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1261

Kenojuak Ashevak Bird Spirit Engraving

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Western Americana Start Price:10.00 USD Estimated At:400.00 - 600.00 USD
Kenojuak Ashevak Bird Spirit Engraving
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11 1/2" by 14 5/8" framed. Kenojuak Ashevak (1927 - 2013) was active/lived in Nunavut, Ontario / Canada. Kenojuak Ashevak is known for Colored pencil drawing, stone carving, stain glass. Kenojuak Ashevak (AKA: Kenojuak) is a graphic artist, printmaker and sculptor who was born in Ikerrasak camp on southern Baffin Island in Nunavut, Canada. In 1966 she moved about 100 miles to the west to the town of Cape Dorset (AKA: Kinngait), where she still lives. Her primary medium is coloured pencil, and stone carved prints. She has also done soapstone carvings and stained glass. Even though she is one of Canada's best known a printmakers, she does not make the prints herself, instead, they are prepared by stone cutters and printers from her drawings. She has never been involved in the actual printing. Her subjects are birds, animals, Inuit life, landscape and fantasy. However, according to her, the real subject is an exploration of design, colour and texture; the things that inhabit her drawings are only vehicles for that expression. The style is sophisticated Inuit folk art. Her work is identified by vivid imagination, composition, pattern, bold shapes, bright colours and extravagant plumage, even on the dogs. She is an untrained artist. Her late husband, Johnniebo (1923-1972), was also a famous artist who collaborated with her on many projects. Most well known is the 95 foot mural for the 1970 Osaka Worlds Fair. In 1974 she was elected to the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts*. In 1982 she was awarded the rank of Companion of the Order of Canada* (C.C.), the very highest Canadian honour for a lifetime of achievement, for her contribution to Inuit culture. In 1991 she was awarded an honorary Doctorate by Queens University (Kingston, Ontario). In 1992 she was awarded an honorary Doctorate by the University of Toronto. In 2008 she was awarded The Governor General's Award*, the country's highest honour for Visual Arts. Her work was also featured on Canadian postage stamps in 1970, 1980 and 1983; and on the 25 cent coin in 1999. Her work has been exhibited in over 165 solo and group shows in commercial and public galleries since 1959. Some of the public venues are the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa (1965, 67, 86, and 2002); the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg, Ontario (1983, 86, 91, 94); the Winnipeg Art Gallery, Manitoba (1985, 87, 93, 95); the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (1974); the Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hull, Quebec (1988, 94); the Glenbow Museum, Calgary (1986); the Art Gallery of Ontario (1983, 84, 85, 89); and the Institute of American Indian Arts Museum, Santa Fe (1975). There have also been exhibitions in Paris (1963, 83); Tokyo (1991); Brussels (1974,94); Williamsburg, Virginia (1993); Anchorage, Alaska (1992) and Jerusalem (1978). Ashevak's works are in many private, corporate and public collections. Some of the public collections are the National Gallery of Canada (Ottawa); the Art Gallery of Ontario (Toronto); the Royal Ontario Museum (Toronto); the Canadian Museum of Civilization (Hull, Quebec); the Winnipeg Art Gallery (Manitoba); the McMichael Canadian Art Collection (Kleinburg, Ontario); Tate ( London, England); the Edmonton Art Gallery (Alberta); the Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Queen's University (Kingston,Ontario); the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts; the Vancouver Art Gallery (B.C.); the Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia (Vancouver, BC); the Glenbow Museum (Calgary); the Anchorage Museum of History and Art (Alaska); the Art Gallery of Hamilton (Ontario); the Mendel Art Gallery (Saskatoon); the Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery (Ontario); the Amon Carter Museum of Western Art (Fort Worth, Texas); the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria (B.C.); the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, (Halifax); the Art Gallery of Windsor (Ontario); the Victoria and Albert Museum (London, England) and dozens more. Her stained glass work can be seen in a window for the John Bell Chapel at Appleby College, Oakville, Ontario. She is listed in A Dictionary of Canadian Artists (1974), by Colin S. MacDonald; in The Collector's Dictionary of Canadian Artists at Auction (2001), by Anthony R. Westbridge and Diana L. Bodnar; in The Canadian Encyclopedia (1985), Hurtig Publishers; in Canadian Who's Who (1996), edited by Elizabeth Lumley; and in Jacques Cattell Press, Who's Who in American Art 15th Edition (1982). Her work is also illustrated and discussed in Landmarks of Canadian Art (1978), by Peter Mellen; in The McMichael Canadian Collection (1976), by Paul Duval and Dorothy Harley Eber; in The History of Canadian Painting (1974), by Barry Lord; in Enjoying Canadian Painting (1976), by Patricia Godsell; in By A Lady (1992), by Maria Tippett; in Arts of the Eskimo: Prints (1975), edited by Ernst Roch; in Canadian Art - From its Beginnings to 2000 (2000), by Anne Newlands; in Canadian Native Art (1973), by Nancy - Lou Patterson; and in Women of the North (1992), by Judy Scott Kardosh. There is also the 1963 Academy Award nominated movie by John Feeny about her titled Eskimo Artist: Kenojuak; and the book Kenojuak: the life story of an Inuit artist (1999), by Ansgar Walk.
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