Jessie Oonark (1906-1985)
Inuk Catching a Bird (1981)
No. 12, 1981 Baker Lake Catalogue
Lithograph, printed by Martha Noah
(26" x 35")
Gallery Lambton: Purchased 1987
With Day 2 comes a real beginning to the Smackdown, as we have each made our first selections and therefore have something to curate against. By this, I mean that there is space taken up on the walls so that our freedom to put our selections anywhere in the gallery is already shrinking. Additionally, different themes (content, colour, composition, etc.) are starting to emerge, giving a springboard to launch our second selections.
The mixed feelings that I felt going through map drawer 11 from yesterday turned to excitement as he looked through map drawer 12 for Day 2. Right away, two different possibilities jumped out at me: one in response to Cameron's initial pick and the other in response to Lisa's. In a situation like this, I turned to research to help ensure the best possible selection. This was not only considering formal aspects of the work, but how the work advances or alters some of the thematic qualities being picked up from Day 1.
One of these thematic concerns seems to be the idea of nationality, and in particular, what it means to be Canadian and how artists deal with representing that. In a gallery like ours, with an extensive Group of Seven catalogue in our permanent collection, this theme is a no-brainer to consider. However, I hope that this decision will throw a bit of a curve-ball at my two competitors as there is such a small contingency of Inuit artists being represented in our collection. Of these, we are lucky enough to have a Jessie Oonark, one of the most prolific and most respected of the Baker Lake artists to work in Canada's rugged north.
Oonark holds many accolades for her work. In 1973, she became a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, a distinction that she shares with my first selection, Donald Harvey. She designed the stamp for the United Nations Habitat Conference in 1976, and in 1984, Oonark became an Officer of the Order of Canada. Her work can be found in the collections of: Musee d'art contemporain de Montreal, Art Gallery of Ontario, University of British Columbia, McMichael Canadian Art Collection, National Gallery of Canada, Edmonton Art Gallery, and many more.
The reason that I consider this decision to be a curve-ball is that with such a small contingency of Inuit artists in the collection, it is highly unlikely that a future selection will share a common history with Oonark. In this way, my selection stands to represent a piece of 'Canadianism' in stark contrast to the Northern Landscape offered by Lisa's first selection. Oonarks' work, like much of the Inuit art being produced, strove to represent everyday activities of life in Baker Lake. Her inclusion in a major exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ontario entitled "The People Within", focussing on Baker Lake artists, seems to indicate her place within Canada. While it is surely a foreign way of life to many Canadians, it is undoubtedly a part of Canada and what it would mean to be Canadian, at least in part.
Darryn
Inuk Catching a Bird (1981)
No. 12, 1981 Baker Lake Catalogue
Lithograph, printed by Martha Noah
(26" x 35")
Gallery Lambton: Purchased 1987
With Day 2 comes a real beginning to the Smackdown, as we have each made our first selections and therefore have something to curate against. By this, I mean that there is space taken up on the walls so that our freedom to put our selections anywhere in the gallery is already shrinking. Additionally, different themes (content, colour, composition, etc.) are starting to emerge, giving a springboard to launch our second selections.
The mixed feelings that I felt going through map drawer 11 from yesterday turned to excitement as he looked through map drawer 12 for Day 2. Right away, two different possibilities jumped out at me: one in response to Cameron's initial pick and the other in response to Lisa's. In a situation like this, I turned to research to help ensure the best possible selection. This was not only considering formal aspects of the work, but how the work advances or alters some of the thematic qualities being picked up from Day 1.
One of these thematic concerns seems to be the idea of nationality, and in particular, what it means to be Canadian and how artists deal with representing that. In a gallery like ours, with an extensive Group of Seven catalogue in our permanent collection, this theme is a no-brainer to consider. However, I hope that this decision will throw a bit of a curve-ball at my two competitors as there is such a small contingency of Inuit artists being represented in our collection. Of these, we are lucky enough to have a Jessie Oonark, one of the most prolific and most respected of the Baker Lake artists to work in Canada's rugged north.
Oonark holds many accolades for her work. In 1973, she became a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, a distinction that she shares with my first selection, Donald Harvey. She designed the stamp for the United Nations Habitat Conference in 1976, and in 1984, Oonark became an Officer of the Order of Canada. Her work can be found in the collections of: Musee d'art contemporain de Montreal, Art Gallery of Ontario, University of British Columbia, McMichael Canadian Art Collection, National Gallery of Canada, Edmonton Art Gallery, and many more.
The reason that I consider this decision to be a curve-ball is that with such a small contingency of Inuit artists in the collection, it is highly unlikely that a future selection will share a common history with Oonark. In this way, my selection stands to represent a piece of 'Canadianism' in stark contrast to the Northern Landscape offered by Lisa's first selection. Oonarks' work, like much of the Inuit art being produced, strove to represent everyday activities of life in Baker Lake. Her inclusion in a major exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ontario entitled "The People Within", focussing on Baker Lake artists, seems to indicate her place within Canada. While it is surely a foreign way of life to many Canadians, it is undoubtedly a part of Canada and what it would mean to be Canadian, at least in part.
Darryn
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