Sandra Dyck
Shuvinai Ashoona’s distinctive drawings have garnered her increasing attention since her emergence in the mid-1990s. This first monograph surveys the extraordinary range of her styles, subjects, and approaches from her early monochromatic landscapes, to her vividly-coloured interpretations of everyday life in Cape Dorset, to her fantastical scenes that partake of the whimsical and the grotesque. Ashoona’s work is marked by an apparently effortless movement between the past and present, actual and imagined, and interior and external worlds. She evinces the same delight in obsessive and subtle mark making with black ink as she does in comparatively minimal line drawing with pencil crayon. Her drawings compel our attention in part because they are born of a singular and poignant vision that was forged in, but transcends, a specific place – Cape Dorset. Shuvinai Ashoona (b. 1961, Cape Dorset, Baffin Island) is the daughter of the well-known sculptor Kiugak Ashoona and granddaughter of the late Pitseolak Ashoona, the great graphic artist. Her own career started in the mid-1990s when she began making drawings for the West Baffin Eskimo Cooperative. In 2010 her work was featured in the National Gallery of Canada’s biennial exhibition It Is What It Is.Carleton University Art Gallery (02/2012) 96 pp 30 col. ill. 10 x 10 in softcover 978–0–7709 –0548–4 $25.00 Can. $28.00 U.S. (20 €)
Annie Pootoogook: Kinngait Compositions
Jan Allen
With drawings spanning 2001 to 2006, this publication focuses on Kinngait (Cape Dorset), Nunavut, the Arctic community that has been the focus of Annie Pootoogook's practice. While her drawings offer an unflinching look at life in a community in transition, they also bears witness to the bonds among its people. In the context of the broad popular appeal of Inuit graphics, these works are distinguished by a disconcerting emotional reserve. The artist achieves a cool observational quality that pushes at the edges of comedy or hysteria, a condition of charged understatement that has drawn intense critical interest to her work. Annie Pootoogook is the granddaughter of the renowned graphic artist Pitseolak Ashoona and daughter of artist Napachie Pootoogook. Annie Pootoogook received the prestigious Sobey Art Award in 2006. Her drawings have been exhibited at the Power Plant (Toronto) and the Museum of theAmerican Indian (New York).
The Arctic Lithograph
Jennifer Cartwright & Jessica Tomic-Bagshaw
Cartwight provides a brief history of the introduction of graphic art into Canada's Arctic and Tomic-Bagshaw interviews master printmaker, Pitseolak Niviaqsi.
Carleton University Art Gallery (1998) 23 pp 8 ill 9 x 6 in 0-7709-0448-3
Art and Expression of the Netsilik
Darlene Coward Wight
The Netsilik Inuit artists of the central Arctic use their legends
and history to create awe-inspiring sculpture. The product of 20
years of involvement with the people and their art , this
publication provides the history of the people, the arts and
crafts development as well as biographies of the artists.The Winnipeg Art Gallery (2000) 192 pp ill. 12 x 9 in softcover 0-889151-95-4 $40.00 Can./U.S.
Kiugak Ashoona: Stories & Imaginings from Cape Dorset
Darlene Coward Wight & Marie Routledge
Kiugak Ashoona has the longest artistic career of any living Cape Dorset artist and is one of the most recognized Inuit artists in the world today. Born in 1933 and son renowned Inuit artist Pitseolak Ashoona, Kiugak Ashoona began his own prodigious artistic career as a child while living at a camp on the land. In the beginning his subjects and style were realistic but, after marriage into a powerful Shaman’s family, this soon changed. Since the late 1950s, Ashoona’s sculptures and drawings have been infused with an awareness of Inuit mythology and shamanism. Today his work is celebrated for its dramatic power and formal beauty. This first retrospective monograph contains a study of Kiugak Ashoona’s original drawings as well as interviews conducted with the artist and is extensively illustrated.The Winnipeg Art Gallery (08/2010) 128 pp 50 col. ill. 9.5 x 9.5 in softcover 978-0-88915-006-5 $30.00 Can. $35.00 U.S.
Baker Lake Prints and Print-Drawings 1970-1976
Sheila Butler & Bernadette Driscoll
The Winnipeg Art Gallery (1982) 91 pp 117 ill. (14 col.) 20 x 25.5 cm softcover 0-88915-111-3 $12.95 Can./U.S.
Early Masters: Inuit Sculpture 1949-1955
Darlene Coward Wight
The period 1949 to 1955 represents an early phase of what has come
to be known as "Inuit art". Buying for southern markets on an
ongoing basis began in Inukjuak in 1949, extended to Puvirnituq in
1950, and Cape Dorset in 1951. Purchase of carvings gradually
spread to other communities, but the initial three remained
prevalent until 1955. Carvers in this early period did not usually
sign their pieces and the "Igloo tag" had not yet been developed.
This publication is the culmination of a singular journey that is
both theoretical and physical. Commited to finally attributing
authorship to these early works, Darlene Coward Wight developed a
unique data base and traveled to these isolated communities to
interview the few original artists who are still alive, as well as
family members of those who are not. An invaluable resource for
collectors and researchers alike, this generously illustrated book
features never before published biographical information about the
"early masters" and demonstrates unique stylistic characteristics
of their work to aid in future identifications.The Winnipeg Art Gallery (11/2006) 200 pp 200 ill. (180 col.) 11 x 9 in softcover 0-88915-234-9 $45.00 Can./U.S.
The Epic of Qayaq: The Longest Story Ever Told By My PeopleLela Kiana Oman
This publication is a splendid presentation of an ancient northern story cycle, brought to life by Lela Kiana Oman, who has been retelling and writing the legends of the Inupiat of the Kobuk Valley, Alaska, nearly all her adult life. Illustrated with works from the Priscilla Tyler and Maree Brooks Collection of Inuit Art.
Carleton University Art Gallery (1995) 122 pp ill 8 x 9 in softcover 978-0-295975-31-3 Old price
The First Passionate Collector: The Ian Lindsay Collection of Inuit Art
Sheila Butler & Darlene Coward Wright
The Ian Lindsay Collection is one of the finest Inuit art collections ever assembled, comprised of over 400 sculptures. In English and French.
The Winnipeg Art Gallery (1991) 175 pp 155 ill. 28 x 21 cm softcover 0-889151-59-8 $30.95 Can./U.S.From Iceberg to Iced Tea
Victoria Henry and Shelley Niro et al
The co-curators record through their correspondence their experience organizing an exhibition of thirteen First Nations and Inuit photographers and filmmakers.
Carleton University Art Gallery (1994) 52 pp ill 9 x 7 in softcover 0-7709-0362-2
Holman: Forty Years of Graphic Art
Darlene Coward Wright
This fully-illustrated publication traces the artistic development of the Holman artists, particularly their prints and drawings from sealskin stencils and stonecuts in the 1960s and, in recent years, lithography. In English and French.
The Winnipeg Art Gallery (2001) 96 pp 12x9 in softcover 0-88915-206-3 $25.00 Can./U.S.
In The Shadow of the Midnight Sun
Jean Blodgett & Irene Snarby
This publication offers the first in-depth comparative analysis of
contemporary artforms of two distinct cultures: the Inuit people
of the Canadian North and the Sami people of northern Scandinavia.
While both peoples are indigenous, they are far apart
geographically and historically. Like the Inuit people, the Sami
function as a single culture across national boundaries. Unlike
the Inuit people, the Sami have long had regular contact with
European civilization. But both have long histories of making
specially crafted objects for functional and religious use and, in
their contemporary artistic manifestations, both show varying
degrees of connection with earlier times as well as clear
indications of change. Two of the world's foremost experts on
indigenous art break through cultural stereotypes to reveal two
Northern peoples who create contemporary art of international
quality. Jean Blodgett is one of Canada's most respected Inuit art
curators. Irene Snarby is curator at Sami Museum, Karasjok,
Art Gallery of Hamilton (03/2007) 66 pp 70 ill. (35 col.) 9 x 9 in softcover 978- 0-919153-86-8 $40.00 Can./U.S.
The Inuit Amautik: I Like My Hood to be Full
Discusses the amautik, the traditional parka of the Inuit woman and its place in Inuit history, culture, art and society.
The Winnipeg Art Gallery (1980) 128 pp 114 ill. (4 col.) 12 x 9 in softcover 0-889150-85-0 $12.50 Can./U.S.
Inuit Dolls of the Kivalliq
Darrin Martens
The women of the Kivalliq region of Nunavut have created dolls for
centuries, each with their own technique and purpose. Since the
creation of Nunavut, a resurgence in traditional arts and crafts
has emerged. Dolls are no exception. They are utilized to relate
oral stories and legends and to provide opportunities for
intergenerational teaching of traditional sewing and beading. This
book illustrates each of the doll-makers, their dolls and explores
how they pursue a unique cultural identity within a changing
world. Please note new publication date.Burnaby Art Gallery (April 2009) 86 pp 67 col. ill. 8 x 9 in softcover 978-0-9783892-6 -0 $21.95 Can. $23.95 U.S.
Inuit Myths, Legends and Songs
Bernadette Driscoll
The Winnipeg Art Gallery (1982) 80 pp 82 ill. (7 col.) 30.5 x 23 cm softcover 0-889151-04-0 $12.95 Can./U.S.
Inuit Sculpture Now
Christine Lalonde
This publication focuses on sculpture from past decade and
considers some of the subtle changes that have come to play in the
artists' approaches to their subjects and their media.
National Gallery of Canada (2005) 36 pp 21 col. ill. 11 x 7 in
softcover (No ISBN) $8.00 Can./U.S.
It Is What It Is: Recent Acquisitions of New Canadian Art
Josée Drouin-Brisebois, Greg A. Hill & Andrea Kunard
Contributors: Heather Anderson, Kari Cwynar, Gerry Gauthier, Linda Grussani, Martha Hanna,
Candice Hopkins, Christine Lalonde, Steven Loft, Jonathan Shaughnessy, Rhiannon Vogl
Featuring the most innovative Canadian artists working today, this visually stunning publication is an essential reference for students, teachers and collectors of new art. Attesting to the National Gallery’s commitment to collecting contemporary Canadian art, three essays and over fifty individual presentations provide a thorough overview of emerging, mid-career and senior artists from all regions, traditions and practices. In his essay Greg Hill asserts that Indigenous art in Canada has deep roots and that artists of First Nations, Metis and Inuit descent are heirs to an ancient history. He traces the ongoing emergence of Indigenous art into the forums of the contemporary art milieu in Canada and internationally. Among the many artists featured are Shuvani Ashoona and Tim Pitsiulak.National Gallery of Canada (11/2010) 164 pp 150 col. ill. 11.5 x 8.75 in softcover 978-0-88884-881-9 $40.00 Can. $45.00 U.S.
Jessie Oonark: A Retrospective
Jean Blodgett & Marie Bouchard
Documents the life and art of an extraordinarily productive artist
working within and beyond tradition. With chronology and bibliography. In English and Inuktitut.
The Winnipeg Art Gallery (1986) 148 pp 113 ill. (21 col.) 30 x 23 cm
softcover 0-889151-32-6 $28.95 Can./U.S.
Making Art Work in Cape Dorset
Shannon Bagg
A look at the influence marketing and the spectacular commercial
success has had on the style and character of Inuit art.
Carleton University Art Gallery (1997) 44 pp 23 ill 9 x 6 in
0-7709-0428-9 $15.00 $4.50 Can./U.S.
Patiently I Sing: Selections from the Tyler/Brooks Collection
of Inuit Art
Marion E. Jackson (ed)
This publication documents an exhibition of Inuit prints by women
artists selected from the collection of Priscilla Tyler and Maree
Brooks.
Carleton University Art Gallery (1994) 62 pp ill 7 x 4 in
softcover 0-7709-0366-5 $5.00 $2.00 Can./U.S.
Napachie Pootoogook
Darlene Coward Wight & Leslie Boyd Ryan
Cape Dorset artist Napachie Pootoogook created over 5,000 drawings
from the late 1950s until her death in 2002. In the last years of
her life, Pootoogook worked on an autobiographical series of
drawings that record life as it was in the 1930s to the 1950s.
Many of her images are concerned with the particular experiences
of women and depict societal taboos such as arranged marriage and
spousal abuse. But there were happy times as well, remembered with
nostalgia, as women and children entertained themselves in the
camp while the men were away hunting. This publication provides a
unique opportunity to gain insights into the life of an Inuit
woman who experienced the dramatic social, economic and religious
upheavals that occurred in the Canadian Arctic in the 1950s. A
tour of the show is planned for 2005-2006. In English and
French.
The Winnipeg Art Gallery (2004) 86 pp 69 col. ill. 12 x 9 in
softcover 0-88915-228-4 $21.95 Can./U.S.
Andrew Qappik: Pangnirtung Memories
Darlene Coward Wight
Andrew Qappik was only 14 when his prints were first published in Nunuvut’s Pangnirtung annual collection in 1978. Since then his works have been included in every Pangnirtung print collection, and he is well-known for his design of the Nunavut flag and the territory’s coat-of-arms. Qappik's prints depict both animals and traditional Inuit culture and reveal a fondness for realistic scenes of Arctic life. This publication documents the artist’s first solo exhibition and features a selection of limited-edition prints spanning his graphic career.The Winnipeg Art Gallery (5/2010) 48 pp 33 col. ill. 9 x 8 in softcover 978-0-88915-005-8 $12.95 Can. $16.95 U.S.
Qiviuq: A Legend in Art
Jennifer Gibson
The essay presents a sequence of the Qiviuq stories of the
Canadian north as a complement to the works in the exhibition of
Inuit prints and sculpture from several Arctic communities.
Carleton University Art Gallery (1996) 58 pp 10 ill 9 x 6 in
0-770903-95-9 $15.00 $4.50 Can./U.S.
Rankin Inlet Ceramics
Darlene Coward Wight & Jim Shirley
The town of Rankin Inlet, located on the coast of Hudson's Bay,
was created in the 1950s as a nickel mining community populated by
an indigenous, and previously nomadic, people. Twenty years later
the mine's closing had resulted in significant social strife,
including the death of a once thriving artistic community.
Shirley's Matchbox Gallery, established in the 1990s, enabled
veteran ceramicists to work again and to teach younger graphic
artists and sculptors the medium of clay. This publication
features recent ceramic works produced by a new generation of
artists and allows comparison of newer techniques with pieces from
the earlier period. Shirley writes eloquently about the importance
and the fragility of the venture. The Winnipeg Art Gallery (2003) 9 x 6 in 25 ill (18 col.) 64 pp softcover 0-889152-24-1 $14.95 Can./U.S.
Sanattiaqsimajut: Inuit Art from the Carleton University Art Gallery Collection
Sandra Dyck, Ingo Hessel et al
Ottawa’s Carleton University Art Gallery holds one of the richest Inuit art collections in the country. This profusely illustrated hardcover publication features over 100 works - each one reproduced in fill colour - ranging from sculpture to drawings and prints, all of which are “Sanattiaqsimajut”, or “things that are finely made”. Two major essays discussing the history of the collection and its many narrative threads are accompanied by thirty-three individual texts that take distinctive thematic, biographical and formal approaches. These essays are written by experts in the field including Patricia Feheley, Robert Kardosh, Christine Lalonde, Marybelle Mitchell, Judith Nasby, Crystal Parsons, Leslie Boyd Ryan, Pitaloosie Saila, Norman Vorano, Darlene Coward Wight and Norman Zepp. Sandra Dyck is curator at the Gallery and author of numerous studies on the collection. Ingo Hessel is curator at Toronto’s Museum of Inuit Art and author of Inuit Art: An Introduction.Carleton University Art Gallery (11/2009) 232 pp 125 col. ill. 11 x 9 in hardcover 978-0-7709-0533-0 $60.00 Can. $68.00 U.S.
The Faye and Bert Settler Collection
Darlene Wight, Robert Enright & Jean Blodgett
The Settlers were art dealers for over 50 years and their shop,
The Upstairs Gallery, is a Canadian landmark. Until her recent
death, Faye Settler featured regular exhibitions of art by Inuit
and Manitoba artists. Her first trip to Baker Lake was made in
1973 and she soon established herself as a specialist in Baker
Lake art, introducing many collectors to the distinctive prints,
sculptures and wall hangings from that Kivalliq community. From
the 1960s until the early 1980s, Settler acquired Inuit sculptures
including many by the daughters of renowned Baker Lake artist
Jessie Oonark. As the essays attest, this once private collection
- like that of Jerry Twomey - reflects a diversity of aesthetic
interests and years of experience.
The Winnipeg Art Gallery (2004) 160 pp 100 col. ill. 9 x 6 in
hardcover 0-88915-229-2 $24.95 Can./U.S.
The Jerry Twomey Collection at the Winnipeg Art Gallery: Inuit Sculpture from the Canadian Arctic
Darlene Coward Wight
Scientist/geneticist Jerry Twomey was one of the very early collectors of Inuit art. He was also the first to research individual artists, exhaustively classifying his collection by artist, community and family group. Beginning in the early 1950s and over the next 30 years, he had gathered nearly 4,000 sculptures by artists from every art-producing community, including Nunavik (Arctic Quebec), Qikiqtaalik (Baffin) and Kivalliq (Keewatin). Reflecting Twomey's own research and organized by region, community and artist, the publication also contains a biographical essay revealing the fascinating story of a man who, having purchased his first three Inuit carvings for $8.00 in 1952 from the Hudson's Bay Company, went on to create the world's largest private collection. This definitive overview of Inuit carving activity across the Canadian Arctic, when Inuit sculpture was first exposed to the world, is an important resource for anyone wishing to learn more about the art and artists of the early contemporary period of Inuit art.
The Winnipeg Art Gallery (2003) 128 pp 150 col. ill. 12x9 in softcover 0-88915-223-3 $29.95 Can./U.S.
Uuturautiit: Cape Dorset Celebrates 50 Years of Printmaking
Christine Lalonde with Leslie Boyd Ryan, Doug Steiner, Kananginak Pootoogook & Ningeokuluk Teevee
Published to celebrate 50 years of printmaking in Cape Dorset, this publication pays tribute to the Inuit community’s continued dynamism by pairing new and innovative work from Kinngait Studios with the original 1959 collection, shown for the first time in five decades. Essays describing, first-hand, the hard work and resolve that went into making the first prints are paired with essays providing an inside view of the studios today and the challenges they continue to face. Magnificently illustrated with work by elder, established and emerging artists, notably, Josephie Pootoogook, Tudlik Akesuk and Lukta Qiatsuq and Annie Pootoogook, Shuvinai Ashoona and Jutai Toonoo.In English and French. National Gallery of Canada (10/2009) 80 pp 100 col. ill. 10 x 7.5 in softcover 978-0-88884-872-7 $22.95 Can./U.S.
Winnipeg Art Gallery: Guide To The Collections
Edited by Stephen D. Borys
Contributors: Stephen D. Borys, Helen Delacretaz, Andrew Kear, Mary Reid, Darlene Wight, Rachel Baerg & Roslyn Stanwick
Established in 1912, the Winnipeg Art Gallery has built an international reputation for its rich collections. Its collection of over 24,000 works of art includes outstanding holdings in historical, modern, and contemporary Canadian art; European art highlighted by the Gort Collection of Northern Renaissance paintings; modern and contemporary photographs; and a large decorative arts and studio collection. Of singular note is the collection of Inuit art, the largest of its kind in the world. This new Guide to the Collections presents over 400 works from the permanent collection, with each object illustrated in colour and accompanied by an extended text. Represented here are works spanning ten centuries and featuring a range of media selected from the Gallery’s holdings in European and Canadian art, works on paper, photography, decorative arts, contemporary studio, and Inuit art. Included in the Guide is an illustrated essay on the history of the Gallery, and a bibliography of selected Gallery publications.The Winnipeg Art Gallery (2010) Softcover 265 pp 400 col. ill. 978-0-88915-004-1 $28.00 Can. $35.00 U.S. (24 euros)
Hardcover 265 pp 400 col. ill. 978-0-88915-003-4 $38.00 Can. $50.00 U.S. (32 euros)
The Harry Winrob Collection of Inuit Sculpture
Darlene Coward Wight and Zebedee Nungak
As a doctor, Harry Winrob was fascinated by bone sculpture and
collected works in whalebone, bone, and antler. The Winrob
Collection, donated to the Gallery as a legacy, contains the most
significant assemblage of sculpture created from these materials,
which due to declining availability, makes such sculptures quite
rare. The collection is also notable for its wealth of innovative
sculpture from the Nunavik communities of Puvirnituq, Inukjuak,
and Kangiqsualujjuaq. Among the artists are Nick Sikkuark and
Karoo Ashevat. Magnificently illustrated with full page colour
plates.
The Winnipeg Art Gallery (03/2008) 150 pp 145 ill. 11 x 9 in hardcover 978-0-88915-240-3 $39.50 Can./U.S.