First Name: Itee

Last Name: Pootoogook

Full Name: Itee Pootoogook

Name in syllabics: N/A

Alternative Names:

• Pootoogook Pootoogook

• Itee Pootoogook

• Julie Pootoogook

• Iti Pootoogook

• Aiotee Pootoogook

Date of birth: February 7, 1951

Place of birth: Kimmirut, Southern Baffin Island, Nunavut, Canada

Date of death: 2014

Place of death: N/A

Community / Heritage: Inuit

Sex: Male

Disc Number: E7-788

Website: N/A

Art Media: Drawing, printmaking, carving.

Bio:

Itee Pootoogook was born in 1951 in Kimmirut, Nunavut. He was the son of artists Ishuhungitok and Paulassie Pootoogook, the nephew of Kananginak Pootoogook, an Inuit sculptor and printmaker, and the cousin of artist Annie Pootoogook. 

In the 1980s, Pootogook began a career in carpentry. By 1985, he was unable to find work and returned to art as a primary source of income. He moved to Pond Inlet in Cape Dorset in the late 1990s, where he began to work with a printmaking studio. 

Pootoogook produced art for the next three decades. The first print edition of his work, “Looking South”, was released in the spring of 2008 as part of the “Nine Works by Seven Artists” contemporary folio. This was followed by two of his prints being featured in the Fall 2008 Annual Cape Dorset print release. In 2010 and 2011, he had solo shows at Vancouver’s Marion Scott Gallery and Toronto’s Feheley Fine Arts.

Working in graphite and coloured pencil, Pootoogook created subtly-coloured images of the world around him. He often used photographs as a starting point for his drawings, either taking them himself or using ones taken by his friends and colleagues. Some of his drawings have been identified as being based off of Peter Pitseolak’s photographs, an Inuit photographer and artist.

Many of Pootoogook’s images depict contemporary northern life, modern local architectural forms, landscapes, portraits of friends and family members, and figures and scenes from his community. His imagery is often compared to Canadian art icons like Alex Colville and Christopher Pratt.

His drawings are held in public collections at the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto and the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa.

Articles:

·       https://vancouversun.com/news/staff-blogs/itee-pootoogook-not-your-average-inuit-artist/

·       https://www.rcinet.ca/eye-on-the-arctic/2019/08/19/legacy-of-inuk-artist-itee-pootoogook-explored-in-canadian-exhibition/

·       https://nunatsiaq.com/stories/article/13892_itee_pootoogook_a_self-taught_master/

·       https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/artist-itee-pootoogook-illustrated-the-truths-of-inuit-life/article18070289/

·       https://vancouversun.com/news/staff-blogs/itee-pootoogook-innovative-nunavut-artist-dead-at-63/

·       https://www.gallerieswest.ca/magazine/historical-art/back-room-itee-pootoogook-1951-2014/

·       https://www.straight.com/arts/403116/itee-pootoogook-defies-cultural-stereotypes-contemporary-art-gallery

·       https://ammsa.com/publications/windspeaker/itee-pootoogook-footprints

Exhibitions:

·       2008: “Nine Works by Seven Artists: Cape Dorset Prints, Spring 2008”, Marion Scott Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

·       2009 - 2010: “Uuturautiit: Cape Dorset Celebrates 50 Years of Printmaking”, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

·       2009 - 2010: “Nunannguaq: In the Likeness of the Earth”, McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg, Ontario, Canada

·       2010: “Nipirasait: Many Voices, Inuit Prints from Cape Dorset”, The Canadian Embassy Art Gallery, Washington, District of Columbia, Canada

·       2010: “Itee Pootoogook - An Arctic Lens”, Feheley Fine Arts, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

·       2011: “Itee Pootoogook”, Marion Scott Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

·       2011: “Inuit Modern: The Samuel and Esther Sarick Collection”, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

·       2011: “Dorset Large: Large Scale Drawings from the Kinngait Studios”, Feheley Fine Arts, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

·       2011: “Contemporary North: Drawings from Cape Dorset”, Madrona Gallery, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

·       2012: “Dorset Now”, Feheley Fine Arts, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

·       2012: “Colour”, Marion Scott Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

·       2012: “On View: Looking at Looking with Itee Pootoogook”, Marion Scott Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

·       2012: “Slow Sight: Itee Pootoogook and Tim Zuck”, MacLaren Art Centre, Barrie, Ontario, Canada

·       2012: “Summer Show”, Marion Scott Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

·       2012 - 2015: "Inuit Ullumi: Inuit Today”, The Canadian Embassy Art Gallery, Washington, District of Columbia, Canada

·       2013: “Venture North - Drawings from Cape Dorset”, Willock and Sax Gallery, Banff, Alberta, Canada

·       2013: “Animal Power: Images in Contemporary Inuit Art”, Marion Scott Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

·       2013: “Dorset Seen”, Carleton University Art Gallery, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

·       2013: “Sakahan: International Indigenous Art”, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

·       2013: “Itee Pootoogook: Buildings on Land”, Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

·       2013: “Itee Pootoogook - Sky at Night”, Contemporary Art Gallery/Yaletown-Roundhouse Station, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

·       2013: “Plots and Icons”, Marion Scott Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

·       2013 - 2014: “New Voices from the New North”, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

·       2014: “Views from the North: Original Drawings from Cape Dorset”, Alaska on Madison, New York, NY, USA

·       2014: “Cape Dorset: New Generation”, Willock and Sax Gallery, Banff, Alberta, Canada

·       2014 - 2015: “Alex Colville”, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

·       2019: “Itee Pootoogook: Photographic Memories”, Feheley Fine Arts, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Awards: N/A

Collections:

·       Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

·       National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

·       Indigenous Art Collection at Indigenous Affairs and Northern Development Canada, Gatineau, Quebec, Canada