Samonie Toonoo

SAMONIE TOONOO      (SAMUELLIE)

Date of Birth:    July 3, 1969                                                      Male/Female:    Male                            

Place of Birth:   Cape Dorset                                        

Mother:             Sheojuk

Father:              Toonoo
                                                                                                                                               

Sam is the son of graphic artist, Sheokju and Toonoo and the youngest brother of renowned Cape Dorset sculptor, Oviloo Tunnillie. He began carving in the summer of 1994. 

EXHIBITIONS:                                                      
Our Land Transforming: Celebrating the Enduring
Spirit of the Inuit
Arctic Raven Gallery
One Front Street, Second Floor, POB 2139
Friday Harbor, Washington, U.S.A.  98250
(brochure)

March – April 1979                                            
Die Kunst aus der Arktis
Inuit Gallerie: Mannheim
held at the Rathaus Foyer
Mainz, Germany
(illustrated catalogue)

June 1997                                                        
Singing & Dancing & Playing
Feheley Fine Arts
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
(brochure)

November 1998                                                
Sculpture from the Canadian Arctic
Feheley Fine Arts
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

June – July 2000                                              
Die Kunst aus der Arktis
Exhibition title: Art in Stone
Canadian Arctic Gallery (Grunder)
Hammerstrasse 50, Basel, Switzerland
(illustrated catalogue)

November – December 2000                             
Small Sculpture by Great Artists 2000
Feheley Fine Arts
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
(illustrated brochure)

May – June 2001                                              
Baffin Island Sculpture
The Albers Gallery of Inuit Art
San Francisco, California, U.S.A.
(illustrated catalogue)

November                                                        
Small Sculptures by Great Artists (November 2001)
Feheley Fine Arts
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

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

November 2005                                                
Unique Visions
Feheley Fine Arts
Toronto, Ontario

December 2005 – January 2006                         
Small Sculptures by Great Artists
Feheley Fine Arts
Toronto, Ontario

2006                                                                
Mini Masterworks
Spirit Wrestler Gallery
Vancouver, British Columbia
(illustrated catalogue)

July – September 2006                                     
Small Sculptures by Great Artists
Feheley Fine Arts
Toronto, Ontario

July – September 2006                                     
Out of the Ordinary: Cape Dorset Sculpture
Gallery Indigena
Stratford, Ontario

December 2006 – January 2007                         
Small Sculptures by Great Artists
Feheley Fine Arts
Toronto, Ontario

April – May, 2008                                             
Arctic Wind – An Expression of Naturalism
Coastal Peoples Fine Arts Gallery
Vancouver, British Columbia

Oct – Nov, 2008                                               
Shaman, Sedna and Spirits
Spirit Wrestler Gallery
Vancouver, British Columbia
(illustrated catalogue)

January – February, 2009                                  
Small Treasures
Inuit Gallery of Vancouver
Vancouver, British Columbia

December, 2009                                               
Small Sculptures by Great Artists
Feheley Fine Arts
Toronto, Ontario
(illustrated brochure)

June – August, 2010                                         
Scream: Ed Pien and Samonie Toonoo
Justina Barnicke Gallery
Hart House, University of Toronto
Toronto, Ontario

July – September, 2010                                    
Major Sculpture: Summer 2010
Marion Scott Gallery
Vancouver, British Columbia

October, 2010                                                  
Arctic Wind III: An Expression of Survival
Coastal Peoples Gallery
Vancouver, British Columbia
(illustrated brochure)

December, 2010                                               
Small Sculptures by Great Artists
Feheley Fine Arts
Toronto, Ontario
(illustrated catalogue)

January – February, 2011                                  
Small Treasures 2011
Inuit Gallery of Vancouver
Vancouver, British Columbia

April 2011                                                        
Continuum
Inuit Gallery of Vancouver
Vancouver, British Columbia

SOLO EXHIBITIONS:

April – May 2005                                              
Samonie Toonoo: Sculpture
The Albers Gallery
San Francisco, California, U.S.A.

November, 2009                                               
Samonie Toonoo
Feheley Fine Arts
Toronto Ontario

SELECTED REFERENCES:

Balzer, David
“Scream: Ed Pien and Samonie Toonoo”, Eye Weekly, July 21, 2010

Whyte, Murray
“Pien, Toonoo Show at Barnicke a Real Scream”, Toronto Star, June 16, 2010