Luke Anowtalik (b. 1932)  photo: Norman ZeppLuke Anowtalik was born in 1932 in the area around Ennadai Lake, where he was raised according to the traditional beliefs and customs of the Ihalmiut, an inland group of Caribou Inuit. During the 1950s a combination of poor caribou hunting and misguided government relocation schemes resulted in frequent disaster for the group, including starvation. In response to these catastrophes, the entire group was moved into permanent settlements in the late 1950s, first to Whale Cove and subsequently to Arviat on the Western shores of Hudson Bay. Along with Andy Miki, Elizabeth Nutaraluk and others of his group, Anowtalik started carving regularly for income while in Whale Cove, carrying on this activity once in Arviat. One of the Keewatin's great founders of contemporary art, he continues to live and carve in Arviat together with his wife Mary Ayaq Anowtalik, also a noted sculptor.Anowtalik's sculptures typically combine elements of relief-style carving with fully three-dimensional sculptural volumes. Portraying groups of human forms and faces emerging sensuously from masses of unpolished grey stone, these semi-representational works are at once powerful and quietly expressive. In his best works, images of humans intermingle with heads of caribou crowned with antlers, symbolizing the close relationshipÑspiritual and materialÑthat has always existed between the Ihalmiut and the caribou upon which the people depended for food and clothing.Anowtalik is also well-known for his playful, toy-like carvings, created from caribou antler, in which groups of human figures are suspended from antler branches or hang whimsically from swing-like structures.Selected ReferencesSculpture of the Inuit (1999), George SwintonVision and Form (2003), Robert Kardosh------Resides: Arviat; also lived in Kazan River area, and Nueltin Lake areaSculptureLuke's wife, Mary Ayaq Anowtalik, is a sculptor in Arviat.  Bayat Gallery, Winnipeg, Canada  1975 October: Figures at Play from Eskimo Point, The Innuit Gallery of Eskimo Art, Toronto, Ontario (illustrated brochure)1975 October - 1977 December: Inuit Games/Inuit Pinguangit/Jeux des inuit, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, Ottawa, Ontario (tour) (illustrated brochure)1978: Looking South, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba (tour) (illustrated catalogue)1980 August - October: The Inuit Amautik: I Like My Hood To Be Full, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba (illustrated catalogue)1981 July - August: Eskimo Games: Graphics and Sculpture/Giuochi Eschimesi: grafiche e sculture, National Gallery of Modern Art, Rome, Italy (illustrated catalogue)1982 July - September: Eskimo Point/Arviat, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba (illustrated catalogue)1982 September: Eskimo Point, Inuit Gallery of Vancouver, Vancouver, British Columbia1982 October - November: Inuit Sculpture 1982, The Raven Gallery, Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.A. (illustrated catalogue)1983 May - 1985 April: Grasp Tight the Old Ways: Selections from the Klamer Family Collection of Inuit Art, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario (tour) (illustrated catalogue)1984 December: Takamit - Canadian Eskimo Art: Selections from Private Collections and the Government of Canada, Organized by La Federation des Cooperatives du Nouveau-Quebec and the Jane Voorhees, Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, U.S.A. (illustrated brochure)1984 December: An Exhibition of Mother and Child Carvings by Inuit Artists, The Snow Goose, Ottawa, Ontario1986 July - August: Keewatin Sculpture: Reflections of the Spirit, Inuit Gallery of Vancouver, Vancouver, British Columbia (illustrated catalogue)1986 August - November: Die Kunst aus der Arktis, presented by Inuit Galerie Mannheim, Germany (tour) (illustrated catalogue)19987 April: Rugged and Profound - Sculpture from Eskimo Point, The Innuit Gallery of Eskimo Art, Toronto, Ontario (illustrated brochure)1987 July - August: Exposition Sculptures d'Arctique, Hotel d'Asfeld, St. Malo, France1987 September - November: The Swinton Collection of Inuit Art, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba (illustrated catalogue)1988 March: Arctic Forms - Inuit Sculpture, Arctic Inuit Art Gallery, Richmond, Virginia, U.S.A.1988 April: [L'art inuit] Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, at Palais de L'Europe, Le Touquet, France1988 July: [L'art inuit] Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, at Chapelle de la Visitation, Thonon, France1988 August - September: Mother & Child, Marion Scott Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia (illustrated catalogue)1988 November: [L'art inuit] Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, at Les Martres-de-Veyre, France1988 November - December: Art of the Eskimo: Contemporary Sculpture & Drawings from the Canadian Arctic, Gallery 100 Hudson, New York, New York, U.S.A.1988 December: [L'art inuit] Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, at Galerie des Tanneurs, Mulhouse, France1989 February - March: [L'art inuit] Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, at St. Marcellin, France1989 March - April: [L'art inuit] Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, at Palais de l'Europe, le Touquet, France1989 August: Arviat: Eskimo Point, Marion Scott Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia (illustrated catalogue)1989 August: Art Inuit, la Sculpture des Esquimaux du Canada, Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, at Chapelle de la Visitation, Thonon, France1989 December: Art Inuit, la Sculpture des Esquimaux du Canada, Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, at Les Chiroux, Centre Culturel de la Wallonie, Lige, Belgium1989 December - 1990 April: The Stone Sculpture of Arviat, McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg, Ontario1990 January: 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, France1990 January - September: Arctic Mirror, Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hull, Quebec1990 February - March: Beeldhouwkunst van de Inuit (Canada), by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, France, at Amphora Finippon pvba, Sint Andries, Brugge, Belgium1990 March: Art Inuit, l'Art des Esquimaux du Canada, Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, at Maison Falleur, Cambrai, France1990 April: Art Inuit, Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, at Palais de l'Europe, Le Touquet, France1990 June - 1992 July: The First Passionate Collector: The Ian Lindsay Collection of Inuit Art, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba (tour) (illustrated catalogue)1990 August: Traditions and Innovations in Inuit Art, Sculpture in Stone, Images of the North, San Francisco, California, U.S.A. (illustrated brochure)1990 November: Art Inuit, Galerie Saint Merri, Paris, France1990 November - December: Art Inuit: Autour de la Collection de Cape, Dorset 1990, Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, at Centre Culturel Canadien, Paris, France1990 November - 1991 February: Espaces Inuit, Maison Hamel-Bruneau, Ste-Foy, Quebec (illustrated catalogue)1991 February: Animals of the Arctic, Arctic Inuit Art, Richmond, Virginia, U.S.A.1991 February - April: Art Inuit, Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, at Galerie Humbert, Nantes, France1991 March - April: Art Inuit, Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, at Le Theatre, La Ciotat, France1991 April - May: Nagdjuk: Gift of the Caribou, Art Space Gallery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.1991 April - May: Art Inuit, Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, at Palais de l'Europe, Le Touquet, France1991 April - June: Art Inuit, Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, at Galerie La Tour des Cardinaux, L'Isle sur la Sorgue, France1991 May - June: Mother and Child: Sculpture and Prints, Albers Gallery, San Francisco, California, U.S.A. (illustrated brochure)1991 May - June: Art Inuit, Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, at La Halle aux Bles, Saint Malo, France1991 June - July: Art Inuit, Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, at Galerie Ombre et Lumire, Ensisheim, France1991 July: Art Inuit, Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, at Chapelle de la Visitation, Thonon, France1991 August - September: Art Inuit, Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, at Galerie Akenaton, Troyes, France1991 October - December: Art Inuit, Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, at Galerie Maite Aubert, Le Havre, France1991 November - December: Art Inuit: Autour de la Collection de Cape, Dorset 1991, Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Le Colombier, Ville D'Avray, France1992 April - May: [Inuit art], Galerie Saint Merri, Paris, France1992 April - May: Salon International Europ'art '92, presented by Galerie Saint Merri, Geneva, Switzerland1993 February: Kunstwerke der Inuit, Presented by CreARTion, Eppstein, in conjunction with the annual meeting of the Association of Canadian Studies, at the Hotel am Badersee, Grainau, Germany1993 November - December: The Treasured Monument, Marion Scott Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia (illustrated catalogue) 1994 September - October: Kunst van de Inuit Eskimo's, Gemeentelijk Kunstcentrum, Huis Hellemans, Edegem, Belgium (illustrated brochure) Back to Top Solo Exhibitions: 1984: Luke Anowtalik, Inuit Galerie, Mannheim, Germany (illustrated catalogue) Back to Top Collections: Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, OntarioCanada Council Art Bank, Ottawa, OntarioInuit Cultural Institute, Rankin Inlet, Northwest TerritoriesKlamer Family Collection, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, OntarioNational Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, OntarioSarick Collection, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, OntarioWinnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba Back to Top Selected Bibliography: Blodgett, Jean: GRASP TIGHT THE OLD WAYS: Selections from the Klamer Family Collection of Inuit Art. Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario, 1983.Dickie, Bonnie: RESURGENCE AT ESKIMO POINT: A Silence Ends. Up Here: Life in Canada's North 1 (6):20-23, 1985.Driscoll, Bernadette: THE INUIT AMAUTIK: I Like My Hood to be Full. Winnipeg: The Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1981.Hessel, Ingo: ARTISTS FROM ENNADAI LAKE. Ottawa : Inuktitut 62:25-30, Winter, 1985.Hessel, Ingo: ARTS AND CRAFTS IN THE KEEWATIN. Ottawa : Inuktitut (64): 43-48, Fall, 1986.Hessel, Ingo: ARVIAT STONE SCULPTURE: Born of the Struggle with an Uncompromising Medium. Inuit Art Quarterly, vol. 5, no. 1, Winter, 1990. pp.4-15.Inuit Galerie: LUKE ANOWTALIK. Mannheim, Federal Republic of Germany : Inuit Galerie, 1984.Marion Scott Gallery: ARVIAT: Eskimo Point. Vancouver: Marion Scott Ltd, 1989.Marion Scott Gallery: MOTHER AND CHILD. Vancouver: Marion Scott Gallery, 1988.Marion Scott Gallery: THE TREASURED MONUMENT: An Exhibition of Small-scale Inuit Sculpture. Vancouver: Marion Scott Gallery, 1993.Steenhoven, Geert van den: ENNADAI LAKE PEOPLE 1955. The Beaver, Spring, 1968. pp.12-18.Swinton, George: SCULPTURE OF THE ESKIMO. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1972.Wight, Darlene: SWINTON COLLECTION OF INUIT ART. The WAG Magazine, September/October, 1987. pp. 4-5.Winnipeg Art Gallery: ESKIMO POINT/ARVIAT. Winnipeg: The Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1982.Winnipeg Art Gallery: SWINTON COLLECTION OF INUIT ART. Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1987. ------------www.elcalondon.comCollectionsArt Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario  Canada Council Art Bank, Ottawa, Ontario  Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hull, Quebec  Inuit Cultural Institute, Rankin Inlet, Northwest Territories  Klamer Family Collection, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario  National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario  Sarick Collection, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario  Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba References Blodgett, Jean  GRASP TIGHT THE OLD WAYS: Selections from the Klamer Family Collection of Inuit Art. Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario, 1983. Dickie, Bonnie  RESURGENCE AT ESKIMO POINT: A Silence Ends. Up Here: Life in Canada's North 1 (6):20-23, 1985. Driscoll, Bernadette  THE INUIT AMAUTIK: I Like My Hood to be Full. Winnipeg: The Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1981. Hessel, Ingo  ARTISTS FROM ENNADAI LAKE. Ottawa : Inuktitut 62:25-30, Winter, 1985. Hessel, Ingo  ARTS AND CRAFTS IN THE KEEWATIN. Ottawa : Inuktitut (64): 43-48, Fall, 1986. Hessel, Ingo  ARVIAT STONE SCULPTURE: Born of the Struggle with an Uncompromising Medium. Inuit Art Quarterly, vol. 5, no. 1, Winter, 1990. pp.4-15. Institute of American Indian Arts Museum  KEEPING OUR STORIES ALIVE: An Exhibition of Art and Crafts from Dene and Inuit of Canada. Santa Fe, N.M.: Institute of American Native Arts Museum, 1995. Inuit Galerie  LUKE ANOWTALIK. Mannheim, Federal Republic of Germany : Inuit Galerie, 1984. Kalluak, Mark  PELTS TO STONE: A History of Arts & Crafts Production in Arviat. Ottawa: Inuit Art Section, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, 1993. Marion Scott Gallery  ARVIAT: Eskimo Point. Vancouver: Marion Scott Ltd, 1989. Marion Scott Gallery  MOTHER & CHILD. Vancouver: Marion Scott Gallery, 1988. Marion Scott Gallery  THE TREASURED MONUMENT: An Exhibition of Small-scale Inuit Sculpture. Vancouver: Marion Scott Gallery, 1993. Steenhoven, Geert van den  ENNADAI LAKE PEOPLE 1955. The Beaver, Spring, 1968. pp.12-18. Swinton, George  SCULPTURE OF THE ESKIMO. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1972. Wight, Darlene  SWINTON COLLECTION OF INUIT ART. The WAG Magazine, September/October, 1987. pp. 4-5. Winnipeg Art Gallery  ESKIMO POINT/ARVIAT. Winnipeg: The Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1982. Winnipeg Art Gallery  SWINTON COLLECTION OF INUIT ART. Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1987.-----------Luke Anowtalik (Anautalik; Anowtelik)   Born: 1932 Male E1-524Resides: Arviat; also lived in Kazan River area, and Nueltin Lake areaSculptureLuke's wife, Mary Ayaq Anowtalik, is a sculptor in Arviat.COLLECTIONS:Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, OntarioCanada Council Art Bank, Ottawa, OntarioCanadian Museum of Civilization, Hull, QuebecInuit Cultural Institute, Rankin Inlet, NunavutKlamer Family Collection, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, OntarioNational Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, OntarioSarick Collection, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, OntarioWinnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba

Exhibitions

• An Exhibition of Mother and Child Carvings by Inuit Artists, The Snow Goose
• Animals of the Arctic, Arctic Inuit Art
• Arctic Forms - Inuit Sculpture, Arctic Inuit Art Gallery
• Arctic Mirror, Canadian Museum of Civilization
• Art Inuit, Galerie Saint Merri
• Art Inuit, Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Galerie Akenaton
• Art Inuit, Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Galerie Maite Aubert
• Art Inuit, Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Chapelle de la Visitation
• Art Inuit, Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Galerie Ombre et Lumiere
• Art Inuit, Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Galerie La Tour des Cardinaux
• Art Inuit, Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Galerie Humbert
• Art Inuit, Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at La Halle aux Bles
• Art Inuit, Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Palais de l'Europe
• Art Inuit, Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Le Theatre
• Art Inuit, Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Palais de l'Europe
• Art Inuit, l'Art des Esquimaux du Canada, Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Maison Falleur, Cambrai
• Art Inuit, la Sculpture des Esquimaux du Canada, Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Chapelle de la Visitation, Thonon
• Art Inuit, la Sculpture des Esquimaux du Canada, Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Les Chiroux, Centre Culturel de la Wallonie, Liege
• 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
• Art Inuit: Autour de la Collection de Cape Dorset 1990, Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Centre Culturel Canadien
• Art Inuit: Autour de la Collection de Cape Dorset 1991, Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Le Colombier
• Art of the Eskimo: Contemporary Sculpture & Drawings from the Canadian Arctic, Gallery 100 Hudson
• Arviat: Eskimo Point, Marion Scott Gallery
• Beeldhouwkunst van de Inuit (Canada), by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, France at Amphora Finippon pvba, Sint Andries, Brugge, Belgium
• Die Kunst aus der Arktis, presented by Inuit Galerie
• Eskimo Games: Graphics and Sculpture/ Giuochi Eschimesi: grafiche e sculture, National Gallery of Modern Art
• Eskimo Point, Inuit Gallery of Vancouver
• Eskimo Point/Arviat, Winnipeg Art Gallery
• Espaces Inuit, Maison Hamel-Bruneau
• Exposition Sculptures d'Arctique, Hotel d'Asfeld
• Figures at Play from Eskimo Point, The Innuit Gallery of Eskimo Art
• Grasp Tight the Old Ways: Selections from the Klamer Family Collection of Inuit Art, Art Gallery of Ontario
• Inuit Games/Inuit Pinguangit/Jeux des inuit, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
• Inuit Sculpture 1982, The Raven Gallery
• Keeping Our Stories Alive: An Exhibition of the Art and Crafts from Dene and Inuit of Canada, Institute of American Indian Arts Museum
• Keewatin Sculpture: Reflections of the Spirit, Inuit Gallery of Vancouver
• Kunst van de Inuit Eskimo's, Gemeentelijk Kunstcentrum Huis Hellemans
• Kunstwerke der Inuit, Presented by CreARTion, Eppstein in conjunction with the annual meeting of the Association of Canadian Studies at the Hotel am Badersee
• Looking South, Winnipeg Art Gallery
• Luke Anowtalik, Inuit Galerie
• Major/Minor, Marion Scott Gallery
• Miniaturen, Inuit Galerie
• Mother & Child, Marion Scott Gallery
• Mother and Child: Sculpture and Prints, Albers Gallery
• Nagdjuk: Gift of the Caribou, Art Space Gallery
• Not Just a Dancing Step..., Galerie D'Art Vincent
• Rugged and Profound - Sculpture from Eskimo Point, The Innuit Gallery of Eskimo Art
• Salon International Europ'art '92, presented by Galerie Saint Merri
• Takamit - Canadian Eskimo Art: Selections from Private Collections and the Government of Canada, Organized by La Federation des Cooperatives du Nouveau-Quebec and the Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University
• The First Passionate Collector: The Ian Lindsay Collection of Inuit Art, Winnipeg Art Gallery
• The Inuit Amautik: I Like My Hood To Be Full, Winnipeg Art Gallery
• The Stone Sculpture of Arviat, McMichael Canadian Art Collection
• The Swinton Collection of Inuit Art, Winnipeg Art Gallery
• The Treasured Monument, Marion Scott Gallery
• Traditions and Innovations in Inuit Art Sculpture in Stone, Images of the North
• [Inuit art], Galerie Saint Merri
• [L'art inuit], Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Chapelle de la Visitation, Thonon
• [L'art inuit], Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Galerie des Tanneurs, Mulhouse
• [L'art inuit], Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Les Martres-de-Veyre
• [L'art inuit], Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Palais de l'Europe, le Touquet
• [L'art inuit], Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at St. Marcellin
• [L'art inuit], Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Palais de L'Europe, Le Touquet

Collections

• Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
• Canada Council Art Bank, Ottawa
• Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hull
• Inuit Cultural Institute, Rankin Inlet
• Klamer Family Collection, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
• National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
• Sarick Collection, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
• Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg