Iyola Kingwatsiak was born in 1933 in Kinngait (Cape Dorset). His family was known for their contributions to the artistic community in the area. His sisters Tye Adla, Keeleemeeoomee Samualie, and Anna Kingwatsiak were all graphic artists and carvers. Additionally, his brother Mikigak Kingwatsiak was also an artist. Iyola’s wife Pootoogook was a graphic artist.

Kingwatsiak worked in a variety of media, but became most well known for his prints. He was one of the first Inuit print artists trained by James Houston. Kingwatsiak produced 155 prints over the span of his career. He experimented with numerous techniques such as etching, stencil, stonecut, and engraving. His technical experimentation and experiences participating in workshops led him to be one of the first Inuit artists to make copper plate engravings. 

Along with his contemporaries Kananginak Pootoogook, Kiakshuk, Lutka Qiatsuk, and Joanassie Salamonie, Kingwatsiak founded the West Baffin Eskimo Cooperative, and was its president from 1971-1973. He also served on several community boards and committees. His work is notable for his skillful depictions of Inuit in Arctic landscapes and Arctic fauna.  

Kingwatsiak’s work has been exhibited across Canada and internationally. His pieces have been collected by the Museum of Modern Art, New York, The National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, and the Winnipeg Art Gallery, among many others.

Exhibitions

• 4th National Burnaby Print Show, Burnaby Art Society
• A New Day Dawning: Early Cape Dorset Prints, University of Michigan
• Arctic Ice: Sculptures in Marble by the Artists of Cape Dorset, Northwest Territories, Marion Scott Gallery
• Arctic Spirit 35 Years of Canadian Inuit Art, Frye Art Museum
• Cape Dorset, Winnipeg Art Gallery
• Cape Dorset - A Decade of Eskimo Prints & Recent Sculpture, National Gallery of Canada, in cooperation with the Canadian Eskimo Art Committee
• Cape Dorset Engravings, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, circulated by the Art Gallery of Ontario
• Cape Dorset Graphics *59, (annual collection)
• Cape Dorset Graphics *62, (annual collection)
• Cape Dorset Graphics *63, (annual collection)
• Cape Dorset Graphics *64/65, (annual collection)
• Cape Dorset Graphics *66, (annual collection)
• Cape Dorset Graphics *67, (annual collection)
• Cape Dorset Graphics *71, (annual collection)
• Cape Dorset Graphics *92, (annual collection)
• Cape Dorset Graphics *93, (annual collection)
• Cape Dorset Print Collection (printmaker) *59, (annual collection)
• Cape Dorset Print Collection (printmaker) *60, (annual collection)
• Cape Dorset Print Collection (printmaker) *61, (annual collection)
• Cape Dorset Print Collection (printmaker) *62, (annual collection)
• Cape Dorset Print Collection (printmaker) *63, (annual collection)
• Cape Dorset Print Collection (printmaker) *64/65, (annual collection)
• Cape Dorset Print Collection (printmaker) *66, (annual collection)
• Cape Dorset Print Collection (printmaker) *67, (annual collection)
• Cape Dorset Print Collection (printmaker) *68, (annual collection)
• Cape Dorset Print Collection (printmaker) *69, (annual collection)
• Cape Dorset Print Collection (printmaker) *70, (annual collection)
• Cape Dorset Print Collection (printmaker) *71, (annual collection)
• Cape Dorset Print Collection (printmaker) *72, (annual collection)
• Cape Dorset Print Collection (printmaker) *73, (annual collection)
• Cape Dorset Print Collection (printmaker) *77, (annual collection)
• Cape Dorset Print Collection (printmaker) *84, (annual collection)
• Cape Dorset Print Collection (printmaker) *85, (annual collection)
• Cape Dorset Print Collection (printmaker) *86, (annual collection)
• Cape Dorset Print Collection (printmaker) *87, (annual collection)
• Cape Dorset Print Collection (printmaker) *88, (annual collection)
• Cape Dorset Print Collection (printmaker) *92, (annual collection)
• Cape Dorset Print Collection (printmaker) *93, (annual collection)
• Cape Dorset Printmaking 1959-1989, McMichael Canadian Collection
• Cape Dorset Prints: Twenty-Five Years, National Gallery of Canada
• Cape Dorset Stone Sculpture: Masters & the Next Generation, Inuit Gallery of Vancouver
• Cape Dorset, First Generation Printers: Engravings 1962-1963, Albers Gallery
• Contemporary Art: Cape Dorset, Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec
• Contemporary Inuit Drawings, Muscarelle Museum of Art College of William and Mary
• Drawings by Iyola Kingwatsiak, Albers Gallery
• Early and Contemporary Sculpture and Prints by Well-Known Inuit Artists, Arctic Artistry
• Eskimo Sculpture, Winnipeg Art Gallery presented at the Manitoba Legislative Building
• Graphic Art by Eskimos of Canada: First Collection, Cultural Affairs Division, Department of External Affairs, Canada
• Graphic Art by Eskimos of Canada: Second Collection, Cultural Affairs Division, Department of External Affairs, Canada
• Hunters of Old, Inukshuk Galleries Inc.
• Images of our past, Art of Man Gallery
• Images of the Far North, Arctic Artistry (held at the Erie County Fairgrounds)
• Images of the Inuit: from the Simon Fraser Collection, Simon Fraser Gallery, Simon Fraser University
• In Cape Dorset We Do It This Way: Three Decades of Inuit Printmaking, McMichael Canadian Art Collection
• Inoonoot Eskima: Grafik och Skulptur fran Cape Dorset och Povungnituk, Konstframjandet
• Inuit Masterworks, Inuit Gallery of Vancouver
• Inuit Masterworks: Selections from the Collection of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, McMichael Canadian Collection
• Inuit Survival, Enook Galleries, Waterloo, Ontario Presented at the University of Waterloo Art Gallery
• Iyola Kingwatsiak, Inuit Galerie
• Iyola Kingwatsiak and Pitseolaq Niviaqsi, Houston North Gallery
• Kanuitpit? Kunst und Kulturen der Eskimo: Eine Auswahl aus den Museumssammlungen, Staatliches Museum fur Volkerkunde Munchen
• Masters of the Arctic: An Exhibition of Contemporary Inuit Masterworks, Presented by the Amway Corporation at the United Nations General Assembly
• Night Spirits: Cape Dorset 1960-1965, Winnipeg Art Gallery
• Polar Vision: Canadian Eskimo Graphics, Jerusalem Artists' House Museum
• Return to Origins II, The Arctic Circle
• Sculpture Inuit, Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec
• Sculpture Inuit 25 Years After, Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec
• Sculpture of the Inuit: Lorne Balshine Collection/Lou Osipov Collection/ Dr. Harry Winrob Collection, Surrey Art Gallery
• Sculpture/Inuit: Masterworks of the Canadian Arctic, Canadian Eskimo Arts Council
• Small Sculptures by Great Artists I, Feheley Fine Arts
• Small Sculptures by Great Artists II, Feheley Fine Arts
• Small Sculptures by Great Artists III, Feheley Fine Arts
• Small Sculptures from across the Canadian Arctic, Feheley Fine Arts
• Songs in Stone, The Arctic Circle
• Spoken in Stone: an exhibition of Inuit Art, Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies
• Sunakutagnuvalautut: Things from the Past, Feheley Fine Arts
• The Art of the Eskimo, Simon Fraser Gallery, Simon Fraser University
• The Birds of Cape Dorset: A collection of sculpture by 32 Cape Dorset Carvers, Albers Gallery
• The Cape Dorset Print, Presented at Rideau Hall by Indian and Northern Affairs Canada
• The First Passionate Collector: The Ian Lindsay Collection of Inuit Art, Winnipeg Art Gallery
• The Inuit Print/L'estampe inuit, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and the National Museum of Man
• The Murray and Marguerite Vaughan Inuit Print Collection, Beaverbrook Art Gallery
• The Year of the Bear, The Arctic Circle
• Ulu/Inua: Form and Fantasy in Eskimo Art, Casino Gallery, Ravinia Park
• Uumajut: Animal Imagery in Inuit Art, Winnipeg Art Gallery
• White Lords of the Arctic: Bears in Stone and Bone, Arctic Artistry

Collections

• Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Queen's University, Kingston
• Amon Carter Museum of Western Art, Fort Worth
• Amway Environmental Foundation Collection, Ada
• Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Fredericton
• Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec, Montreal
• Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hull
• Dennos Museum Center, Northwestern Michigan College, Traverse City
• Department of Foreign Affairs, Ottawa
• Fitzgerald Collection, Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies, Banff
• Glenbow Museum, Calgary
• Hudson Bay Permanent Collection, Winnipeg
• Inuit Cultural Institute, Rankin Inlet
• Klamer Family Collection, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
• Laurentian University Museum and Arts Centre, Sudbury
• London Regional Art Gallery, London
• McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg
• Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon
• Musee des beaux-arts de Montreal, Montreal
• Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver
• Museum of Modern Art, New York
• National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
• Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, Yellowknife
• Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto
• Sarick Collection, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
• Toronto-Dominion Bank Collection, Toronto
• Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg