INUK SCULPTOR PRINTMAKER KANANGINAK POOTOOGOOK DIED
Born on January 1, 1935 in Ikirasak, on Baffin Island, he moved to Cape Dorset in 1957 to help care for his father. Pootoogook’s drawings were first noticed by a local printmaker. His resulting prints helped kick off Cape Dorset art. In the 1970s, Kananginak became a full-time artist showing his carvings, drawings, and prints in museums and galleries. As founding member of the Inuit-organized West Baffin Co-op and its first president (1959-64), he helped develop the graphic arts & stonecutting centre into a successful business. In 1977, the World Wildlife Commission included 4 of his works in its art portfolio. In 1997, the governor-general commissioned a 6-foot tall inukshuk (piled-stone structure) that now sits in Ottawa at Rideau Hall. His work has appeared at: The 2010 Winter Olympics, Vancouver; Marion Scott Gallery (solo exhibit); and Museum of Inuit Art, Toronto (solo exhibit). Awards: National Aboriginal Achievement Award for the Arts & Member, Royal Canadian Academy of Art. He died in Ottawa.
Source: Sandra Martin, "The guiding voice of Cape Dorset artists chronicled the Inuit past," The Globe and Mail, 12/4/2010. Retrieved 8/15/2020, https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/kananginak-pootoogook-the-guiding-voice-of-cape-dorset-artists-chronicled-the-inuit-past/article555026/ Stonecut & Stencil: Kananginak Pootoogook (1931-2010), 2010. “Evening Shadow.” Reproduced with the permission of Dorset Fine Arts.
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