Annie Pootoogook
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Annie Pootoogook (May 11, 1969 – September 19, 2016) was a Canadian
Inuk Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, and ...
artist known for her pen and coloured pencil drawings. In her art, Pootoogook often portrayed the experiences of those in her community of
Kinngait Kinngait (Inuktitut meaning "high mountain" or "where the hills are"; Syllabics: ᑭᙵᐃᑦ), formerly known as Cape Dorset until 27 February 2020, is an Inuit hamlet located on Dorset Island near Foxe Peninsula at the southern tip of Baffin ...
(then known in English as Cape Dorset), in
northern Canada Northern Canada, colloquially the North or the Territories, is the vast northernmost region of Canada variously defined by geography and politics. Politically, the term refers to the three Provinces_and_territories_of_Canada#Territories, territor ...
, and memories and events from her own life.


Early life and education

Annie Pootoogook was born on May 11, 1969, in Cape Dorset (now Kinngait), Canada. Pootoogook grew up in a family of artists all of whom worked out of the
West Baffin Eskimo Co-operative The West Baffin Eskimo Cooperative, also known as the Kinngait Co-operative is an Inuit co-operative in Kinngait, Nunavut best known for its activities in buying, producing and selling Inuit artworks. The co-operative is part of Arctic Co-operati ...
, one of the first artist Co-ops established in the north in 1960. Her family worked in multiple mediums and styles and Pootoogook became interested in art at an early age. Her mother, Napachie Pootoogook, was a draftswoman and her father, Eegyvudluk Pootoogook, was a printmaker and stone sculptor. Pootoogook was the granddaughter of
Pitseolak Ashoona Pitseolak Ashoona ( – May 28, 1983;) was an Inuk Canadian artist admired for her prolific body of work. She was also a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts. Biography Pitseolak was born to Timungiak and Oootochie on Nottingham Island ...
a renowned graphic artist, the niece of printmaker
Kananginak Pootoogook Kananginak Pootoogook (1 January 1935 – 23 November 2010) was an Inuk sculptor and printmaker who lived in Cape Dorset, Nunavut, in Canada. He died as a result of complications related to surgery for lung cancer. Biography Pootoogook was bo ...
and the cousin of draftswoman
Shuvinai Ashoona Shuvinai Ashoona (born August 1961Shuvinai Ashoona
at Dorset Fine Arts
) is an West Baffin Eskimo Co-operative The West Baffin Eskimo Cooperative, also known as the Kinngait Co-operative is an Inuit co-operative in Kinngait, Nunavut best known for its activities in buying, producing and selling Inuit artworks. The co-operative is part of Arctic Co-operati ...
in Cape Dorset,
Nunavut Nunavut ( , ; iu, ᓄᓇᕗᑦ , ; ) is the largest and northernmost Provinces and territories of Canada#Territories, territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the ''Nunavut Act'' ...
. In her early career she was often told by the Co-op studio managers that her works about contemporary Inuit life, commenting on consumerism and southern influences in the north, would not sell because they went against the prevailing themes that the Co-op deemed to be of interest to the southern art market - namely, images from Inuit mythology or scenes from nature. The 2000s were Pootoogook's most productive years. She had two exhibitions at Feheley Fine Arts in Toronto. The director of the gallery, Patricia Feheley, was the first dealer to showcase Pootoogook's work, initially in a group exhibition titled ''The Unexpected'' in 2001, and later, in a solo show titled ''Annie Pootoogook—Moving Forward: Works on Paper'' in 2003. This was her first solo exhibition and was important for her career because it made her name more widely known. It was between 2001 and 2007 that Pootoogook was the most prolific in her art making. During this time, she drew intimate home interior scenes depicting alcoholism, violence, and domestic abuse, the everyday experiences of a woman living in the Canadian north, the hardships faced by northern communities, and the impact of technology on traditional
Inuit Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories ...
life. Pootoogook solidified her style and content during this period beginning to draw images that could be easily attributed to her. After an extremely successful, eponymously named, solo show at
The Power Plant The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery is a Canadian non-collecting public contemporary art gallery located at the heart of Toronto, Ontario at the Harbourfront Centre. It is a registered Canadian charitable organization supported by its membe ...
Contemporary Art Gallery, in 2006, Pootoogook started to gain national attention outside of the art world and Inuit art market. She attended the important Glenfiddich Artists in Residence program, in Dufftown, Scotland. It was her first time out of the country and working outside of the regular hours of the Kinngait Studio. She found the experience isolating, but she produced a number of rich and important works while there. She worked as an independent artist during this period, leaving the West Baffin Eskimo Co-operative in 2001. In 2006, after her residency, Pootoogook was named the first Inuk recipient of the prestigious Sobey Art Award. A new category was even created in order for her to be nominated: "Prairies ''& the North''". In addition to the prize winnings of $50,000, Pootoogook received a show at the
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA; french: Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal, MBAM) is an art museum in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the largest art museum in Canada by gallery space. The museum is located on the historic Golden Square ...
. With the new public recognition of her work and winnings, Pootoogook decided to stay in Montreal. She had a difficult time there without the support of the Co-op and her community. Although she returned to Kinngait for a few months, she soon moved south again, this time to the nation's capital, Ottawa, in hopes of more success. Pootoogook produced drawings documenting her life in the city, such as ''Annie and Andre'' (2009). In Ottawa, she worked with other Inuit artists and exhibited her drawings at SAW Gallery. Over the course of her career, she created over 1,000 works on paper and it was during this time that she began to be recognized as an artist outside of the Inuit community.


Subject matter

Pootoogook was known for her drawings created in pen and coloured pencils that depict contemporary Inuit life. Inuit life and experiences influenced her career immensely, providing her with the subject matter that she would later render. Her work primarily focused on three subject types: the everyday experiences of women living in the Canadian north, the hardships faced by northern communities and the impact of technology on traditional Inuit life. In addition, her work often juxtaposes intimate home interior scenes with scenes of alcoholism, violence, and domestic abuse – lessening the safety of the home. Her work is largely inspired by her mother Napachie Pootoogook and her grandmother Pitseolak Ashoona, both of whom are well known Inuit artists. Like her mother and grandmother, Pootoogook worked in the Inuit tradition of ''sulijuk'' which means "it is true." This means that she depicted life as she saw it without adding too much of her hand into the composition. Pootoogook is noted for titling her work for exactly what they depict, e.g. "Man Abusing his Partner", where a man is shown abusing his wife.


Style

Pootoogook's compositions utilize minimal line drawings with figures posed in frontal or profile views. The artist utilizes one-point perspective to create the illusion of depth but manipulates this depth by flattening the perspective of the subjects. Her images often display large expanses of white space with muted colour schemes. Her work has been described as "rudimentary"' and "child-like" as it does not maintain any realism of form or space. According to art critics Bloom and Glasberg, "Her preferred medium of 'primitive' or child's crayon also refers back to the art market that has brought her recognition and success and suggests an untold story of pressured adaptation." Pootoogook often included clocks in her work which has made them a motif that is associated with her work and allows for easy attribution. Her work captures a moment in time which is an important theme to Pootoogook. It is unknown why time plays an important role in Pootoogook's work. Nevertheless, the clock motif has been agreed upon by scholars to be artistically important to her work. Pootoogook's compositions are not reproducible which acts against traditional printmaking practices of Inuit art in which copies are made to be sold and dispersed. Therefore, her work is not as widely represented as there is only one original copy of each work.


''Dr. Phil''

Annie Pootoogook's most notable work is ''Dr. Phil'', which shows a young girl watching the American television show by the same name in her home in Kinngait, Nunavut. This composition is an archetypal drawing by Pootoogook which shows the influence of technology on northern communities. It also includes the clock motif and appears in a similar style to Pootoogook's other works. Pootoogook's use of a popular television personality made this composition well-liked in its own right. Traditionally, Inuit art often shows typical activities of northern communities such as hunting, fishing, and spiritual gatherings. Her use of non-traditional imagery appeals to contemporary art collectors who often are not interested in traditional Inuit art or practices of living.


Recognition and awards

Pootoogook had her first major solo exhibition in 2006 when her work was displayed as part of a well-received show at
The Power Plant The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery is a Canadian non-collecting public contemporary art gallery located at the heart of Toronto, Ontario at the Harbourfront Centre. It is a registered Canadian charitable organization supported by its membe ...
in
Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
, Ontario. The exhibition, designed by Nancy Campbell, focused on mythology, Inuit communities and difficulties of life in the Arctic. In November 2006 she won the
Sobey Art Award The Sobey Art Award is Canada's largest prize for young Canadian artists. It is named after Canadian businessperson and art collector Frank H. Sobey, who established The Sobey Art Foundation. It is an annual prize given to an artist 40 and under wh ...
and was granted the prize of $50,000 (CDN). The Sobey Award is granted to an artist who is 39 years of age or younger and has shown their work in a public or commercial gallery in Canada in the past 18 months, at the time of their application. The press release announcing Pootoogook's win noted that "her work reflects both the current moment of a specific tradition and of a contemporary drawing practice." After winning the Sobey Award she continued to receive exposure. She exhibited in major art shows such as the Biennale de Montreal,
Art Basel Art Basel is a for-profit, privately owned and managed, international art fair staged annually in Basel, Switzerland; Miami Beach; Hong Kong and from 2022, Paris. Art Basel works in collaboration with the host city's local institutions to help ...
and
Documenta ''documenta'' is an exhibition of contemporary art which takes place every five years in Kassel, Germany. The ''documenta'' was founded by artist, teacher and curator Arnold Bode in 1955 as part of the Bundesgartenschau (Federal Horticultura ...
12. Pootoogook was the first Inuit artist to participate in Documenta – an exhibition of contemporary art held in
Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2020 ...
, Germany. From 2009 to 2010 her work was shown in solo exhibitions at multiple galleries including the
Agnes Etherington Art Centre The Agnes Etherington Art Centre is located in Kingston, Ontario, in the heart of the historic campus of Queen's University. Situated on traditional Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee Territory, the gallery has received a number of awards for its exhib ...
, (
Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the north-eastern end of Lake Ontario, at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River (south end of the Rideau Canal). The city is midway between Toro ...
), the
National Museum of the American Indian The National Museum of the American Indian is a museum in the United States devoted to the culture of the indigenous peoples of the Americas. It is part of the Smithsonian Institution group of museums and research centers. The museum has three ...
, (
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
) and the George Gustav Heye Centre, (
Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
, New York). In 2010 her work was also exhibited at the
Biennale of Sydney The Biennale of Sydney is an international festival of contemporary art, held every two years in Sydney, Australia. It is a large and well-attended contemporary visual arts event in the country. Alongside the Venice and São Paulo biennales and ...
. Pootoogook participated in one her last exhibitions in 2012 at the
Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art The Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA) is a museum in a converted Arnold Print Works factory building complex located in North Adams, Massachusetts. It is one of the largest centers for contemporary visual art and performing ar ...
. Curated by Denise Markonish, the exhibition titled '' Oh, Canada'', showcased 62 Canadian artists including the work of Pootoogook's cousin Shuvinai Ashoona. Pootoogook was the only professional artist from the Ottawa region represented in the exhibition. On November 7, 2021 the Annie Pootoogook Park was dedicated to the artist. This park is located next to the Sandy Hill Community Centre and the University of Ottawa, in Ottawa, Ontario. The dedication ceremony, held on
International Inuit Day International Inuit Day (), also known as International Circumpolar Inuit Day (), is a holiday that was created to celebrate Inuit and amplify their voices. It falls on November 7. References {{Holiday-stub Inuit International observances Novem ...
, was attended by several members of Pootoogook's family, including her nine-year-old daughter, Inuit elders and Canada's first Inuk Governor General,
Mary Simon Mary Jeannie May Simon (in Inuktitut syllabics: ᒥᐊᓕ ᓴᐃᒪᓐ, iu, script=Latn, Ningiukudluk; born August 21, 1947) is a Canadian civil servant, diplomat, and former broadcaster who has served as the 30th governor general of Canada ...
.


Collections

*
Art Gallery of Ontario The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO; french: Musée des beaux-arts de l'Ontario) is an art museum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The museum is located in the Grange Park neighbourhood of downtown Toronto, on Dundas Street West between McCaul and Beve ...
*
McMichael Canadian Art Collection The McMichael Canadian Art Collection (MCAC) is an art museum in Vaughan, Ontario, Canada. The museum is located on a property in Kleinburg, an unincorporated village in Vaughan. The property includes the museum's main building, a sculpture garde ...
*
Museum of Fine Arts Houston The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), is an art museum located in the Houston Museum District of Houston, Texas. With the recent completion of an eight-year campus redevelopment project, including the opening of the Nancy and Rich Kinder Build ...
*
National Gallery of Canada The National Gallery of Canada (french: Musée des beaux-arts du Canada), located in the capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, is Canada's national art museum. The museum's building takes up , with of space used for exhibiting art. It is one of the l ...


Death

Annie Pootoogook drowned in the
Rideau River The Rideau River (french: Rivière Rideau) is a river in Eastern Ontario, Canada. The river flows north from Upper Rideau Lake and empties into the Ottawa River at the Rideau Falls in Ottawa, Ontario. Its length is . As explained in a writin ...
in Ottawa on September 19, 2016, in what police declared as a suspicious death. Her body was a short walk from the shelter she had been staying in at the time. Two autopsies determined her cause of death to have been drowning, though it was never declared if somebody else had intentionally killed her. After her death, the lead investigator on the case, Sergeant Chris Hrnchiar posted online comments that were condemned and labelled as racist, commenting that it was likely Pootoogook's death was due to alcoholism or drug abuse because of her ethnicity. He preemptively declared "it's not a murder case" on social media. An investigation into Hrnchiar's conduct was undertaken as a result. In November 2016, Hrnchiar pleaded guilty to two counts of discreditable conduct under the Police Services Act, and for making comments on an open investigation. Annie Pootoogook's body was sent back to Cape Dorset where a funeral was held in her home village. The service was performed entirely in her native language of
Inuktitut Inuktitut (; , syllabics ; from , "person" + , "like", "in the manner of"), also Eastern Canadian Inuktitut, is one of the principal Inuit languages of Canada. It is spoken in all areas north of the tree line, including parts of the provinces o ...
. Pootoogook's youngest daughter was able to go the funeral and this was the first time she met her extended Inuit family.


References


Further reading

* Allen, Jan. ''Annie Pootoogook: Kinngait Compositions.'' Kingston, ON: Agnes Etherington Art Centre, 2011. * Burant, Jim.
Ottawa Art & Artists: An Illustrated History.
' Toronto: Art Canada Institute, 2022. * Campbell, Nancy. ''Annie Pootoogook: cutting ice = Ini Putugu: tukistittisimavuq takusinnggittunik.'' Fredericton, NB: Goose Lane Editions with McMichael Canadian Art Collection, 2017. * Campbell, Nancy.
Annie Pootoogook: Life & Work
'. Toronto: Art Canada Institute, 2020. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Pootoogook, Annie 1969 births 2016 deaths Artists from Nunavut People from Kinngait Canadian Inuit women Inuit illustrators Artists from Ottawa 20th-century Canadian women artists Inuit from the Northwest Territories Inuit from Nunavut 21st-century Canadian women artists