Inuit Art Flashcards
1
Q
James Houston
A
- IN 1948, James Houston who would become a prominent artist, writer and Inuit art specialist travelled to a small Inuit community in Northern Quebec to paint Arctic landscapes
- he quickly realized that the Inuit handicrafts that he saw at Port Harrison (now Inukjuak) could be turned into goods that could be marketed in the south
- he bought many of these art works and exhibited them in Montreal in 1949
2
Q
Inuit Art
A
- at this time, the Inuit way of life was changing
- the Canadian government was interested in encouraging a money economy in the North
- Houston persuade the Department of Indian Affairs to finance the set up of cooperative art-making projects in Inuit communities in the north
- the Inuit had been trading with the southerners for a long time – especially in furs and meats – and craft items such as small ivory pieces
3
Q
Inuit art continued
A
- it was not until the 1950s when the Inuit switched from being nomadic to settled communities that the production of Inuit sculptures and drawings as commodities began in earnest
- at the Vancouver Olympics in 2010 – the logo was the INUKSHUK – a human figure made out of stones
- this was traditionally used in the barren lands of the Arctic to frighten caribou into an ambush and to mark the landscape for travelers
- the inukshuk has entered the popular imagination in Canada and is now created wherever and whenever a pile of stones is available
4
Q
A
INUKSHUK SCULPTURE BY DAVID RUBEN PIQTOUKUN, LOBBY OF THE CANADIAN EMBASSY, WASHINGTON, D.C.
5
Q
A
JESSIE OONARK, ULU-WOMAN WITH BIRDS, 1979,
6
Q
Inuit art continued
A
- KENOJUAK ASHEVAK, JESSE OONARK, KAROO ASHEVAK AND KIUGAK ASHOONA receive international praise for their distinctive artistic visions of the North
- they took an aesthetic form that was almost purely personal and cast it into the private sphere
- in doing so they changed our view of an art that was once considered primitive
7
Q
A
KENOJUAK ASHEVAK, THE ARRIVAL OF THE SUN, 1962,
8
Q
Inuit Art 20th century
A
- in the 20th century – the Inuit experienced Modernity through the radical change from living on the land to living in communities
- modernity suggests a process of social and cultural change and a discontinuity with the past
- by the 1950s as a result of the promotion of Inuit art in the south by Houston, carvings began to be promoted as sculptural art in the south
9
Q
Inuit art
A
- in 1952 – the National Gallery of Canada put on an exhibition of Inuit Sculpture
- modernist programs in the North started in the early 1950s and had far-reaching consequences for Inuit
- in some instances – rapid relocation by the Federal government
- -Inuit sculpture was promoted by the federal government as distinctly Canadian and Expo67 and at international exhibitions
10
Q
ANNIE POOTOOGOOK (b.1969)
A
- born in Cape Dorset
- started drawing in 1997 recording events of her daily life
- shopping, hanging up a coat and watching television – scenes of spousal abuse
- she was influenced by T.V., comics, and video games
- her grandmother, her mother were prolific graphic artists, her father was a sculptor
- modernist architecture and planning – a colonial impact – standardized housing appears her works
11
Q
A
ANNIE POOTOOGOOK (B.1969), MAN ON THE RADIO, 2006, COLOURED PENCIL AND BLACK FELT PEN ON WOVE PAPER
12
Q
PUDLO PUDIAT (b. 1916)
A
- Born in South Baffin Island
- moved to Cape Dorset in the 1950s
- his prints first appeared in 1961 and continued until his death in 1993
- his imagery includes things that caught his attention – buildings, cars, technology
13
Q
A
PUDLO PUDIAT DRAWING FOR PRINT “MODERN SETTLEMENT – TRADITIONAL CAMP”, 1978-7
14
Q
Inuit Themes
A
- traditional themes in Inuit art recall a more than human world – where spirit forces abound
- human themes - mother children family and solitary figures
- shaministic and spirit themes
- Puvirnituq themes include hunting and camp imagery, animal portriats and mythological subjects.
- legends and human-animal transformation
15
Q
Major media
A
- Stone
- Ivory, the primary carving medium for centuries remained a valuable commodity but as demand for carvings increased artists were encouraged to experiment with more plentiful and less expensive local stones.
- 1955 - stone sculpture had overtaken ivory carving as the dominant art form with ivory as secondary accent material.
- whale bone became popular medium in certain locations (Karoo Ashevak)
16
Q
KAROO ASHEVAK
A
- explores the private world of dreams
- but Inuit shamanism is prominent in his mixed media sculptures
- has a playful experimental approach – carvings of spirits, shamans, Arctic wildlife and humans
17
Q
A
KAROO ASHEVAK (FANTASY) FIGURE WITH BIRDS, 1972, WHALEBONE,
19
Q
A
NICK SIKKUARK (1943-2013), SHAMAN, C. 1989
20
Q
A
NICK SIKKUARK, UNTITLED (SPIRIT WOLF AND SHAMANS), 2005,
22
Q
A
JOHN TIKTAK, MOTHER AND CHILD, C. 1962
- Titkat’s work has a rugged simplicity of form and a somber mood
- his faces and figures ranged from the elegant to the expressive
23
Q
A
JOHNNY INUKPUK,
MOTHER WITH CHILD PLAYING STRING GAMES, C.1955,
26
Q
A
DAVID RUBEN PIQTOUKUN, TALKING FISH, 2000
27
Q
A
DAVID RUBEN PIQTOUKUN (B.1950),
PASSAGE OF TIME, MIXED MEDIA,
- portrays a shaman in the form of a salmon moving through a hole in a hand
- the hand is of sheet metal – not a traditional material such as ivory, antler or soapstone
30
Q
A
THOR 900 A.D., 2012
- sold for 90 000
- Thor was the principal god of the Viking Norse colonists in Iceland
- Norse design motifs enhance the sculpture
33
Q
A
MANASIE AKPALIAPIK (B.1955), LAMENT FOR THE ARCTIC OCEAN,
35
Q
A
VICTORIA MAMNGUQSUALUK, QIVIUQ’S BIRD WIFE, 1993
Quiviuq (also spelled KIviuq) is an legendary Inuit hero
37
Q
A
ANDREW QAPPIK FAVOURITE PLACE TO BE, 2003
