PITALOOSIE SAILA (PITALOUISA; PITALOOSEE) Born: August 11, 1942 Female E7-1006 Resides: Cape Dorset Drawings, Prints "The graphic artist Pitaloosie Saila chooses people, compositions of people and animals, birds, Canadian Inuit traditional events, and Inuit mythical figures and spirits as her subjects. Born in Cape Dorset, Northwest Territories, Pitaloosie experienced camp life and, because of severe illness, was exposed to southern lifestyles and cultures. She lived in Halifax, Montreal, and Hamilton, Ontario, between 1950 and 1957 where she learned to speak English and some French. In 1960 she married sculptor Pauta Saila. They live in Cape Dorset where they have an active and committed life with their children and grandchildren. Pitaloosie started to draw in the early to mid-1960s. In 1968 some of her drawings were turned into graphics, and they have regularly been part of the Cape Dorset annual graphics collections. Throughout her artistic career, Pitaloosie has treated a wide range of themes and has developed personal styles that range from pure realism to formal/abstract, and that include compositions blending both styles. She tends to stylize and to reduce to the essential, the shape of a single subject. Powerful compositions are the result. Some of Pitaloosie's works are uniquely striking for their unconventional style, their modernist approach, and their intelligent use of color and texture. Like other Cape Dorset artists, Pitaloosie uses her art to express her concerns and to be in her own way a chronicler of the traditional Inuit way of life. Pitaloosie belongs to the second generation of Inuit graphic artists. Her well-defined style has been enriched and broadened and yet still reflects the aesthetic of the graphic art movement from the Cape Dorset school." from "Pitaloosie Saila (1942-)", 1995 (see reference below) EXHIBITIONS: 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, Cape Dorset Graphics 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, (annual collection) 1978, 1980, 1981, 1984, 1985, (illustrated catalogue) 1986, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994 November 1969 Eskimo Art Robertson Galleries Ottawa, Ontario September - Oct 1970 Canadian Eskimo Arts Festival Alaska Methodist University Galleries Anchorage, Alaska, U.S.A. (illustrated catalogue) January - February 1971 The Art of the Eskimo Simon Fraser Gallery, Simon Fraser University Burnaby, British Columbia (catalogue) 1973 Canadian Eskimo Lithographs: Third Collection Presented under the auspices of the Cultural Affairs Division of the Department of External Affairs Canada Ottawa, Ontario (tour) (illustrated catalogue) October - Nov 1974 Eskimo Art Queens Museum Flushing, New York, U.S.A. (illustrated catalogue) 1975 - 1979 We Lived by Animals/Nous Vivions des Animaux Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development in cooperation with the Department of External Affairs Ottawa, Ontario (tour) (illustrated catalogue) Oct 1975 - Dec 1977 Inuit Games/Inuit Pinguangit/Jeux des inuit Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development Ottawa, Ontario (tour) (illustrated brochure) Jan 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) April 1978 ape Dorset Lithographs 1978 The Innuit Gallery of Eskimo Art Toronto, Ontario November - Dec 1978 Polar Vision: Canadian Eskimo Graphics Jerusalem Artists' House Museum Jerusalem, Israel (illustrated catalogue) July 1979 - Oct1981 Images of the Inuit: from the Simon Fraser Collection Simon Fraser Gallery, Simon Fraser University Burnaby, British Columbia (tour) (illustrated catalogue) April - May 1980 The Klamer Family Collection of Inuit Art from the Art Gallery of Ontario University of Guelph Guelph, Ontario (illustrated catalogue) June 1981 Transformation The Arctic Circle Los Angeles, California, U.S.A. (illustrated brochure) October 1981 - Jan 1983 Cape Dorset Engravings Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, circulated by the Art Gallery of Ontario Toronto, Ontario (tour) (illustrated brochure) September 1982 Break-up and Freeze-up The Arctic Circle Los Angeles, California, U.S.A. (catalogue) February - March 1983 Return of the Birds Inuit Gallery of Vancouver Vancouver, British Columbia (illustrated catalogue) May 1983 - April 1985 Grasp Tight the Old Ways: Selections from the Klamer Family Collection of Inuit Art Art Gallery of Ontario Toronto, Ontario (tour) (illustrated catalogue) September 1983 The Way We Were - Traditional Eskimo Life Snow Goose Associates Seattle, Washington, USA October - Nov 1983 The Cape Dorset Print Presented at Rideau Hall by Indian and Northern Affairs Canada Ottawa, Ontario Feb 1984 - June 1986 Arctic Vision: Art of the Canadian Inuit Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Canadian Arctic Producers Ottawa, Ontario (tour) (illustrated catalogue) September - Oct 1984 On the Land The Arctic Circle Los Angeles, California, U.S.A. October 1984 Images of the Far North Studio Art Gallery, State University of New York Binghamton, New York, U.S.A. Dec 1984 - Feb 1985 The Last and First Eskimos Museum of Science and History Fort Worth, Texas, U.S.A. May - June 1986 Northern Exposure: Inuit Images of Travel Burnaby Art Gallery Burnaby, British Columbia (illustrated catalogue) November 1986 The Ancestors/Links Between Worlds Minnesota Museum of Art Saint Paul, Minnesota, U.S.A. (illustrated brochure) November 1986 Inuit Graphics Through the Year: Rare Prints from the Arctic Arctic Artistry Scarsdale, New York, U.S.A. November - Dec 1986 Cape Dorset Prints and Sculpture McMaster Art Gallery Hamilton, Ontario February - June 1987 The Lindsay and Swartz Collections: New Acquisitions Winnipeg Art Gallery Winnipeg, Manitoba May - June 1987 Inuit Graphics from the Past Arctic Artistry Scarsdale, New York, U.S.A. October - Nov 1987 1987 Eskimo Art Franz Bader Gallery Washington, DC, U.S.A. November 1987 Inuit Traditions in Graphics: 1961-1987 Arctic Artistry Hartsdale, New York, U.S.A. Dec 1987 - Feb 1988 Inuk, Inuit: Art et tradition chez les esquimaux d'hier et d'aujourd'hui presented by L'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, at Musee des Beaux-arts d'Arras Arras, France (illustrated catalogue) December 1988 - 1989 Im Schatten der Sonne:Zeitgenossische Kunst der Indianer und Eskimos in Kanada/In the Shadow of the Sun:Contemporary Indian and Inuit Art in Canada Canadian Museum of Civilization Ottawa, Ontario (tour) (illustrated catalogue) 1989 - 1991 Flights of Fancy - Kenojuak Ashevak, Lucy Qinnuayuak, Pitaloosie Saila Art Gallery of Ontario Toronto, Ontario (tour) (illustrated brochure) January - February 1989 Images of the Far North Arctic Artistry (held at the Erie County Fairgrounds) Hartsdale, New York, U.S.A. June - July 1989 Cape Dorset Women Artists Kenojuak, Pitaloosie and Lucy Gallery Indigena Stratford, Ontario July - September 1989 Mother and Child: Selections from the Inuit Collection of the Art Gallery of Ontario Art Gallery of Ontario Toronto, Ontario August 1989 Art Inuit, la Sculpture des Esquimaux du Canada Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Chapelle de la Visitation, Thonon France August - October 1989 Inuit Graphic Art from Indian & Northern Affairs Canada Winnipeg Art Gallery Winnipeg, Manitoba January 1990 Art Inuit, la Sculpture des Esquimaux du Canada Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Centre d'Action Culturelle du Bassin Houllier, Lorrain, Saint Avold France January - Sep 1990 Arctic Mirror Canadian Museum of Civilization Hull, Quebec March 1990 Art Inuit, l'Art des Esquimaux du Canada Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Maison Falleur, Cambrai France April 1990 Art Inuit Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Palais de l'Europe Le Touquet, France June - September 1990 Inuit Graphics and Drawings from 1959-1990 Arctic Artistry Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, U.S.A. July 1990 Art Inuit Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Thonon les Bains France Nov - Dec 1990 Art Inuit: Autour de la Collection de Cape Dorset 1990 Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Centre Culturel Canadien Paris, France February - April 1991 Art Inuit Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Galerie Humbert Nantes, France March - April 1991 Estampes Inuit: Trois Graveurs de Cape Dorset Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Galerie Musepict Marseille, France March - April 1991 Art Inuit Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Le Theatre La Ciotat, France April - May 1991 Art Inuit Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Palais de l'Europe Le Touquet, France April - June 1991 Art Inuit Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Galerie La Tour des Cardinaux L'Isle sur la Sorgue, France May - June 1991 Mother and Child: Sculpture and Prints Albers Gallery San Francisco, California, U.S.A. (illustrated brochure) May - June 1991 Art Inuit Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at La Halle aux Bles Saint Malo, France June - July 1991 Art Inuit Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Galerie Ombre et Lumiere Ensisheim, France July 1991 Art Inuit Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Chapelle de la Visitation Thonon, France July - August 1991 Glaciopolis: Art Inuit Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Maison de Pesey Les Arcs, France August - Sep 1991 Art Inuit Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Galerie Akenaton Troyes, France October - Dec 1991 Art Inuit Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Galerie Maite Aubert Le Havre, France November - Dec 1991 Art Inuit: Autour de la Collection de Cape Dorset 1991 Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Le Colombier Ville D'Avray, France Dec 1991 - March 1992 In Cape Dorset We Do It This Way: Three Decades of Inuit Printmaking McMichael Canadian Art Collection Kleinburg, Ontario (illustrated catalogue) February - April 1992 Art Inuit Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Galerie Montador Dieppe, France 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) Nov 1993 - Jan 1994 Contemporary Inuit Drawings Muscarelle Museum of Art College of William and Mary Williamsburg, Virginia, U.S.A. (illustrated catalogue) March 1994 Patiently I Sing Selections from the Tyler/Brooks Collection Carleton University Art Gallery Ottawa, Ontario (illustrated catalogue) May - June 1994 Cape Dorset Revisited - a collection of previously unreleased prints, exhibited at selected commercial galleries, organized by West Baffin Eskimo Co-op Cape Dorset, Northwest Territories May 1994 - July 1995 Cape Dorset Revisited McMichael Canadian Art Collection Kleinburg, Ontario (illustrated catalogue) July 1994 Arctic Spirit 35 Years of Canadian Inuit Art Frye Art Museum Seattle, Washington, U.S.A. September - Oct 1994 Kunst van de Inuit Eskimo's Gemeentelijk Kunstcentrum Huis Hellemans Edegem, Belgium (illustrated brochure) Oct 1994 - Sept 1995 Isumavut:The Artistic Expression of Nine Cape Dorset Women Canadian Museum of Civilization Hull, Quebec (illustrated catalogue) March - July 1995 Immaginario Inuit Arte e cultura degli esquimesi canadesi Galleria d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea Verona, Italy (illustrated catalogue) June 1995 - Feb 1996 Inuit Woman: Life and Legend in Art Winnipeg Art Gallery Winnipeg, Manitoba September 1995 Sedna: Spirit of the Sea Feheley Fine Arts Toronto, Ontario March - April 1996 Works on Paper from the Permanent Collection of Inuit Art Canadian Guild of Craft Quebec Montreal, Quebec SOLO EXHIBITIONS: 1974 Pitaloosie Saila Inukshuk Gallery Waterloo, Ontario January 1974 Retrospective Prints and Recent Drawings by Pitaloosie Beckett Gallery Hamilton, Ontario June - July 1981 Pitaloosie Saila Drawings Gallery One Toronto, Ontario February 1993 Pitaloosie Saila Graphics Arctic Artistry Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, U.S.A. February Drawings by Pitaloosie Saila, Cape Dorset Albers Gallery of Inuit Art San Francisco, California February - March 1994 Pitaloosie Saila: Original Drawings Albers Gallery San Fracisco, California COLLECTIONS: Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario Amon Carter Museum of Western Art, Fort Worth, Texas, U.S.A. Amway Environmental Foundation Collection, Ada, Michigan, U.S.A. Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia Art Gallery of Hamilton, Hamilton, Ontario CIBC Collection, Toronto, Ontario Canada Council Art Bank, Ottawa, Ontario Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec, Montreal, Quebec Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hull, Quebec Confederation Centre of the Arts, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island Dennos Museum Center, Northwestern Michigan College, Traverse City, Michigan, U.S.A. Department of External Affairs, Ottawa, Ontario Edmonton Art Gallery, Edmonton, Alberta Glenbow Museum, Calgary, Alberta Inuit Cultural Institute, Rankin Inlet, Northwest Territories Klamer Family Collection, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario London Regional Art Gallery, London, Ontario Macdonald Stewart Art Centre, Guelph, Ontario McMaster University Art Gallery, Hamilton, Ontario McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg, Ontario Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Musee des beaux-arts de Montreal, Montreal, Quebec Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario Nickle Arts Museum, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories Simon Fraser Gallery, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia Teleglobe Canada, Montreal, Quebec University of Lethbridge Art Gallery, Lethbridge, Alberta Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba HONOURS, ACHIEVEMENTS and EVENTS: 1972 Participated in an animation workshop sponsored by the National Film Board of Canada. One of her animated shorts was featured in the resulting film "Animation from Cape Dorset." 1974 Attended the opening of a solo exhibition of her work at Beckett Gallery in Hamilton, Ontario. 1977 Pitaloosie's print 'Fisherman's Dream' was reproduced as a twelve cent stamp, which was issued November 18,1977. 1980 Etching Portfolio I. Pitaloosie was one of six artists who assembled a special portfolio of prints which is documented in the Cape Dorset Graphic annual catalogue of 1980. 1983 Pitaloosie's print 'Arctic Madonna' was chosen for a 1983 UNICEF card. 1985 Newfoundland Historic Park Association Commission. The artist was chosen to represent the Northwest Territories in a Centennial Arts Project sponsored by Newfoundland Historic Park Association. Her lithograph 'Among the Hills' is documented in the Cape Dorset Graphic annual catalogue of 1985. 1986 Norgraphics Limited. Pitaloosie was one of several artists whose work was acquired and released by Norgraphics Limited between 1976 and 1984. The works that were selected are documented in the Cape Dorset Graphic annual catalogue of 1986. 1986 Pitaloosie's etching 'Arctic Mother' was commissioned by the Potash Company of Canada, and is documented in the Cape Dorset Graphic annual catalogue of 1986. HONOURS, ACHIEVEMENTS and EVENTS: (continued) 1988 Attended the opening of the exhibition " In the Shadow of the Sun" in Dortmund, Germany on December 9th. SELECTED REFERENCES: ARTS OF THE ESKIMO: PRINTS: /Ed. by Ernst Roch. Texts by Patrick Furneaux and Leo Rosshandler. Montreal: Signum Press in association with Oxford University Press, Toronto, 1974. IM SCHATTEN DER SONNE: Zeitgenoessische Kunst der Indianer und Eskimos in Kanada. [In the Shadow of the Sun: Contemporary Art of the Indians and Eskimos in Canada]. Stuttgart: Edition Cantz. Ottawa: Canadian Museum of Civilization, 1988. Berlo, Janet Catherine AN EXHIBITION, A BOOK AND AN EXAGGERATED REACTION: A review essay by Janet Catherine Berlo. Inuit Art Quarterly: 10(1) Spring 1995, pp. 26-36. Blodgett, Jean GRASP TIGHT THE OLD WAYS: Selections from the Klamer Family Collection of Inuit Art. Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario, 1983. Blodgett, Jean IN CAPE DORSET WE DO IT THIS WAY: THREE DECADES OF INUIT PRINTMAKING: Jean Blodgett/with essays by Heather Ardies, Leslie Boyd and Linda Sutherland. Kleinburg, Ont. : McMichael Canadian Art Collection, 1991. Browne, Evan INUIT CULTURE GETS STAMP OF APPROVAL. North/Nord, vol. 24, no. 6, November/December, 1977. pp.32-33. CEAC [Canadian Eskimo Arts Council] TRANSCRIPT OF THE INTERVIEW WITH PITALOOSIE SAILA: Interviewed by Sharon van Raalte, translation by Maata in May, 1985 in Cape Dorset, N.W.T. Ottawa: Canadian Eskimo Arts Council in collaboration with the Inuit Art Section, INAC, amd the Natiional Film Board of Canada, 1985. Gustavison, Susan J. ARCTIC EXPRESSIONS: INUIT ART AND THE CANADIAN ESKIMO ARTS COUNCIL 1961 - 1989. Kleinburg, Ont.: McMichael Canadian Art Collection, 1994. Inuit Gallery of Vancouver RETURN OF THE BIRDS. Vancouver: Vancouver Art Gallery, 1983. Jackson, Marion. E. [Ed.] PATIENTLY I SING: SELECTIONS FROM THE TYLER/BROOKS COLLECTION OF INUIT ART: [Selected by] Mary Haydon, S. Holyck Hunchuck, Christine Lalonde [and] Helen Rapp. Ottawa, Ont.: Carleton University Art Gallery, 1994. Leroux, Odette PITALOOSIE SAILA (1942-). In North American Women Artists of the Twentieth Century: A Biographical Dictionary/ Garland, 1995. Leroux, Odette et alia INUIT WOMEN ARTISTS: VOICES FROM CAPE DORSET: Edited by Odette Leroux, Marion E. Jackson and Minnie Aoudla Freeman. Hull, Que.: Canadian Museum of Civilization, 1994. Lipton, Barbara ARCTIC VISION: Art of the Canadian Inuit. Ottawa : Canadian Arctic Producers, 1984. Mekler, Gilda DORSET PRINTS-ENCOURAGING SIGNS OF LIFE. Nunatsiaq News, November 3, 1977. 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. Saila, Pitaloosie PITALOOSIE SAILA TALKS ABOUT OLD AGE, HER FIRST DRAWING, WHITE PEOPLE AND OTHER THINGS. Inuit Art Quarterly, vol. 2, no. 3, Summer, 1987. pp.10-12. Souchotte, Sandra INUIT ART: A FANTASTIC ARCTIC SUCCESS STORY. Northwest Explorer 4(4): 6-20, Autumn, 1985. Speak, Dorothy IN CAPE DORSET WE DO IT THIS WAY. Inuit Art Quarterly, Vol. 7, No. 2, Spring 1992, pp. 38-42. Van Raalte, Sharon INUIT WOMEN AND THEIR ART. Communique, May 1975. p.21-23. Verona. Galleria d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea IMMAGINARIO INUIT: ARTE E CULTURA DEGLI ESQUIMESICANADESI. Commune di Verona: Galleria d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Palazzo Forti, 1995. Wild, Marjorie A WOMAN WHOSE VIEWS LOOK BEST IN PRINT. Hamilton, Ont. : Hamilton Spectator, 1974. (c) Inuit Art Section, INAC 1995 |