A travelling exhibition of Inuit art from the Feheley Collection
Eskimo Narrative            Winnipeg Art Gallery
Inuit Prints         University of New Brunswick Long Gallery, St. John Campus
Images of the Inuit: from the Simon Fraser Collection              Simon Fraser Gallery, Simon Fraser University
Inuit Art in the 1970s     Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, and the Agnes Etherington Art Centre
Cape Dorset       Winnipeg Art Gallery
First Annual Collectors' Invitational Exhibition     Inuk 1/Eskimo Art
The Klamer Family Collection of Inuit Art from the Art Gallery of Ontario           University of Guelph
The Year of the Bear      The Arctic Circle
The Murray and Marguerite Vaughan Inuit Print Collection              Beaverbrook Art Gallery
Noel au Chateau - Art inuit de la collection Macdonald Stewart Art Centre         Macdonald Stewart Art Centre Guelph, Ontario presented at Chateau Dufresne
Return of the Birds         Inuit Gallery of Vancouver
Grasp Tight the Old Ways: Selections from the Klamer Family Collection of Inuit Art      Art Gallery of Ontario
Inuit Survival     Enook Galleries, Waterloo, Ontario Presented at the University of Waterloo Art Gallery
Fantasy and Stylization - Cape Dorset Sculpture  Inuit Gallery of Vancouver
The Cape Dorset Print    Presented at Rideau Hall by Indian and Northern Affairs Canada
Contemporary Indian and Inuit Art of Canada              Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, Ottawa, presented at the General Assembly Building, United Nations
Arctic Vision: Art of the Canadian Inuit    Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Canadian Arctic Producers
Cape Dorset Prints: Twenty-Five Years    National Gallery of Canada
Works on Paper from the Permanent Collection of Inuit Art              Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec
The World Around Me   University of Lethbridge Art Gallery
A Collector's Feast          Snow Goose Associates
The Last and First Eskimos           Museum of Science and History
Ten Masterworks Exhibition Artists         Gallery of the Arctic
Inuit Art at Rideau Hall  Presented by Indian Affairs and Northern Development
Exhibition of Original Drawings by Kananginak Pootoogook, Cape Dorset, Northwest Territories         The Guild Shop
Aboriginal Rights in Canada        National Library of Canada
Chisel and Brush/Le ciseau et la brosse   Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
Kananginak: Dessins/Drawings   Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec
Contemporary Inuit Drawings     Macdonald Stewart Art Centre
Uumajut: Animal Imagery in Inuit Art      Winnipeg Art Gallery
Exhibition of Original Drawings by Three Inuit Artists from Cape Dorset: Kenojuak Ashevak, Kananginak Pootoogook and Eliyakota Samualie  Gallery Phillip
Drawings by Kananginak Pootoogook      Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec
Inuit Graphics from the Past       Arctic Artistry
Festival of Birds The Arctic Circle
Inoonoot Eskima: Grafik och Skulptur fran Cape Dorset och Povungnituk      Konstframjandet
Inuit Traditions in Graphics: 1961-1987  Arctic Artistry
Kananginak - Engravings              Robertson Galleries
Images of the Far North Studio Art Gallery, State University of New York
Lithographs Dorset '77   The Arctic Circle
Inuit Graphics Through the Year: Rare Prints from the Arctic    Arctic Artistry
The Spirit of the Land     The Koffler Gallery
Alaska Eskimo Dolls/Inuit Prints Provincial Museum of Alberta, sponsored by the Alaska State Council on the Arts
Work by Kananginak      Eskimo Graphics
Pudlo Prints       An exhibition organized in conjunction with Habitat: United Nations Conference on Human Settlements, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
Eskimo Carvings              Waddington
Cold Stones, Warm Hearts: Inuit Art from the Northwest Territories          University of Richmond
Cape Dorset Prints: 25 Years       Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec
Cape Dorset Printmaking 1959-1989       McMichael Canadian Collection
Birds: Sculpture from Cape Dorset & Rock Ptarmigan Limited Edition Print by Kananginak        The Guild Shop
Cape Dorset Graphics *85           (annual collection)
Cape Dorset Graphics *86           (annual collection)
Cape Dorset Graphics *87           (annual collection)
Cape Dorset Graphics *88           (annual collection)
Kananginak Pootoogook of Cape Dorset: Prints and Sculpture            Gallery Indigena
A New Day Dawning: Early Cape Dorset Prints     University of Michigan
Cape Dorset Engravings Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, circulated by the Art Gallery of Ontario
Inuit Graphic Art from Indian & Northern Affairs Canada              Winnipeg Art Gallery
Cape Dorset Graphics *89           (annual collection)
Inuit Drawings   Inuit Gallery of Vancouver
Arctic Mirror      Canadian Museum of Civilization
Inuit Art From the Glenbow Collection    Glenbow Museum
Inuit Graphics and Drawings from 1959-1990      Arctic Artistry
Art Inuit, l'Art des Esquimaux du Canada Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Maison Falleur, Cambrai
Small Sculptures from across the Canadian Arctic              Feheley Fine Arts
Mother and Child: Sculpture and Prints  Albers Gallery
Inuit Music in Art: Singing and Dancing and Playing              Feheley Fine Arts
1987 Eskimo Art             Franz Bader Gallery
Inuit Masterworks          Inuit Gallery of Vancouver
Art Inuit             Galerie Saint Merri
Cape Dorset Stone Sculpture: Masters & the Next Generation         Inuit Gallery of Vancouver
Cape Dorset Graphics *91           (annual collection)
Inuit Images in Transition            Augusta Savage Gallery, University of Massachusetts

Sojourns to Nunavut: Contemporary Inuit Art from Canada at Bunkamura Art Gallery, presented by the University of British Columbia Museum of Anthropology and The McMichael Canadian Art Collection
In Cape Dorset We Do It This Way: Three Decades of Inuit Printmaking       McMichael Canadian Art Collection
The Inuit Print and Sculpture 1960-1980 Westdale Gallery
Inuit Art: Drawings and Recent Sculpture             National Gallery of Canada
Art Inuit             Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Galerie Akenaton
Art Inuit: Autour de la Collection de Cape Dorset 1991              Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Le Colombier
Glaciopolis: Art Inuit       Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Maison de Pesey
Art Inuit             Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Chapelle de la Visitation
Art Inuit             Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Galerie Ombre et Lumiere
Art Inuit             Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Galerie La Tour des Cardinaux
Art Inuit             Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Thonon les Bains
Art Inuit             Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Le Theatre
Art Inuit             Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Palais de l'Europe
Salon International Europ'art '92             presented by Galerie Saint Merri
Die Kunst aus der Arktis Department of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Ottawa, presented by Commerzbank
Each Depends on the Other        Houston North Gallery
A Tribute to Cape Dorset Male Artists     Inukshuk Gallery
Cape Dorset Prints and Sculpture             McMaster Art Gallery
Inuit Sculpture: Displayed in Conjunction with the 1991 Cape Dorset Annual Graphics Collection Muscarelle Museum of Art
Oonark, Pudlo, Kananginak         Winnipeg Art Gallery
Small Sculptures by Great Artists I           Feheley Fine Arts
Arctic Ice: Sculptures in Marble by the Artists of Cape Dorset, Northwest Territories     Marion Scott Gallery
Cape Dorset Graphics *92           (annual collection)
Cape Dorset Graphics *93           (annual collection)
Umingmak-Muskox        Houston North
Share the Vision Philadelphians Collect Inuit Art Art Space Gallery
Small Sculptures by Great Artists II          Feheley Fine Arts
Sculpture and Graphics from Cape Dorset            Art Space Gallery
The Treasured Monument           Marion Scott Gallery
Drawings by Kananginak Pootoogook and Sculpture by Eunice Shytoo Muckpah Albers Gallery
Moving Around the Form: Inuit Sculpture and Prints              Agnes Etherington Art Centre Queen's University
Contemporary Inuit Drawings     Muscarelle Museum of Art College of William and Mary
Cape Dorset Graphics *94           (annual collection)
Borealis: Inuit Images of Man and Animals           Freeport Art Museum and Cultural Centre
Muskox-Umingmak        Houston North GallerySmall Sculptures by Great Artists III     Feheley Fine Arts
Kunst van de Inuit Eskimo's         Gemeentelijk Kunstcentrum Huis Hellemans
Arctic Spirit 35 Years of Canadian Inuit Art           Frye Art Museum
Selections from the John and Mary Robertson Collection of Inuit Art             Agnes Etherington Art Centre Queen's University
The Birds of Cape Dorset: A collection of sculpture by 32 Cape Dorset Carvers       Albers Gallery
Cape Dorset Engravings and Etchings from the Sixties              Arctic Artistry
Immaginario Inuit Arte e cultura degli esquimesi canadesi              Galleria d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea
Sunakutagnuvalautut: Things from the Past         Feheley Fine Arts
Cape Dorset Graphics *95           (annual collection)
Sedna: Spirit of the Sea  Feheley Fine Art
ART ESKIMO      Galerie de France
Cape Dorset Revisited    McMichael Canadian Art Collection
Eskimo Art         Embankment Gallery
Cape Dorset Revisited - a collection of previously unreleased prints, exhibited at selected commercial galleries, organized by   West Baffin Eskimo Co-op
Exhibition of Inuit Art     Harbourfront Centre organized by the Macdonald Stewart Art Centre, Guelph