Oviloo Tunnillie

OVILOO TUNNILLIE       (TOONOO; OVILU; OOVEELOOK; OVELOOK; TUNILLIE)

 

 

Date of Birth:     December 20, 1949                                Male/Female:    Female E7-779                         

Place of Birth:    Cape Dorset     

 

Mother:             Sheojuke Tunnillie         

 

Father:              Toonoo Tunnillie

                                                                                                                                               

 

Oviloo comes from a very artistic family in the community of Cape Dorset.  Her parents, Toonoo and Sheojuke were artists, as are her brother, Koperqualuk and her sister, Napatchie.

 

“I started carving seriously in1973 but my first carving was actually done in 1965, after the birth of my first child.  I like to carve using different types of stone and I allow myself to be flexible, exploring different subject matter in my carvings.  I like to carve things that are different from what many would perceive as typical Inuit art, and for that reason I find that my work is well received. (Oviloo Tunnillie,1996).

 

 

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.

                                                                                                (brochure)

 

1976                                                                 Debut – Cape Dorset Jewellery

            Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec

                                                                        Montreal, Quebec

                                                                                                (brochure)

 

April 1976                                                          Baffin Island Sculpture Exhibition

                                                                        Baffin Regional School

                                                                        Iqaluit, Northwest Territories

 

March – April 1979                                             Sculpture of the Inuit: Lorne Balshine Collection/Lou Osipov Collection/Dr. Harry Winrob Collection

                                                                        Surrey Art Gallery

                                                                        Surrey, British Columbia

                                                                                                (illustrated catalogue)

 

August – September 1979                                  Cape Dorset; Recent Sculpture

                                                                        Gallery of the Arctic

                                                                        Victoria, British Columbia

                                                                                                (illustrated catalogue)


October 1983                                                     Fantasy and Stylization – Cape Dorset Sculpture

                                                                        Inuit Gallery of Vancouver

                                                                        Vancouver, British Columbia      

                                                                                                (illustrated catalogue)

 

February 1984 – June 1986                                 Arctic Vision: Art of the Canadian Inuit

                                                                        Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Canadian Arctic Producers

                                                                        Ottawa, Ontario

                                                                        (tour)

                                                                                                (illustrated catalogue)

 

September – October 1984                                 On the Land

                                                                        The Arctic Circle Gallery

                                                                        Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

 

November – December 1987                               Art Inuit

            Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec

                                                                        Montreal, Quebec

 

November 1987 – January 1988                           Inuitkonst fran Kanada – sculptor och grafik

                                                                        Millesgarden

                                                                        Lidingo, Sweden

                                                                                                (illustrated catalogue)

 

June – September 1988                                      Building on Strengths: New Inuit Art from the Collection

                                                                        Winnipeg Art Gallery

                                                                        Winnipeg, Manitoba

 

October 1988                                                     Opening Exhibition

                                                                        Nunavut Fine Arts Limited

                                                                        Toronto, Ontario

 

May 1989                                                          Birds: Sculpture from Cape Dorset

                                                                        & Rock Ptarmigan Limited Edition

                                                                        Print by Kananginak

                                                                        The Guild Shop

                                                                        Toronto, Ontario

 

June – July 1990                                                Small Sculptures from across the Canadian Arctic

            Feheley Fine Arts

                                                                        Toronto, Ontario

 

February – March 1991                                       Cape Dorset Sculpture

                                                                        McMaster Art Gallery

                                                                        Hamilton, Ontario

 

July 1991                                                          Art Inuit

                                                                        Presented by l’Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai

                                                                        At Chapelle de la Visitation

                                                                        Thonon, France


July – August 1991                                            Glaciopolis: Art Inuit

                                                                        Presented by l’Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai

                                                                        At Maison de Pesey

                                                                        Les Arcs, France

 

August – September 1991                                  Cape Dorset Stone Sculpture: Masters and the Next Generation

                                                                        Inuit Gallery of Vancouver

                                                                        Vancouver, British Columbia

                                                                                                (illustrated catalogue)

 

November – December 1991                               The Hand: Images in Inuit Sculpture

                                                                        The Isaacs/Innuit Gallery

                                                                        Toronto, Ontario

                                                                                                (illustrated brochure)

 

November – December 1991                               Art Inuit: Autour de la Collection de Cape Dorset 1991

                                                                        Presented by l’Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai

                                                                        At Le Colombier

                                                                        Ville D’Avray, France

 

January – March 1992                                        Images of Influence: Contemporary Inuit Art

                                                                        Surrey Art Gallery

                                                                        Surrey, British Columbia

 

June – July 1992                                                Women of the North: An Exhibition of art by Inuit Women of the Canadian Arctic

                                                                        Marion Scott Gallery

                                                                        Vancouver, British Columbia

                                                                                                (illustrated catalogue)

 

 

October – November 1992                                   Arctic Ice: Sculpture in Marble by the Artists of Cape Dorset, N.W.T.

                                                                        Marion Scott Gallery

                                                                        Vancouver, British Columbia

                                                                                                (illustrated catalogue)

 

November – December 1992                               Inuit Sculpture – New Acquisitions

                                                                        Pucker Gallery

                                                                        Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.

                                                                                                (illustrated brochure)

 

December 1992                                                 Small Sculptures by Great Artists I

            Feheley Fine Arts

                                                                        Toronto, Ontario

 

October – November 1993                                   Sculpture and Graphics from Cape Dorset

                                                                        Art Space Gallery

                                                                        Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.

 

November – December 1993                               Sculpture Inuit et Retrospective Pudlo Pudlat

            Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec

                                                                        Montreal, Quebec

 

November – December 1993                               Inuit Sculpture

            Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec

                                                                        Montreal, Quebec

 

November 1993 – March 1994                             The Inuit Imagination

                                                                        Winnipeg Art Gallery

                                                                        Winnipeg, Manitoba

 

December 1993                                                 Small Sculptures by Great Artists II

            Feheley Fine Arts

                                                                        Toronto, Ontario

 

September – October 1994                                 The Tunnillie Family of Cape Dorset

                                                                        Albers Gallery

                                                                        San Francisco, California, U.S.A.

 

September – October 1994                                 Kunst van de Inuit Eskimo’s

                                                                        Gemeentelijk Kunstcentrum

                                                                        Huis Hellemans

                                                                        Edegem, Belgium

                                                                                                (illustrated catalogue)

 

October – November 1994                                   Sculpture by Women

            Feheley Fine Arts

                                                                        Toronto, Ontario

                                                                                                (illustrated brochure)

 

October 1994 – September 1995                         Insumavut: The Artistic Expression of Nine Cape Dorset Women

                                                                        Canadian Museum of Civilization

                                                                        Hull, Quebec

                                                                                                (illustrated catalogue)

 

November – December 1994                               Small Sculptures by Great Artists III
Feheley Fine Arts

                                                                        Toronto, Ontario

 

May – September 1995                                      Keeping Our Stories Alive: An Exhibition of the Art and Crafts from Dene and Inuit of Canada

                                                                        Institute of American Indian Arts Museum

                                                                        Santa Fe, New Mexico, U.S.A.

                                                                                                (illustrated catalogue)

 

July 1995                                                          Sunakutagnuvalautut: Things from the Past

            Feheley Fine Arts

                                                                        Toronto, Ontario

 

September 1995                                                Sedna: Spirit of the Sea

            Feheley Fine Arts

                                                                        Toronto, Ontario

 

October – December 1995                                  The Next Generation

                                                                        Orca Aart Gallery

                                                                        Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.

                                                                                                (illustrated catalogue)

 

November 1995                                                  Inspiration

                                                                        Four Decades of Sculpture

                                                                        Marion Scott Gallery

                                                                        Vancouver, British Columbia

                                                                                                (illustrated catalogue)

 

December 1995 – January 1996                          Inuit Art: from the collection of Maurice Yacowar

                                                                        Collector’s Gallery

                                                                        Calgary, Alberta

 

March – April 1996                                             Major/Minor

Marion Scott Gallery

                                                                        Vancouver, British Columbia

 

September – November 1996                              Oviloo Tunnillie, Jutai Toonoo and Tytoosie Tunnillie

                                                                        Albers Gallery

                                                                        San Francisco, California, U.S.A.

 

November 1996                                                  Small Sculptures by Great Artists V

            Feheley Fine Arts

                                                                        Toronto, Ontario

 

November – December 1996                               Emerging Spirits

                                                                        Banff Centre

                                                                        Organized by Northern Art Impressions, Inc.

                                                                        Banff, Alberta

                                                                                                (illustrated catalogue)

 

November – December 1996                               New Visions

                                                                        Spirit Wrestler Gallery

                                                                        Vancouver, British Columbia

 

January 1997                                                     Transitions: Contemporary Canadian Indian and Inuit Art

                                                                        Presented by Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada

                                                                        Paris, France

                                                                        (tour)

                                                                                                (illustrated catalogue)

 

March – April 1997                                             Major/Minor

Marion Scott Gallery

                                                                        Vancouver, British Columbia

 

March – April 1997                                             itinraire inuit

                                                                        Rencontrer un peuple travers son art

                                                                        Held at Unesco Headquarters

                                                                        Sponsored by association Inukshuk L’homme debo

                                                                        Paris, France

                                                                                                (catalogue)


June 1997                                                         Vancouver International Art 97 Exhibition

                                                                        Vancouver Trade and Convention Centre

                                                                        Vancouver, British Columbia

 

November                                                          A.P.E.C.

                                                                        Marion Scott Gallery

                                                                        Vancouver, British Columbia

 

November 1998                                                  Sculpture from the Canadian Arctic

            Feheley Fine Arts

                                                                        Toronto, Ontario

 

October – November 1999                                   Oviloo Tunnillie: Facing Dorset

                                                                        Exhibition  by John Reeves (Photographer)

            Feheley Fine Arts

                                                                        Toronto, Ontario

                                                                                                (illustrated brochure)

 

June – July 2000                                                Die Kunst aus der Arktis

                                                                        Exhibition title: Art in Stone

                                                                        Canadian Arctic Gallery (Grunder)

                                                                        Hammerstrasse 50, Basel, Switzerland

                                                                                                (illustrated catalogue)

 

June – September 2000                                      Arctic Spirit – Canadian Inuit Sculpture

                                                                        Boise State University

                                                                        Boise, Idaho, U.S.A.

 

November – December 2000                               Small Sculptures by Great Artists 2000

            Feheley Fine Arts

                                                                        Toronto, Ontario

                                                                                                (illustrated brochure)

 

February 2001                                                   Living Arctic

                                                                        Inuit Gallery of Vancouver

                                                                        Vancouver, British Columbia

                                                                                                (illustrated brochure)

 

April                                                                  Art by Women:

                                                                        An Investigation of Inuit Sculpture and Graphics

            Feheley Fine Arts

                                                                        Toronto, Ontario

 

September 2002 – May 2003                              Terra Cognita: The Land We Know

                                                                        McMichael Canadian Art Collection

                                                                        Kleinburg, Ontario

 

November 2002                                                  Core Inuit

                                                                        Inuit Gallery of Vancouver

                                                                        Vancouver, British Columbia

 

 

November 2003                                                  Stone Carvings from Oviloo Tunnillie and Her Family

                                                                        Arctic Artistry

                                                                        Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, 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

 

 

July – September 2006                                       Out of the Ordinary: Cape Dorset Sculpture

                                                                        Gallery Indigena

                                                                        Stratford, Ontario

 

December 2006 – January 2007                          Small Sculpture by Great Artists

                                                                        Feheley Fine Arts

                                                                        Toronto, Ontario

 

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

 

September – October, 2009                                Women of the North:

                                                                        Seen in Sculptures and Prints

                                                                        Arctic Artistry

                                                                        Chappagua, New York

 

September – October, 2009                                Power and Passion

                                                                        Canadian Arctic Gallery

                                                                        Basel, Switzerland

 

September – November, 2009                             Sanattiaqsimajut

                                                                        Inuit Art from the Carleton U. Art Gallery

                                                                        Ottawa, Ontario

 

 

October – November, 2009                                  Mini Masterworks 3

                                                                        Spirit Wrestler Gallery

                                                                        Vancouver, British Columbia

                                                                                                (illustrated catalogue)

 

October, 2009 – January, 2010                            Nunannguaq: In the Likeness of the Earth

                                                                        McMichael Canadian Art Collection

                                                                        Kleinburg, Ontario         

 

 

 

June – July, 2010                                               North Meets South

                                                                        Feheley Fine Arts

                                                                        Toronto, Ontario

 

 

October, 2010                                                    Arctic Wind III: An Expression of Survival

                                                                        Coastal Peoples Gallery

                                                                        Vancouver, British Columbia

                                                                                                (illustrated brochure)

 

April, 2011                                                         Tunnillie Family

                                                                        Kulik Inuit Art

                                                                        Quebec City, Quebec

 

April, 2011                                                         Inuit Modern: The Samuel and Esther Sarick Collection

                                                                        Art Gallery of Ontario

                                                                        Toronto, Ontario

                                                                                                (Illustrated catalogue)

 

October, 2011                                                    Stone and Paper

                                                                        Cape Dorset 2011

                                                                        Native Art Gallery

                                                                        Oakville, ON

                                                                                    (illustrated catalogue)

 

March – April, 2012                                            Mini Masterworks IV

                                                                        Spirit Wrestler Gallery

                                                                        Vancouver, BC

                                                                                    (illustrated Catalogue)

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                   

 

 

 

SOLO EXHIBITIONS:

 

June 1981                                                         Oviloo Tunnillie

            Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec

                                                                        Montreal, Quebec

 

September – October 1992                                 Oviloo Tunnillie

                                                                        Inuit Galerie

                                                                        Mannheim, Germany

 

 

May – June 1993                                               An Inuit Woman Challenges Tradition: Sculpture by Oviloo Tunnillie

                                                                        Burdick Gallery

                                                                        Washington, D.C., U.S.A.

 

June – July 1994                                                Oviloo Tunnillie

Marion Scott Gallery

                                                                        Vancouver, British Columbia

                                                                                                (illustrated catalogue)

 

June – July 1995                                                Oviloo Tunnillie

Marion Scott Gallery

                                                                        Vancouver, British Columbia

 

August 1996                                                      Oviloo

                                                                        Marion Scott Gallery

                                                                        Vancouver, British Columbia

                                                                                                (illustrated catalogue)

 

November                                                          OVILOO TUNNILLIE

                                                                        Inuit Galerie

                                                                        Mannheim, Germany

 

April 1999                                                          Ovilloo Tunnillie Poster commemorating Nunavut, April 1, 1999

                                                                        Marion Scott Gallery

                                                                        481 Howe Street

                                                                        Vancouver, British Columbia

                                                                                                (illustrated catalogue)

 

October – November, 2008                                  Oviloo Tunnillie

                                                                        Meditations on Womanhood

                                                                        Marion Scott Gallery

                                                                        Vancouver, British Columbia

 

 

 

COLLECTIONS:

 

Canada Council Art Bank, Ottawa, Ontario

Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec, Montreal, Quebec

Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hull, Quebec

GE Canada Inuit Art Collection, Mississauga, Ontario

Hermitage Museum, Leningrad, Soviet Union

McMaster University Art Gallery, Hamilton, Ontario

McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg, Ontario

Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia

National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario

University of Lethbridge Art Gallery, Lethbridge, Alberta

Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba

 

 

HONOURS, ACHIEVEMENTS AND EVENTS:

 

1992     Ovilu was invited to attend the opening of the “Women in the North” Exhibition at the Marion Scott Gallery on June 6th.

 

1992     Attended a three-week carving workshop organized by the Inuit Artists’ College at the Ottawa School of Art in August.

 

1993     Oviloo was featured in the video, “Keeping Our Stories Alive: The Sculpture of Canada’s Inuit”, produced by Indian and Northern Affairs Canada.

1994     Ovilu’s sculpture, “Spirited Sedna” was on the cover of the Winter issue of the Inuit Art Quarterly.

 

1994     Attended  the October opening of “Isumavut” at the Canadian Museum of Civilization.

 

 

SELECTED REFERENCES:

 

Berlo, Janet Catherine

            AN EXHIBITION, A BOOK AND AN EXAGGERATED REACTION: A review essay by Janet Catherine Berlo. Inuit Art Quarterly: 10(1), Spring 1995, Pp. 26 – 36.

 

Blodgett, Jean

            CHRISTIANITY AND INUIT ART. The Beaver, Autumn 1984. Pp. 16 – 25.

 

Canada. Indian and Northern Affairs

            KEEPING OUR STORIES ALIVE: THE SCULPTURE OF CANADA’S INUIT.

            Produced by the Inuit Art Section, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, 1993.

 

Canadian Arctic Producers

            CAPE DORSET: Recent Sculpture. Ottawa, Ont.: Canadian Arctic Producers Cooperative Limited, 1979.

 

Kardosh, Robert

            Transcending the Particular:  Feminist Vision in the Sculpture of Oviloo Tunnillie,

            Inuit Art Quarterly, vol 24, no 3/ Fall 2009

 


Hessel, Ingo

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

 

Innuit Galley of Eskimo Art

            MONUMENTS IN STONE: Recent Sculpture from Cape Dorset. Toronto, Ont.: The Innuit Gallery of Eskimo Art, 1988.

 

Institute of American Indian Arts Museum

KEEPING OUR STORIES ALIVE: An Exhibition of the Art and Crafts from Dene and Inuit of Canada. Santa Fe, N.M., U.S.A.: Institute of American Native Arts Museum, 1995.

 

Inuit Galerie

            DIE KUNST DER ARKTIS. Mannheim, Germany: Inuit Galerie, 1988.

 

Inuit Galerie

            OVILOO TUNNILLIE [SIC]. Mannheim, Germany: Inuit Galerie, 1988.

 

Inuit Gallery of Vancouver

CAPE DORSET SCULPTURE: Fantasy & Stylization. Vancouver, B.C.: Inuit Gallery of Vancouver, 1983.

 

Inuit Gallery of Vancouver

CAPE DORSET STONE SCULPTURE: MASTERS AND THE NEXT GENERATION: August 17 – September 6, 1991. Vancouver, B.C.: Inuit Gallery of Vancouver, 1991.

 

Leroux, Odette et alia

INUIT WOMEN ARTISTS: VOICES FROM CAPE DORSET: Edited by Odette Leroux, Marion E. Jackson and Minnie Aoudla Freeman.  Hull, Que.: Canadian Museum of Civilization, 1994.

 

Lipton, Barbara

ARCTIC VISION: Art of the Canadian Inuit. Ottawa, Ont.: Canadian Arctic Producers, 1984.

 

Marion Scott Gallery

ARCTIC ICE: SCULPURES IN MARBLE BY THE ARTISTS OF CAPE DORSET, NORTHWEST TERRITORIES. Vancouver, B.C.: Marion Scott Gallery, 1992.

 

Marion Scott Gallery

SCULPTURE BY CELEBRATED INUIT ARTIST, OVILOO TUNNILLIE: June 11 – July 9, 1994. Vancouver, B.C.: Marion Scott Gallery, 1994.

 

Marion Scott Gallery

WOMEN OF THE NORTH: AN EXHIBITION OF ART BY INUIT WOMEN OF THE CANADIAN ARCTIC: June 6 – July 11, 1992. Vancouver, B.C.: Marion Scott Gallery, 1992.

 

Millard, Peter

MEDITATIONS ON WOMANHOOD: OVILU TUNNILLIE: A review essay by Peter Millard. Inuit Art Quarterly: Vol.9, No. 4, Winter 1994, pp. 20 – 25.

 

Millard, Peter

            THE ARTISTS SPEAK. Inuit Art Quarterly, Vol. 7, No. 3, Summer/Fall 1992, pp. 16 – 21.

 


Millard, Peter

WOMEN OF THE NORTH: An exhibition of art by Inuit women of the Canadian Arctic. Inuit Art Quarterly, Vol. 7, No. 3, Summer/Fall 1992, pp. 36 – 39.

 

Mitchell, Marybelle

THE ARTISTS SPEAK: ABOUT LEARNING FROM EACH OTHER; ABOUT PLEASING BUYERS; ABOUT PERSONAL POWER. Inuit Art Quarterly, Vol. 7, No. 4, Fall/Winter 1992, pp. 39 – 44.

 

Seidelman, Harold and James Turner

THE INUIT IMAGINATION: Arctic Myth and Sculpture. Vancouver/Toronto: Douglas & McIntyre, 1993.

 

Swinton, George

SCULPTURE OF THE INUIT: Rev. and updated edition of Sculpture of the Eskimo. Toronto, Ont.: McClelland & Stewart, 1992.

 

Wight, Darlene

            BUILDING ON STRENGTHS: New Inuit Art from the Collection. Tableau, Vol. 1, No. 5, 1988, p. 4.

 

Wight, Darlene

            WINNIPEG COLLECTS: Inuit Art from Private Collections. Winnipeg, Man.: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1987.