art.wikisort.org - Artist

Janet Kigusiuq (b. 1926 Putuqsuqniq camp, near Garry Lake, Nunavut; d. 2005 Baker Lake, Nunavut) was an Inuit artist. Kigusiuq came from a large family of artists: she was the eldest daughter of Jessie Oonark, her siblings included artists Victoria Mamnguqsualuk, Nancy Pukingrnak, Peggy Qablunaaq Aittauq, Mary Yuusipik Singaqti, Josiah Nuilaalik, Miriam Marealik Qiyuk, and William Noah, and she was married to Mark Uqayuittuq, son of Luke Anguhadluq, themselves both artists.

Janet Kigusiuq
Born	1926 (1926) Garry Lake, Canada
Died	2005 (aged 78–79) Baker Lake, Canada
Nationality	Canadian
Known for	Printmaking, Drawing
Spouse(s)	Mark Uqayuittuq

Work

Kigusiuq's bright, bold and graphic work focused on camp life activities like hunting and fishing and supernatural forms inspired by Inuit spirituality and stories.[1] The source of these motifs are principally drawn from childhood experiences at the family camp, Kitikat in the Back River region.[2]

Through out her career she experimented with many artistic mediums, including drawing, print, textiles, wall hangings. She adopted printmaking following the family's move to Baker Lake and between 1970 and 1988 she contributed to the Baker Lake print collections.[3] Her mature work saw the development of pencil crayon colour fields and collage techniques, the latter prompted by the onset of arthritis.[4]

Selected exhibitions

• Janet Kigusiuq: Recent Drawings. 1996. Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, MB.
• The Urge to Abstraction: The Graphic Art of Janet Kigusiuq. 2008, Museum of Inuit Art.[5]
• New Lines: Contemporary Drawings from the National Gallery of Canada. June - Oct 2014. Art Gallery of Alberta[6]
• Janet Kigusiuq. June 8 - September 26, 2019, The Art Gallery of Ontario. [7]
• Breaking Ground: Freda Diesing, Helen Kalvak, Janet Kigusiuq, Rita Letendre. September–November 2019. National Arts Centre.[8]

Collections

Her work can be found in a number of museum and gallery permanent collections[9] such as:

• The National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, ON[10]
• The Macdonald Steward Art Centre, Guelph, ON
• The Museum of Inuit Art in Toronto, ON
• The Winnipeg Art Gallery in Winnipeg, MB.[11]
• The Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec in Quebec City, Quebec[12]
• Feheley Fine Arts in Toronto, ON [13]

References

Bibliography

• Fisher, Kyra Vladykov (Fall 2007). "Janet Kigusiuq". Inuit Art Quarterly. 22 (2).

Further reading

• McMaster, Gerald, ed. (2010). Inuit Modern: The Samuel and Esther Sarick Collection. Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario. p. 234.
• Gillmor, Alison (Fall 1996). "Janet Kigusiuq: Recent Drawings at the Winnipeg Art Gallery". Inuit Art Quarterly. 11 (3): 43–46.
• Lewis, Katie (Fall 2005). "Janet Kigusiuq (1926–2005)". Inuit Art Quarterly. 20 (3): 40–41.
• Sinclair, James. "Breaking New Ground: The Graphic Work of Shuvinai Ashoona, Janet Kigusiuq, Victoria Mamnguqsuuluk, and Annie Pootoogook". Inuit Art Quarterly. 19 (3/4: Fall/Winter 2004): 58–61.
• Janet Kigusiuq at Inuit Art Alive
• Janet Kigusiuq at the Canadian Art Database

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