ᑲᕈ ᐊᓴᕙ Karoo Ashevak
First Name: ᑲᕈ ᐊᓴᕙ Karoo
Last Name: Ashevak
Biography (English): ᑲᕈ ᐊᓴᕙ Karoo Ashevak was an Inuk sculptor who lived a nomadic hunting life in the Kitikmeot Region of the central Arctic before moving into Spence Bay, Northwest Territories (now Taloyoak, Nunavut) in 1960. His career as an artist started in 1968 by participating in a government-funded carving program. Working with the primary medium of fossilized whale bone, Ashevak created approximately 250 sculptures in his lifetime, and explored themes of shamanism and Inuit spirituality through playful depictions of human figures, angakuit (shamans), spirits, and Arctic wildlife. In 1970, the Canadian Eskimo Art Council held the Centennial competition in Yellowknife. Ashevak's sculptures won third prize in that competition, and he became a recognizable artist after his solo exhibition at the American Indian Art Centre in New York in 1973. Ashevak's work abandoned cultural references and adopted a modern expressionistic style, which visually appealed to a broader audience than collectors of Inuit art. An extensive collection of Ashevak's sculptures went on solo or group exhibitions at commercial galleries around the world, including Franz Bader Gallery at Washington, D.C., Lippel Gallery in Montreal, the Upstairs Gallery in Winnipeg and the Inuit Gallery in Toronto. Ashevak's works were also widely traded on the auction market. Despite his short and tragic passing — he died in October 1974 from a house fire, Ashevak was crucial to the development of Inuit sculpture by visualizing an imaginative world with supernatural beings and shamanistic practices.
Biography (French): Karoo Ashevak Inuuliqtuminiq 1940 saniani Talurjuap Qitirmiuni Nunavummi, Karoo Ashevak nunaqaqsimajuq asini, inuusiqaqsuni piqqusiqaqtumik angunasuppatsutik, nuttilaunnginirmini Talurjuarmut 1960-mi. Ashevak qaujimajaujjutiqaqtuq ajjiungittunik qimirruniqasuungummata tautuqquuqtanginnik ammalu Inuit angakkininginnik tamakkunani sanaugarmini. Pinnguarniqaqtuujaaqsuni, sanagusirivattanga takutsautitsimmat anginiqsamik-sanammangit ammalu ijurnaqsutik-ilulilluatarijangit sanannguagangita tarninnguat, angakkuit, ukiuqtaqtumiutait uumajut ammalu inunnguat. Atuqtalluataqarajutsuni Arviup sauninganik ammalu atusuungummitsuin ujaqqanik tuugaarnillu, tuttuit najjunginnik ammalu suqqarnik ilagutsiutisimatillugit sanauganginnut. Sanaugaqtiukainnalaurnirmini ilitarijaulilauqsimajuq nunalimmini, ammalu Uqsuqtuumi, tautugarijauliqsuni kinguvaariinut Qitirmiuni sanaugaqtinut. Qaujimajammariutsuni Kanatami ammalu Mialigait nunanganni. Karoo Ashevak sanaugangit takutsautitauqattaqsimajuq Turantumi, Manturiumi ammalu Niu Juak-mi. 1973-mi takutsautitaujuqaqtillugu American Indian Arts-kunni Niu Juak Sity-mi nalunaiqsigutaujummat sanaugaqtiuninganik, ammalu 1994-mi takutsautitsijuqaqtillugu National Gallery-mi Aatuvaami takutsautitsimmat pimmariunginnarninganik sanaugangita iluani ullumisiutiit Kanatami sanaugait. Karoo Ashevak inuujunniilauqsimajuq Uttuupiri 1974 illumik ikittuqaqtillugu arraaguqaqsuni 34-nik
Website Link: https://www.inuitartfoundation.org/profiles/artist/Karoo-Ashevak
Community Detail: reczOtpnDDHFiKalC
Birth Year: 1940
Medium: sculpture
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