VISA 2006

Fur trapping in northern Canada and the modification of the northern provinces. Gradually European diseases came to the far north and desolated the population. Around the time of World War Two the Canadian government forced the Native American cultures to give up their children and extrapolating them, forcing them to live primarily on the land. Two different types of trapping developed between independent and commercial. Different types of hunting styles, one exploitative and one for means to survival. 

Around 1945 the Canadian artist and theoretician James Houston became prevalent, with the help of government practices, his work resources Inuit society in order to gain self sufficiency and independence aside from subsidized government funding. Producing sculpture below the Arctic Circle, the Inuit quickly developed an international market for their art. Many focused on themes and subject in relation to immediate cultural prevalence. 

Johnny Inukpuk, Incucdjouac Quebec, b.1911 

Quickly became a leading Inuit sculpture in the 1950’s after James Houston’s first visit to the Hudson Bay. Carved a number of works resourcing the materials made available to him via natural resource and through the land. Sculptures made of tusk, ivory or bone were popular souvenirs to local tourists and were outsourced as cultural icons, distributed through Southern Canada. 

Johnny Inukpuk “ Mother & Child Playing String Games” 1955, Amulet 

Initially carved of stone, ivory or bone, amulets expressed the animistic universe, eventually converted many Inuit to continually make work in the Christian tradition. A number of Inuit artists continued to make shamanistic sculptures. The noted sculpture ( Mother & Child Playing String Game) was too large to be carried. The sculpture depicts the mother carrying her child in a traditional Inuit baby carrying trapeze. 

Johnny Inukpuk “  True Story of Johnny Being Attacked by Three Bears While in His Igloo” 1974

This is a drawing depicting a hunting story, where upon during a hunting trip he was encountered by three polar bears, he initially fought off the polar bears with his weapon and after made the drawing to depict the story. He was protecting his wife who was trapped in the igloo while he was outside post-hunting trip where he was attacked by, the bears. How many bears? Three. Three Bears. 

Osuitok Ipeelee ( 1922 - 2005 ) 

From a family of carvers, born at Neeouleeutakik camp in Nunavut in 1922. He came from a family of carvers long known for skill and delicacy of their fine art. Printmaking at the time was borrowed from Japanese tradition, the Inuit were incredibly good at modifying the rendering on paper and the development had derived from the unique traditions passed on through globalization.

Osuitok Ipeelee “ Own with Fish in Beak “  1965

A mermaid captured depicted in ivory,  the figurine was carved through immense experience and expertise as Ipeelee had began carving at the young age of 15. He was one of the earliest and youngest sculptures to be working for the purpose of trade exportation. The sculpture was known for its very delicate detail, the details in the eyes of the fish and the owl. The sculpture realistically depicts an owl catching a fish, hence its mermaid like qualities. 

Osuitok Ipeelee “Woman Fishing “ late 1960’s 

The hand of the woman holding a traditional hunting device endured in the process of capturing a fish. Seems to be smiling, holding the baton on which she has captured the fish. The kind of reality re-exemplified the nature of the materials which are scarce and therefore the reality of life up north and the scarcity of resource.. 

Osuitok Ipeelee : Musk Ox 1975 

The delicate incising done in the sculpture, by looking at the sculpture noting the delicate engravings in the sculpture defines the expertise in the artists learned experience. The work is not institutionalized and therefore stands apart from the rhetoric of commercialized European trend that had developed through abstraction and contemporary works through the mainstream. 

Osuitok Ipeelee “ Owl With Wings Raised” 1999

The bird, an owl in a state of balance which depicts the expertise in sculpture. The artist was able to develop this entity by holding things in his hands as he sculpted, in order to determine a stronger sense of balance and unity.

Osuitok Ipeelee : Reclining Caribou 2000 

A reclining caribou with antlers in a ivory extension. The caribou looks to the sky in a kneeled position, the work is carved of dark marble or stone and instigates an pacifistic and vulnerable nature. 

Napachie Pootoogook 1938-2002

Mother of six, Pootoogook was born at the island of Saaru in 1938, she was the only daughter of Pitseolak and Ashoona Pootoogook. Her work explores local history, customs and folklore. She began working on a series of autobiographical drawings in the late 1960’s. 

I have noticed a change in my style of drawing. Back in the early days I used to draw what I had heard from my mother, the things she used to talk about from long ago. I didn’t ask my mother’s opinion of what I was going to draw, but when I heard stories from my mother, I drew them the way I pictured them. I drew what I had heard about. Nowadays, Jimmy [Manning ] asked me to start drawing what I had seen, what I had started seeing nowadays. So that’s how I started drawing things like the one with the new
accordion. It’s what I’ve seen. It’s not what I’ve heard about.”

- Napachie Pootookgook, as quoted by Jean Blodgett, In Cape Dorset We Do
It This Way: Three Decades of Inuit Printmaking, 121. 

Napachie Pootoogook Eskimo Camp Scene 1961 

Print. The experimental elements in western convention, a group of people inside an igloo. A mother with her babies strapped to her back cooking inside of the igloo. A father is with them who is depicted as outside playing with the dogs. The work appealed to early collectors of Inuit art. Inuit history is not often readily experienced these days, which it is relevant to the way that at the time, contemporary culture had carelessly ravished its way through its way of life. Only because she was able to sell her work was she able to support her family. 

Napachie Pootoogook Sea Spirits 1964-5 

Print. Reflects the movement, the animals are breathing and alive. The almost monochromatic print has an emblem in the mid right centre in red, depicting specifications about the artist and the nature of the work. Symbolic of place and time. Emblem also appears on " Eskimo Camp Scene" 

Napachie Pootoogook “Mother and Child in Tent 1966-7 

Illustration, in colour. The mother wears traditional Inuit garment, the child is strapped to her back. Depicts semi-nomadic life. Through 1966-1967 most Inuit people have moved into permanent native settlements, or subsidized government homes on designated reserves. 

NapachiePootoogook “ Preacher” 1966-7 

The rival of christianity, many people had accepted it and some people who hadn't accepted it. The illustration depicts a group of figures in traditional Inuit garb outside of a tent. A man stands in what appears to be a grey suit, one arm elevated in a form of preaching to the figures seated on the ground in a circular format. The image is depicted in grey browns and blacks and yellows and coloured in pencil crayon. 

Napachie Pootoogook : "Caribou in the hills" 1977 

Colourful works on paper. Caribou in the distance, people depicted wearing traditional Inuit vests. Soft neutral colours which is what makes this a lovely print, depicted by the emblem in the bottom right hand corner. The image appears to be coloured with pencil crayons probably after the point in printing.  

Napachie Pootoogook "Napachie Drawing in her Tent" 1984-5

Woman in a geometric design depicting a tent holding some traditional Inuit tools. Small child to the left surrounded by objects and traditional Inuit tools. The woman is framed in the visual centerpoint, the tent or teepee is centralized over her head. 

Napachie Pootoogook “ Aqatuk ( Singing Love Song)" 1993 

A woman in a bed seated by a HBC blanket speaking to a small child to her left. The image is colourful and the Hudson's Bay Blanket colours emphasize the iconic participation in Canadian History. The furs and the bright colours symbolize wealth and prosperity. 

Napachie Pootoogook : "Suicide 199?"

Exhibited in the Winnipeg 2004 art gallery, showing both the good and bad sides of Inuit history. Violence, murder, suicide and abuse and cannibalism. The image is an illustration, devoid of colour and very intensively and meticulously detailed. A man is in the centre of the image a suspended nude, having hung himself in the middle of the space. Family and friends are depicted about the hanging body grieving.

Apache Pootoogook "Male Dominance" 1995 -6 

A black and white depiction of a smiling man threatening 5 women in traditional garb, with a knife after killing the husband. He is in the centre holding a knife that he is brandishing at surrounding women who had been abducted. The husband killed in order to have accommodated his wives and children. The culture would entitle him to accommodate the deceased male's assets and 'property'.

Napachie Pootoogook “ Trading Women for Supplies” 1997-8 

A black and white illustration with small text letters below the image. Sexual exploitation of intuit women by European traders, traded for goods and supplies resulting in mixed children. A man is depicted to the right holding a woman on her knees, handing a coat to an Inuit man in a hood. The image depicts desperation and human trafficking. 

Napachie Pootoogook “ Eating Mothers Remains" 1999-2000 

Depiction of cannibalism, child in a shelter or igloo due to prolonged famine where the child had eaten the mother who is depicted dead in the top left corner of the etching. 

Napachie Pootoogook Interior View 2000 

The image depicts women warm and smiling inside their igloo. 

Napachie Pootoogook “ Lost in the Storm “ 2001 

Two Inuit people in an abstract blue background with snow flurries in traditional garb. The image resembles a print with colour, the contrast in the beige and browns in the coats of the Inuit and the blue and teal of the surrounding background is aesthetically pleasing. The text below the sled ... 

Annie Pootoogook 1969-2016 

Born in Cape Dorset, NU in1969. The daughter of artist Napachie Pootoogoo and printmaker and carver Eegyvdlik Pootoogook. Her grandmother was Pitseolak Ashoona. Her uncle was Kananaginak Pootoogoo. Looking at topics such as alcoholism, suicide, domestic violence and depression. Her drawings represent the struggle in her life. Uses pen and coloured pencil. 

Anne Pootogook “ Man on the Radio” 2006 

Depicting the situation that was relocating the current moment in what was going on. Depicting a family and the hybrid nature of contemporary Inuit life. Displays the typeof housing that people are living in. The homes are prefabricated, there are a lot of problems with the architecture. The mother is preparing something for a child. 

Annie Pootoogook “ Family Gathering Whale Meat” 2003-4 

A family salvaging whale meat on the beach. depicted in colour, indicating modern elements. An image that remains entered on socialization and the preparation of community building. 

Annie Pootoogook Pitseolak Drawing with Two girls on the bed 2006

What she shows in this drawing is the end of her grandmothers life, the grandmother being visited by the two girls who had come to see her to watch her draw.  

Annie Pootogook “ man trying to think” 2003-4

A man trying to think about his electricity, to understand how to the light and his despair at the modern technology and innovation for the modern world and the indigenous decline. 

Annie Pootoogook “ Mother Falling with Child 2003-4 

Annie pulling from her partner her child after he has hither, her nose is bleeding and the lines indicating destress are animated. 

Annie Pootoogook “ Man abusing his partner”
Man holding a wooden board above his head threatening a woman in a corner, illustrated and depicted in pencil crayons. 

Annie Pootoogook Memory of my life breaking bottles 2001 

A woman standing outside of a home or shelter holding bottles over her head. Something that is unique that the culture is very open about the abusive and alchool nature of the men. 

Annie Pootoogook Untitled Jenojuak and Annie with Governor General Michelle Jean 2010 

Awarded a governor generals award and the drawing depicted her reception and what it was like to receive a governor generals award. 

Geometric Art 

Canadians began to respond to European artists such as Piet Mondrian Wassily Kandinsky, and Kazmir Malevitch. Conceptual realism. 

Les Plasticiens. 

Fernand Toupin “ Aire avecblanc differentiel 1956 

Minimal, very limited colour palate. White black and grey. Shaping on the canvas following the lines with the logic of colour. Trying to accomplish and to realize the plastician ideal. Three dimensional in shape in 1956 at a non figurative art gallery. 

Fernand Leduc L’Alpiniste1957

Formally an automatiste, had returned to Montreal from Paris and moved away from realism to abstraction. Triangular and rigidity in shape, the two dimensional picture shape. Blue oranges, reds and yellow. He abandon the right angle. 

Fernand Leduc “ Feu Rouge “ 1957 

Very acute angle the vibrant musical energy to the artwork, instrumental in the non figurative association of Montreal in1956. 

Guido Molinari Angle Noir 1956 

Black and white angle, in the number of planes. the push and pull between light and dark contrast. Influenced by Piet Mondrian and Jackson Pollock who he had seen in. NYC in the early 1950’s. in the painting he was able to experience animation figure and ground in his work. Spacial structure. The white hitting the ground and the black hitting the ground. The paintings are constantly going. 

Guido Molinari “ Quadri blanc” 1956

Playing with the figure of ground and the weight of the black on the white. 

Guido Molinari Huig Blank 1958 

Dynamic asymmetry, summed the canvas up as a series of automatism works. Smooth black on white painting. Molinari’s painting are not static and are very dynamic. Wonderfully complex composition and quite simple. Emphasizing the relationship between elements. Compared to Paul Emile Borduas e.g.. Black Star has a very smooth texture and is anti-impasto in his use of material. 

Guido Molinari Equilibrium 1959

Molinari believed that structure was a synthesis between the temporal dynamic created by the rhythmic mutation of the colours from left to righting the inherent chromatic dynamism of each stripe. Molinari was a fundamentally unstable space created fresh by each act of looking. 

Guido Molinari “ Mutation Seriale Vert-Rouge” 1964 

Large colour field painting depicting a series if green red bye yellow and lime green bars. The bars are linked together. he is not concerned with balance, line and form. He is much more interested in repetition. He its simply changing the line and colour. 

Guido Molinari “ Quantifactuer #19|” 1991 

Here he entered the structure and concept, in the sequence and complex. 

Piet Mondrian Broadway Boogie 

Claude Tousignant “ La vierge au lit1964 

his open and cereal colours, circular image in a square background. The only thing different is the colour. The unification of colour and the canvases, the variation of form. Hard edged painting distinguished by the early geometric structure. 

Claude Tousignant “ Oeil de Vouff 1964 

Work in the 1950’s was not well received although he was able to resume through 1962. Analytical language through colour ands structure. The colour and form of the structure. The painting is a three dimensional structure. 

Claude Tousignant “ Stochastique en vert 1965 

The unofficial concentric radiation around the centre. This basically sums up the radial nature of time and space. he is subversively creating an optical illusion as the American offer a three dimensional colour he creates a two dimensional space.

Calude Tousignant Gong 1965 

In the mid 1960’s he creates an indirect object, following the irreversible logic by creating a circular canvas deters from logic. 

Claude Tousignant “ Gong 88. 1966. 

Circular shape and simplified structure. His regular structure was multiplying through sporadic variations and systematic variations. With the shape of the canvases he gives colour an an exercise in intensity. 

Claude Tousignant “ Accelerateur Chromatique” 1984”

Hes intensified his sensation of motion in which he places colour next to one another. The colour is meant to be visually coincident and mesmerizing. it actually does move through the retinal signals in the eye in comparison to pop art. 

First group of plasticizers painting retains emphasis inform and remnants of cubist space. Influenced by Joseph and Annie Albers. Worked on the material, colour and light. 

Marcel Barbeau, Retine Viroltante 1966 

Always working in geometric form and style, in his work what he was trying to explore was perceptual abstraction. He is painting through concentric painting, leading lines to the background. He has very linear style is very rudimentary, very simple contrast. He does not go beyond three colours. 

Marcel Barbeau Untitield 1966 

Inspired by the Op.Art in NYC, he was inspired by his own work and began to incorporate a sense of motion in his artwork. Colour becomes secondary to the form of the mind. There is an intense movement, the zigzags submersed by a light green overlay. 

Marcel Barbeau "Retina Dont Bug Me" 1966 

Kinetic thinking, undulating the lines on flat ground through the indeterminate sense of motion. The work that hypothetically creates the dynamic sense of motion. 

Yves Gaucher “ Danse Caree” 1864 

Trying to convey relationships in his work. He is constructed diamond shaped canvases and contrasting lines. He studied Joseph Albers 1962 dynamic understanding and sense of colour. 

Yves Gaucher ‘ En hommage a Webern No.2” 1963 

Eliminated objects in sense of form. Unlimited sense of geometric form and vocabulary. Squares, a series of dashes and embossed lines, the trace of a line and a structure. Instead lines and squares between asymmetrical and symmetrical structure. 

Yves Gaucher “ Dusk Calm Signals “ 

Expansion and symmetrical in contemplative experiment. Short lines. 

Yves Gaucher “ Blue Raga” 1967 

Blue lines on blue canvas. 

Yves Gaucher: Alap” 1967 

Series of signals, series of fifty paintings. Grey on blue paint. Very subtle colours, expanding line on a colour that resembles plaster. The ground is a natural grey background. Rhythmic openness with his painting. 

Yves Gaucher "Two Blues and Two Greys" 1976 

More relined and more simplified. Allowing colours to change the subtle aptitude the viewer. 

Beginning Related Colour Forms 1957. 

A strictly rectangular form in canvas. 

Eli Bronstein Structuralist Relief No,1-1 1965 

Influenced his choice in colour. Interested in the possibility of light and painting. He ended up working in paint and in sculpture. 

Jack Bush zig-zag 1967

Toronto, 1957 when the painters 11 invited Clement Greenberg to critique. Abstract expressionism and mannerism. Instructed Bush to paint thinner and fuller. Switches to acrylic paint, the oil is instructed by minimal nature. Divided the surface into 3 diagonal columns and then additional diagonal midlands through the painting. 

What is ground and what is figure. 

Frank Stella in David Mirvish: Frank Stella, seen by Jack Bush was influential in his 1961 works, improvised structure. 

Kazuo Nakamur “ Hillside” 1954 

His painting was resembling landscape, deep space. Created with abstract structures floating on the ground. The colour schemes were typically blues and yellows. 

Inner Structure #5, 1955 

Very strong sense of depth, black on blue. The lighter lines seem to fall back which adds to the feeling of darkness. 

Structure 1956 

Some of his later works, implies that the canvas which is emphasized that the dual form is on top. The canvas uses strong use of colour particularly his black structural use and the black and white sculpture. 

Kenneth Lochead “ Left of centre” 1962 

Painted in black enamel, the masonite took part of the work itself. The fact of the figure in its divisional state. Inner and outer square which are divided almost symmetrically. Uses different colours to create a formal dynamic. Squares and colours. Freedom in the painting. Not trying to be perfect. 

Kenneth Lochead ‘ Dark GreenCentre 1963 

Visually the centre is a green square. Very simplified form in the painting, shifts to 

Doug Morton 2 plus 2. Presented with the totality, finally delimitated shapes which emerge through colour. Presented in the canvases in geometric biomorphic form. Very mobile feeling and playful in the relationship of the colour. 

Ronald Bloore “ Painting No. 11” 1965 

The visual language could and should communicate in the body language. Trying to create form in the painting. Very conceptual in regards to doing that, repetition in geometric form which gives order to the structure which creates order to the painting. 

Roy Kiyooka, Aleph #2 1964 

Interested in formal qualities, interest in photography. Clement Greenberg’s critiques. Shapes repeatedly in his work, the ovular shapes fascinated him.  Ellipse. Worked in Montreal, his paintings become simpler and less intellectual. 

Red Bridge 1965.

Red linearity two ovals, abstraction 

Roy Kiuooka Shaula 1967

Blue canvas, elipses in the darker blues to lighter blues. 

Roy Kiooka On Vergence ( The Bridge 1969) 

Brian Fischer “ Passage 1966” 

Very geometric forms

Gary Lee-Nova Mentol Filter Kings 1967 

Playing with the natural identity of the cigarette package. 

Pop Art 

Joyce Wieland “ Boat Tragedy” 

Painting mimicking the frames of film, sequential frame of a boat in motion. The white triangle of a boat slowly sinking, resembling the fragments of light in frame in motion. The series of work known as the disaster painting 1963-1966. The variations of the work, the sequence of outbound paintings. very simple art, boat tragedy. The boat slowly sinking. Reducing the visual nature of the painting. Simple geometric shapes. 

Joyce Wieland “ The battery”

Comic book language. The union jack symbol and the cross of st george. Playing around with the colour, an important development in art. The series of box forms, she provides the painting with a red light structure. Adapting with the nature of storytelling through a series of photographs and strips along the bottom of the painting. Borrowing the appearance and logic of forms, cinematic storyboards. Trying to create a new type of narrative painting. 

Joyce Eieland Fine Foods 1963 

Television frames, mimicking the storyboarding effects. Slices of reality fragments of reality, eating at a restaurant on a lake in the painting. 

Joyce Wieland Boat Hommage to DW Griffiths 1963 

Racist painting about the civil war. Important relevance to film in civil war history. In the second square. Looking through a telescope in the second frame. english flag. 

Joyce Wieland "First Integrated Film with a Short on Sailing 1963 

Two films on canvas. three vertical stacked films. Black man and a white woman are kissing. Three frames depicting a sailboat, referencing comic book through her speech emoticon. 

Sailboat, 1967 

Film Still, sailboat in yellow text. Space and time exploration in her canvases. Her partner is Michael Snow, sound is waves mixed with airplanes. capturing the canvas on the left side of the frame. Material qualities calling attention to the works. 

Rat Life and Diet in North American 

Political Prison, depicted life in North America after going to NYC with husband Michael Snow. 

“The film is very meticulously shot and controlled, and even more than in Cat Food the colour and delicacy with which she approaches the animals and their surroundings creates very sensuous and textured images and relationships.”
- Regina Cornwell, “The Films of Joyce Wieland,”54.