Kananginak Pootoogook has attained an international reputation for his
abilities as a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor. He was one of the
first in Cape Dorset to actively participate in the first experimental
attempts (later the West Baffin Co-operative) at fine art printing
introduced to the community by James Houston in 1957.
Since that time,
Kananginak’s work has been included in almost every annual Cape Dorset
collection.
Kananginak continued as
a printmaker until 1978, working in all media including stonecut, stencil,
etching, copper engraving, and silkscreen on fabric. Later he became
proficient in lithography including executing his own drawings directly on
the stone, proofing and editioning his own work.
He has established an international reputation as an artist for his
close observation of nature and his sensitive rendering of animals and
birds. From
the beginning, Kananginak has represented Arctic wildlife in his work,
often monumental in scale. He
is especially capable at drawing the many species of birds that frequent
the Arctic. He has also done many memorable images illustrating the
material culture of the Inuit, and narrative drawings of camp and hunting
scenes. For Kananginak
Pootoogook, art - whether his sculptures or his hundreds of drawings and
prints - is a means of keeping his Inuit traditions alive in the face of
tremendous cultural pressures and change.
Kananginak and his siblings
grew up in different camp areas on south Baffin Island. Their main camp
was Ikirisaq where their father, Pootoogook, was the respected camp
leader. Kananginak married Shooyoo from Cape Dorset in the mid-1950's.
They lived at Ikirisaq until 1958 when they moved to Cape Dorset because
of Pootoogook's failing health.
Kananginak
has been a prominent community leader. He was instrumental in the
formation of the West Baffin Eskimo Co‑operative, and served for
many years as President of its Board of Directors.
He is also a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of the Arts in
1980. In 1978, the World
Wildlife Commission released a limited edition portfolio of works in which
four of Kananginak's images were included. His
work has been featured in numerous exhibitions, in both public
institutions and commercial galleries. He is also a notable sculptor.
In 1997, the Governor General of Canada, Romeo Leblanc,
commissioned Kananginak to construct an inuksuq in Cape Dorset, which was
then dismantled and shipped to Ottawa. Kananginak
and his son Johnny were then invited to Ottawa to re-assemble the inuksuq
on the grounds of Rideau Hall as part of a tribute to Native people in
Canada.
#0821
#1021
#1320