HANNAH KIGUSIUQ
(KEEGOASEAT; KEEGOOSEOT; KEEGOOSEEOT; KEYOUSIKUK; KUUK)
Born: 1931 Female E2-173
Resides: Baker Lake
Drawings, Prints, Wallhangings
"Born near Garry Lake in the Central Canadian Arctic, Hannah Kigusiuq grew
to adulthood living much the same as her Inuit ancestors had before
her--residing in snow houses in the winter and skin tents in the summer.
Married as a very young woman, Kigusiuq remembers travelling on the land and
following the Arctic game animals in order to survive. She was in her
mid-twenties in 1956 when her husband, Kuuk, and others from her camp were
afflicted with tuberculosis--a condition that forced them to move to the
settlement of Baker Lake, Northwest Territories, where he could receive
medical treatment. During her husband's subsequent two-year hospitalization in
the South of Canada and as a means to supplement her meager income while she
awaited his return to Baker Lake, Kigusiuq respnded to encouragement from the
local crafts officer, Boris Kotelewitz, to try her hand at drawing. Feeling
clumsy at first because her only previous experience with drawing was to make
`pictures` on the ice window of her igloo as a child, Kigusiuq rapidly became
engaged by this new activity and quickly proved herself to be a talented and
inventive draftsperson with a distinctive personal style.
Kigusiuq draws inspiration for her art from her experience living on the
land as a young woman, and she typically depicts communal activities from
traditional Inuit lifestyle. Winter camp scenes, groups traveling on the land
by foot or dogteam, and Inuit celebrating traditional drum dances are among
her favored subjects, though Kigusiuq occasionally illustrates episodes from
traditional Inuit mythology and from the Christian Bible as well. She is best
known for her carefully controlled graphite pencil line drawings in which she
situates large numbers of people and animals in complex relationships with one
another frequently adding Inuktitut syllabic notations to clarify her intent
or to present conversation among individuals. She rarely incoporates color,
preferring instead the clarity of carefully-drawn line."
Marion E. Jackson.
In "North American Women Artists
of the Twentieth Century: A Biographical
Dictionary" 1995.
EXHIBITIONS: 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1976, Baker Lake Print Collection
1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1984, (annual collection)
1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1990 (illustrated catalogue)
July 1971 Canadian Eskimo Sculpture & Original
Prints
Madurodam, Holland
May - September 1972 Baker Lake Drawings
Winnipeg Art Gallery
Winnipeg, Manitoba
(tour)
(illustrated catalogue)
1973 - 1974 Baker Lake Prints and Drawings:
1970-1973
Winnipeg Art Gallery,
Extension Services
Winnipeg, Manitoba
(tour)
(catalogue)
1976 Baker Lake Drawings
Lippel Gallery
Montreal, Quebec
January 1977 - June 1982 The Inuit Print/L'estampe inuit
Department of Indian Affairs and
Northern Development and the
National Museum of Man
Ottawa, Ontario
(tour)
(illustrated catalogue)
1978 Looking South
Winnipeg Art Gallery
Winnipeg, Manitoba
(tour)
(illustrated catalogue)
December 1978 - January 1979 Baker Lake Drawings
Gallimaufrey
Croton-on-Hudson, New York, U.S.A.
November 1980 Baker Lake Prints - Ten Year Retrospective
The Upstairs Gallery
Winnipeg, Manitoba
January - February 1982 Baker Lake Drawings
The Upstairs Gallery
Winnipeg, Manitoba
February - April 1983 Baker Lake Prints & Print-Drawings:
1970-1976
Winnipeg Art Gallery
Winnipeg, Manitoba
(illustrated catalogue)
September 1984 Drawings from Baker Lake
The Innuit Gallery of Eskimo Art
Toronto, Ontario
(illustrated brochure)
November - December 1984 50 Inuit Prints
Canadian Arctic Producers in
coordination with the Hudson's Bay
Company Inuit Art Marketing Service,
held at Simpson's
Toronto, Ontario
(illustrated brochure)
June 1985 Baker Lake Prints 1985
The Innuit Gallery of Eskimo Art
Toronto, Ontario
November 1986 Inuit Graphics Through the Year: Rare
Prints from the Arctic
Arctic Artistry
Scarsdale, New York, U.S.A.
May - June 1987 Inuit Graphics from the Past
Arctic Artistry
Scarsdale, New York, U.S.A.
September - November 1987 The Swinton Collection of Inuit Art
Winnipeg Art Gallery
Winnipeg, Manitoba
(illustrated catalogue)
November 1987 Inuit Traditions in Graphics: 1961-1987
Arctic Artistry
Hartsdale, New York, U.S.A.
June - September 1988 The World Around Me
University of Lethbridge Art Gallery
Lethbridge, Alberta
October 1988 Baker Lake: Persistence of Old Memories
Brandon Allied Arts Council
Brandon, Manitoba
(illustrated brochure)
November - December 1988 Art of the Eskimo: Contemporary Sculpture &
Drawings from the Canadian Arctic
Gallery 100 Hudson
New York, New York, U.S.A.
October 1989 Baker Lake Print Retrospective:
A Twenty Year Anniversary
The Upstairs Gallery
Winnipeg, Manitoba
(illustrated catalogue)
February - March 1990 Inuit Drawings
Inuit Gallery of Vancouver
Vancouver, British Columbia
(illustrated catalogue)
June - September 1990 Inuit Graphics and Drawings from 1959-1990
Arctic Artistry
Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, U.S.A.
June - July 1992 Women of the North: An Exhibition
of art by Inuit Women of the
Canadian Arctic
Marion Scott Gallery
Vancouver, British Columbia
(illustrated catalogue)
November 1993 - January 1994 Contemporary Inuit Drawings
Muscarelle Museum of Art
College of William and Mary
Williamsburg, Virginia, U.S.A.
(illustrated catalogue)
July 1994 Arctic Spirit
35 Years of Canadian Inuit Art
Frye Art Museum
Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.
August 1994 - April 1997 Qamanittuaq: Where the River Widens
Drawings by Baker Lake Artists
Macdonald Stewart Art Centre
Guelph, Ontario
(tour)
(illustrated catalogue)
1995 Baker Lake - Uncatalogued Prints 1979-1985
A retrospective collection exhibited at
selected galleries, organized by
Canadian Arctic Producers
Winnipeg, Manitoba
(illustrated brochure)
February 1996 The Spirit World - 1977 to 1990: Baker Lake
Clyde River and Pangnirtung Prints.
A retrospective collection exhibited at
selected commercial galleries, organized by
Canadian Arctic Producers
Winnipeg, Manitoba
(illustrated catalogue)
COLLECTIONS: Amon Carter Museum of Western Art, Fort Worth, Texas, U.S.A.
Amway Environmental Foundation Collection, Ada, Michigan, U.S.A.
Anchorage Museum of History and Art, Anchorage, Alaska, U.S.A.
Art Gallery of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario
CIBC Collection, Toronto, Ontario
Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hull, Quebec
Confederation Centre of the Arts, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
Edmonton Art Gallery, Edmonton, Alberta
Inuit Cultural Institute, Rankin Inlet, Northwest Territories
Macdonald Stewart Art Centre, Guelph, Ontario
McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg, Ontario
Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario
Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories
University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta
University of Lethbridge Art Gallery, Lethbridge, Alberta
University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, New Brunswick
Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba
SELECTED REFERENCES: Jackson, Marion E.
CONTEMPORARY INUIT DRAWINGS. Guelph, Ontario: Macdonald Stewart
Art Centre, 1987.
Jackson, Marion E.
HANNAH KIGUSIUQ (1931-). In North American Women Artists of the
Twentieth Century: A Biographical Dictionary/ Garland, 1995.
Marion Scott Gallery
WOMEN OF THE NORTH: AN EXHIBITION OF ART BY INUIT WOMEN OF THE
CANADIAN ARCTIC: June 6-July 11, 1992. Vancouver: Marion
Scott Gallery, 1992.
Muscarelle Museum of Art (Williamsburg)
CONTEMPORARY INUIT DRAWINGS: The gift collection of Frederick
and Lucy S. Herman. Williamsburg, Va.: The College of William
and Mary in Virginia, 1993.
National Museum of Man
THE INUIT PRINT = L'ESTAMPE INUIT: A Travelling Exhibition... =
Une exposition itinerante... Ottawa: National Museum of Man,
National Museums of Canada, 1977.
Oxorn, Pearl
AESTHETICS OF ESKIMO ART: Comparison with Other Cultures and
Visual Elements of Style. (Part IV). Arts & Culture of the
North, vol. 5, no. 4, Fall, 1981. pp.388-393.
Vastokas, Joan M.
CONTINUITIES IN ESKIMO GRAPHIC STYLE. artscanada, vol. 27, no.
6, December-January, 1971. pp.69-83.
Winnipeg Art Gallery
BAKER LAKE DRAWINGS. Winnipeg: The Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1972.
Winnipeg Art Gallery
SWINTON COLLECTION OF INUIT ART. Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1987.
|
