Sharni Pootoogook

SARNI POOTOOGOOK              (SHARNEE; SARNEE, SHARNIE, SHARNI)

Date of Birth:    September 12, 1922                              Male/Female:    Female E7-1174           

Place of Birth:

Deceased:        Date Unknown  

Mother:            

Father:             
                                                                                                                                               

Sharnie is the sister of Pauta, a well-known carver.  She was married to the carver and graphic artist, Pudlat Pootoogook (1919 – 1985).  Sharni’s daughter, Sarah Putuguk is a printmaker; her adopted son, Elijah Pootookgook, is a carver and graphic artist.

Like may Inuit of her generation, Sharnie was attracted to the graphic arts during the early years of the printmaking program at Cape Dorset.  Her work was represented in the 1964/1965 and 1966 print collections and she returns now after a long hiatus, no doubt preoccupied in the ensuring years by the distractions and demands of her growing family.  Her work was once again included in last year’s Spring Collection (2000) and we are pleased to release two of her images in this year’s (2001) collection.  Both of these images are typical of Sharni’s unique and enduring style which is whimsical and yet graphically bold with a strong sense of design and motif.

Sharni was born in 1922 and is an elderly woman now.  She is small and frail and of failing eyesight.  Nevertheless, she intends to keep drawing and welcomes the opportunity for further involvement in the Kinngait Studios this year.*

            *West Baffin Eskimo Co-operative, 2001.

EXHIBITIONS:

1965, 1966, 2001                                              
Cape Dorset Graphics
(annual collection)
(illustrated catalogue)

1. Inoonoot Eskima: Grafik och Skulptur fran

Cape Dorset och Povungnituk
Konstframjandet
Stockholm, Sweden
(catalogue)

1. Cape Dorset: A Decade of Eskimo Prints

And Recent Sculptures
National Gallery of Canada, in cooperation with the Canadian Eskimo Art Committee
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
(tour)
(illustrated catalogue)

September – October 1970                               
Canadian Eskimo Arts Festival
Alaska Methodist University Galleries
Anchorage, Alaska, U.S.A.
(illustrated catalogue)

June 1984                                                        
Demons and Spirits and those who wrestled with them
The Arctic Circle
Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

May – July 1986                                               
Cape Dorset Through the Years: 15 Years of Graphics and Sculpture
Arctic Artistry
Scarsdale, New York, U.S.A.

July – August 1986                                           
L’art et la Matiere: Peintures au sable de Claude Durand – Sculptures d’Art Esquimaux Conseil Municipal
Le Comite d’Animation Culturelle
Deauville – Touques, France

May – June 1987                                              
Inuit Graphics from the Past
Arctic Artistry
Scarsdale, New York, U.S.A.

October 1987                                                   
(L’art Inuit)
Presented by l’Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Chambre de Commerce de Chateauroux, France

November 1987                                                
Inuit Traditions in Graphics: 1961 – 1987
Arctic Artistry
Hartsdale, New York, U.S.A.

April 1988                                                        
(L’art inuit)
Presented by l’Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Palais de l’Europe
Le Touquet,  France

June – September 1988                                    
Building on Strengths: New Inuit Art from the Collection
Winnipeg Art Gallery
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

July 1988                                                         
(L’art inuit)
Presented by l’Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Chapelle de la Visitation,
Thonon,  France

November 1988                                                
(L’art inuit)
Presented by l’Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Les Martres-de-Veyre, France

November – April 1989                                     
Night Spirits: Cape Dorset 1960 – 1965
Winnipeg Art Gallery
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

December 1988                                                
(L’art inuit)
Presented by l’Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Galerie des Tanneurs,
Mulhouse, France

June – September 1990                                    
Inuit Graphics and Drawings from 1959 – 1965
Arctic Gallery 
Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, U.S.A.

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, NWT

May 1994 – July 1995                                       
Cape Dorset Revisited
McMichael Canadian Art Collection
Kleinburg, Ontario, Canada
(illustrated catalogue)

July 1994                                                         
Arctic Spirit
35 Years of Canadian Inuit Art
Frye Art Museum
Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.

October                                                           
Cape Dorset Annual Print Collection 02
Dorset Fine Arts
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
(illustrated catalogue)

2003                                                                
Cape Dorset Graphics
(annual collection)
(illustrated catalogue)

January 2003                                                    
Then and Now – Inuit Prints from 1962 – 2002
Inuit Gallery of Vancouver Ltd.
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
(illustrated brochure)

COLLECTIONS:

Amos Carter Museum of Western Art, Fort Worth, Texas, U.S.A.
Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hull, Quebec, Canada
Confederation Centre of the Arts, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada
Dennos Museum Center, Northwestern Michigan College, Traverse City, Michigan, U.S.A.
London Regional Art Gallery, London, Ontario, Canada
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Red Deer and District Museum and Archives, Red Deer, Alberta, Canada
Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Simon Fraser Gallery, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British
Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

SELECTED REFERENCES:

Eber, Dorothy Harley
ESKIMO PENNY FASHIONS.  North, vol. 20, No. 1, January – February, 1973.  Pp. 37 – 39.

Gustavison, Susan J.
ARCTIC EXPRESSIONS: INUIT ART AND THE CANADIAN ESKIMO ARTS COUNCIL 1961 – 1989.  Kleinburg, Ontario: McMichael Canadian Art Collection, 1994.

Ryan, Leslie Boyd
CAPE DORSET PRINTS: A Retrospective, Pomegranate, San Francisco, California, U.S.A., 2007.