Arnaqu Ashevak

April 2011                                                                             Continuum
Inuit Gallery of Vancouver
Vancouver, British Columbia
ARNAQUQ ASHEVAK               (ANNACO; ANNAGO; ARNAQU)

Date of Birth:    November 24, 1956                               Male/Female:    Male E7- 1526

Died:                January, 2009               

Place of Birth:   Keatuk

Mother:             Kenojuak Ashevak (adopted mother)

Father:              Johnniebo Ashevak (adopted father)
                                                                                                                                               

Arnaqu was born near Cape Dorset on south Baffin Island in 1956.  He is the adopted son of Kenojuak and Johnniebo Ashevak.

Arnaqu began carving in the early 1980’s and is perhaps better known for his three-dimensional work.  He does not make simple carvings but rather constructions of various and often unconventional materials.  With assistance from the Inuit Art Foundation Arnaqu took a 5-week residency in 1981 at Banff Centre for the Arts where he worked with ceramics for the first time.  He has also participated in several printmaking workshops sponsored by the West Baffin Co-operative in Cape Dorset.

EXHIBITIONS:

1982, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992,
1993, 1994 1995, 1996, 1997,1998,                                
2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2008                    Cape Dorset Print Collectoin (printmaker)
(annual collection)
(illustrated catalogue)

May 1984                                                         
Sculpture from Cape Dorset – The New Generation
The Inuit Gallery of Eskimo Art
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

December 1991 – March 1992                           
In Cape Dorset We Do It This Way: Three Decades of Inuit Printmaking
McMichael Canadian Art Collection
Kleinburg, Ontario, Canada
(illustrated catalogue)

October 2000                                                   
Seven Emerging Artists from Cape Dorset 
Inuit Gallery of Vancouver
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
(brochure)

October 2000                                                   
Cape Dorset Print Collection 2000
West Baffin Eskimo Co-operative
Cape Dorset, Nunavut, Canada

November 2000                                                
Kenojuak and Arnaqu Ashevak:
Drawings by Mother and Son
Albers Gallery of Inuit Art
San Francisco, California, U.S.A.
(illustrated catalogue)

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

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

September – October 2003                               
Arnaquq Ashevak: Drawings
The Albers Gallery
San Francisco, California, U.S.A.

November 2004                                                
Kenojuak and Onward
Feheley Fine Arts
Toronto, Ontario

November 2004 – January 2005                         
Our Land: Contemporary Art from the Arctic
Peabody Essex Museum
Salem, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
(illustrated catalogue)

Nov – Dec 2005                                               
Breaking Ground:
New Oil Stick Drawings from Cape Dorset
Feheley Fine Arts
Toronto, Ontario

Spring 2005                                                     
Cape Dorset Sculpture
Spirit Wrestler Gallery
Vancouver, British Columbia
(illustrated catalogue)

March 2005                                                      
Momentum
7 Emerging Artists from Cape Dorset
Inuit Gallery of Vancouver
Vancouver, British Columbia

November 2005                                                
Unique Visions
Feheley Fine Arts
Toronto, Ontario

February 2008                                                  
Arnaqu Ashevak and Samonie Toonoo
Albers Gallery
San Francisco, CA

Nov 2008 – Jan 2009                                        
Small Sculptures by Great Artists
Feheley Fine Arts
Toronto, ON

July – Aug, 2009                                              
Extreme Drawing
Marion Scott Gallery
Vancouver, British Columbia

October, 2009                                                  
Mixed Media from Cape Dorset
Feheley Fine Arts
Toronto, Ontario

October, 2009 – January, 2010                          
Nunannguaq: In the Likeness of the Earth
McMichael Canadian Art Collection
Kleinburg, Ontario        

October, 2009 – April, 2010                               
Arctic Spirit:
50th Anniversary of Cape Dorset’s Kinngait Studios
Art Gallery of Ontario
Toronto, Ontario

Oct 2009 – Jan 2010                                         
Uuturautiit: Cape Dorset Celebrates 50 Years of Printmaking
National Gallery of Canada
Ottawa, Ontario
(illustrated catalogue)

June – July, 2010                                             
North Meets South
Feheley Fine Arts
Toronto, Ontario

January, 2010 – March, 2010                             
Big, Bold and Beautiful:
Large Scale Drawings from Cape Dorset           
Museum of Inuit Art
Toronto, Ontario

January – February 2011                                   
20 Great Sculptures
Feheley Fine Arts
Toronto, Ontario           

October – November 2011                                
Surreal: Eight Artists in the Fantastical Tradition
Marion Scott Gallery
Vancouver, Brit1sh Columbia

COLLECTIONS:
McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg, Ontario, Canada
Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories
Art Gallery of Ontario
National Gallery of Canada
Canadian Museum of Civilization

HONOURS, ACHIEVEMENTS and EVENTS:

1. Awarded a grant by the Inuit Art Foundation to attend The Banff Centre for the Arts for 5 weeks.

1. Received a scholarship from the Inuit Art Foundation to attend a 3-week carving workshop at the Carving Studio and Sculpture Centre in West Rutland, Vermont.

SELECTED REFERENCES:

ARTISTS ATTEND VERMONT WORKSHOP. Inuit Art Quarterly, vol. 7, no. 3. Summer/Fall 1992, pp. 55.

TWO ARTISTS AT BANFF; ASHEVAK AND HAY.  Inuit Art Quarterly, 6(3), Summer 1991: pp. 18-22.

Blodgett, Jean
IN CAPE DORSET WE DO IT THIS WAY: THREE DECADES OF INUIT PRINTMAKING:
Jean Blodgett/with essays by Heather Ardies, Leslie Boyd and Linda Sutheland.  Kleinburg, Ontario: McMichael Canadian Art Collection, 1991.

Hessel, Ingo
ARCTIC SPIRIT: Inuit Art from the Albrecht Collection at the Heard Museum, Heard Museum/Douglas & McIntyre, 2006.

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