Ohito Ashoona

OHITO ASHOONA        (OKITUK; OHIKTO; OQUITUK; OQITUK

 

 

Date of Birth:     December 11, 1952                                           Male/Female:            Male E7 – 1304

Place of Birth:   Cape Dorset

Mother:             Mayoreak Ashoona

Father:             Qaqaq Ashoona

                                                                                                                                                           

 

Ohito grew up in an outpost camp not far from Cape Dorset.  Here he learned to carve by watching his father, the well-known sculptor Qaqaq Ashoona and his uncle, Kiawak Ashoona, also a renowned artist.  Ohito moved to Cape Dorset in 1981.

 

 

EXHIBITIONS:

 

September 1981                                                The Year of the Bear

                                                                        The Arctic Circle

                                                                        Los Angeles,California,   U.S.A.

 

March – April 1982                                            Songs in Stone

                                                                        The Arctic Circle

                                                                        Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

 

March1988                                                       Arctic Forms – Inuit Sculpture

                                                                        Arctic Inuit Art Gallery

                                                                        Richmond, Virginia, U.S.A.

 

January 1989                                                    Cold Stones, Warm Hearts: Inuit Art

                                                                        From the NWT

                                                                        University of Richmond

                                                                        Richmond, Virginia, U.S.A.

 

December 1990 – January 1991                         A Family Tradition: Inuit Art

                                                                        From Canada’s Arctic

                                                                        Presented by Arctic Inuit Art at the Virginia Museum

                                                                        Of Fine Arts

                                                                        Richmond, Virginia, U.S.A.

 

November – December 1994                             Small Sculptures by Great Artists III

                                                                        Feheley Fine Arts

                                                                        Toronto, Ontario, Canada

 

May – July 1995                                                Tundra & Ice:   Exceptional Sculpture from Canada

                                                                        Orca Aart Gallery

                                                                        Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.

 

July 1995                                                          Sunakutagnuvalautut:

                                                                        Things from the Past

                                                                        Feheley Fine Arts

                                                                        Toronto, Ontario, Canada

 

March – April 1996                                            Major/Minor

                                                                        Marion Scott Gallery

                                                                        Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

 

March – June 1996                                            Tundra & Ice IV

                                                                        Orca Aart Gallery

                                                                        Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.

 

November 1996                                                Small Sculptures by Great Artists V

                                                                        Feheley Fine Arts

                                                                        Toronto, Ontario, Canada

 

November – December 1996                             New Visions

                                                                        Spirit Wrestler Gallery

                                                                        Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

 

March – April 1997                                            Itinraire Inuit

                                                                        Recontrer un peuple traverse son art

                                                                        Held  at the Unesco Headquarters

                                                                        Sponsored by association Inuksuk L’homme debo

                                                                        Paris, France

                                                                        (catalogue)

 

November 1998                                                Sculpture from the Canadian Arctic

                                                                        Feheley Fine Arts

                                                                        Toronto, Ontario, Canada

 

January – February 1999                                   The Magic of Ohito Ashoona and Mathew Sheviakju

                                                                        From Cape Dorset plus Older Prints from Private Collections:  (January 15 to January 29, 1999)

                                                                        The Albers Gallery of Inuit Art

                                                                        San Francisco, California, U.S.A.

 

September – October 2002                                Ohito Ashoona and Pootoogook Jaw

                                                                        The Albers Gallery of Inuit Art

                                                                        San Francisco, California, U.S.A.

 

Spring 2005                                                      Cape Dorset Sculpture

                                                                        Spirit Wrestler Gallery

                                                                        Vancouver, British Columbia

                                                                                                (illustrated catalogue)

 

September – November 2005                            Selections from the Lowell Schoenfeld

                                                                        And Josephine Mitchell Collection of Inuit Sculpture

                                                                        Carleton University Art Gallery

                                                                        Ottawa, Ontario

 

November – December 2006                             Arctic Miniatures

                                                                        The Albers Gallery

                                                                        San Francisco, California, U.S.A.

 

April – May, 2008                                              Arctic Wind – An Expression of Naturalism

                                                                        Coastal Peoples Fine Arts Gallery

                                                                        Vancouver, British Columbia

 

 

October, 2011                                                   Stone and Paper

                                                                        Cape Dorset 2011

                                                                        Native Art Gallery

                                                                        Oakville, ON

                                                                                    (illustrated catalogue)

 

January, 2012                                                   Small Treasures

                                                                        Inuit Gallery of Vancouver

                                                                        Vancouver, BC

 

May – June, 2012                                              The Unexpected

                                                                        Feheley Fine Arts

                                                                        Toronto, Ontario

 

August – September, 2012                                 Transformations

                                                                        Galerie Vincent

                                                                        Ottawa, Ontario

 

April - June 2013                                               Animal Power: Images in Contemporary Inuit Art

                                                                        Marion Scott Gallery

                                                                        Vancouver, British Columbia           

 

June – July, 2014                                              Ursa Major: The Great Bear

                                                                        Inuit Gallery of Vancouver

                                                                        Vancouver, BC

 

November 2014 – January 2015                         Small Sculptures by Great Artists

                                                                        Feheley Fine Arts

                                                                        Toronto Ontario

 

January – February, 2017                                  Small treasures

                                                                        Inuit Gallery of Vancouver

                                                                        Vancouver, British Columbia

 

February, 2018                                                  Small Treasures

                                                                        Inuit Gallery of Vancouver

                                                                        Vancouver, BC

                                                                       

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SOLO EXHIBITIONS:                                       

 

June – July 2002                                               Ohito Ashoona

                                                                        Canadian Arctic Gallery

                                                                        Grunder

                                                                        Switzerland

                                                                                                (illustrated brochure)

 

February 1989                                                  Ohito Ashoona

                                                                        Eskimo Art Gallery

                                                                        Toronto, Ontario,Canada

 

May 1995                                                          Ohito Ashoona

                                                                        Gallery Indigena

                                                                        Stratford, Ontario, Canada

 

June – July 2005                                               Ohito Ashoona

                                                                        Canadian Arctic Gallery

                                                                        Basel, Switzerland

 

May – June, 2008                                              Ohito Ashoona

                                                                        Canadian Arctic Gallery

                                                                        Basel, Switzerland

 

May – June, 2010                                              Polar Bears

                                                                        Canadian Arctic Gallery

                                                                        Basel, Switzerland

 

 

 

 

 

COLLECTIONS:

 

Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Canada Council Art Bank, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

University of Lethbridge Art Gallery, Lethbridge, Alberta,Canada

Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

 

 

HONOURS, ACHIEVEMENTS and EVENTS:

 

1989     Attended the opening of his solo exhibition at the Eskimo Art Gallery in Toronto.

 

1989     Received a Division Award at the Scottsdale Fine Arts and Crafts Show in Scottsdale, Arizona.

 

1990     Travelled to Toronto to demonstrate soapstone carving at the annual winter festival.

 

2002     Winner of the 2002 National Aboriginal Achievement Award; Arts and Culture.