THOMASSIE KUDLUK (1910-1989) KANGIRSUK (PAYNE BAY / BELLIN)

Pamioq, Ekilou, and Paoluk Hunting Polar Bears

stone, antler, white and black inlay, 20.5 x 7.25 x 6 in (52.1 x 18.4 x 15.2 cm)

dated and signed, "1990 / DAVID RUBEN PIQTOUKUN"

Provenance

Private Collection, Toronto.

What sets the works of Thomassie Kudluk apart from his contemporaries is his dedication to making the average seem heroic, but not serious. His quirky carvings are characterized by an almost single-minded dedication to commemorating - and frequently spoofing - the more banal experiences of Inuit life. On the advent of his solo show at the Innuit Gallery in Toronto the artist, through his interpreter, explained, “I carve only what I know,” and described his own works as remembrances “from the past that I have seen” (Globe and Mail, 22 June 1981). Kudluk, tongue firmly in cheek, was a folk artist of the highest order, but partly out of necessity. He carved his small, mostly flat works using a vise because he only had one good arm; he often inscribed texts on the sides, rather than on the bottoms of carvings; he sometimes finished works with white paint! Some works are serious but many are slapstick or ribald. The present work is not a traditional hunting scene, but rather an unbowdlerized and highly eccentric depiction of the slog and excitement of the pursuit, complete with bear tracks.

Literature: For writings on the artist and his works see: Ingo Hessel, Inuit Art: An Introduction, (Vancouver/Toronto: Douglas & McIntyre, 1998), p. 86 & 120; Marie Routledge and Ingo Hessel
, “Regional Diversity in Contemporary Inuit Sculpture in” Inuit Art Quarterly (Summer 1990), p. 10–23. See the section devoted to Thomassie Kudluk’s art in Darlene Coward Wight, The First Passionate Collector: The Ian Lindsay Collection of Inuit Art (Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1990), pp. 142-149; Mary M. Craig, “The World According to Thomassie Kudluk” and Bert Witt, “Profile,” Arts & Culture of the North (Spring 1991), p. 322-4. See John Bentley Mays, “The northern facts of life,” in The Globe and Mail, 22 June 1981, p. 16; “Interview with Thomassie Kudluk,” transcribed from a taped interview by Martha Palliser, Inuktitut Magazine, Spring 1989, No. 55, p. 4-9.