Art in the Spotlight: Shuvinai Ashoona

Posted by on .

Thursday, June 24, 1 pm via Zoom (register, here)

Shuvinai Ashoona. Curiosity, 2020. Coloured pencil, graphite and ink on paper, Overall: 127.5 × 268 cm. Purchase, with funds from the Joan Chalmers Inuit Art Fund, 2020. © Shuvinai Ashoona, courtesy Dorset Fine Arts 2020/95

Join artist Shuvinai Ashoona in conversation with Wanda Nanibush, the AGO’s Curator, Indigenous Art, for a conversation about her work and the exhibition Shuvinai Ashoona: Beyond the Visible. Ashoona is the descendant of a deep artistic legacy through her grandmother Pitseolak, a widely revered illustrator. Ashoona’s work is characterized by a confident sense of colour, a sure hand, and a unique vision.

Shuvinai Ashoona received the 2018 Gershon Iskowitz Prize at the AGO, which is awarded each year to recognize an individual’s contribution to Canadian art and to support their future work. One such work is Curiosity (2019), a drawing acquired by the AGO at Art Toronto 2020, measuring an astonishing 8.7 feet (2.65 metres) wide. Offering a bird’s eye view of her hometown of Kinngait, seven giant monsters in soft pastels crawl with great curiosity over houses and buildings.

Wanda Nanibush is Curator, Indigenous Art at the AGO. Selected AGO exhibitions include Karoo Ashevak (2019), Rebecca Belmore Facing the Monumental (2018), JS McLean Centre for Indigenous & Canadian Art (2018), Rita Letendre: Fire & Light (2017), Toronto: Tributes + Tributaries, 1971-1989 (2016).