Untitled (Spirit Barges)

Inscriptions

Signed, in graphite, lower center: artist's name [Inuktitut syllabics]; inscribed, in graphite, on reverse, lower left: 6312 e; lower right: mmj (?) 520; 4-8; Oonark 500 PL LR.M.M (?);

Label

In this drawing, the striped figures likely depict a spiritual or shamanic transformation. The curved, triangular-shaped portions of the tails on these figures are reminiscent of the ulu, a woman’s knife used for skinning and preparing animal hides, butchering, chopping, eating, and sewing. This motif is common within Oonark’s drawings and pays homage to the importance of women and their labor within Inuit communities.

From the 2021 exhibition A Legacy for Learning: The Jane and Raphael Bernstein Collection, curated by Jami C. Powell, Curator of Indigenous Art; Katherine W. Hart, Senior Curator of Collections and Barbara C. & Harvey P. Hood 1918 Curator of Academic Programming; John R. Stomberg Ph.D, Virginia Rice Kelsey 1961s Director; Jessica Hong, Associate Curator of Global Contemporary Art; and Melissa McCormick, Professor of Japanese Art and Culture at Harvard University

Course History

NAS 30.21, Native American Art and Material, Jami Powell, Spring 2021

NAS 30.21, Native American Art and Material, Jami Powell, Spring 2021

NAS 30.21, Native American Art and Material, Jami Powell, Spring 2021

Studio Art 15.03, Drawing I, Andrew Shea, Fall 2023

Exhibition History

Inuit Art

Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit, Legacy for Learning: The Jane and Raphael Bernstein Collection, Class of 1967 Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth, Hanover, New Hampshire, September 4, 2021–February 6, 2022.

Tradition and Transformation: Twentieth Century Inuit Art from the Collection of the Hood Museum of Art, Gene Y. Kin Class of 1985 Gallery, Teaching Exhibition, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, October 22, 2014-December 6, 2015.

Publication History

John R. Stomberg, A Legacy for Learning: The Jane and Raphael Bernstein collection; Hanover, New Hampshire, Dartmouth College, Hood Museum of Art, 2021, listed p.100.

Provenance

Canadian Guild of Crafts, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; sold to Jane and Raphael Bernstein, Ridgewood, New Jersey, August 29, 1975; lent to present collection, 2011; given to present collection, 2013.

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Subjects