Two framed artworks of abstract landscapes hang side by side.
Tony Anguhalluq, (left) Two Curved hills in Pink and Orange and Northern Light in the Dark, 2006, coloured pencil on paper, (right) one inuk is Trying to catch wolves and is at the west side of Baker Lake in aug, 2017, coloured pencil and oil stick on paper. Courtesy of the artist and Marion Scott Gallery, Vancouver.

Exhibition features works by mother, father and son across decades

The exhibition Atautchikun | wâhkôtamowin includes works from artists and writers with degrees of connectedness to Inuk artists represented in the museum’s collection. These familial conversations across time and space illustrate what Inuit art is and can be outside of colonial frameworks of monetary gain. A contemporary artist who has several connections to other artists in the exhibition is Tony Anguhalluq.

A drawing in coloured pencil and oil stick depicts a hilled landscape in browns and greens, dotted with figures of animals and a hunter holding a gun.
Tony Anguhalluq, one inuk is Trying to catch wolves and is at the west side of Baker Lake in aug, 2017, coloured pencil and oil stick on paper . Courtesy of the artist and Marion Scott Gallery, Vancouver.
A drawing in coloured pencil depicts two curved hills. The hill on the left is pink and the hill on the right is orange. A pink and green shape at the top of the work depicts the Northern Lights.
Tony Anguhalluq, Two Curved hills in Pink and Orange and Northern Light in the Dark, 2006, coloured pencil on paper. Courtesy of the artist and Marion Scott Gallery, Vancouver.

Anguhalluq is part of a generation of Inuit artists who are extending and reinventing northern graphic traditions. The adopted son of Luke Anguhadluq and Marion Tuu’luq, whose work is also on display in this exhibition, Anguhalluq spent most of his childhood summers at a camp north of Qamanittuaq (Baker Lake), where he learned to hunt and fish. Brightly coloured and abstractly patterned, Anguhalluq’s drawings inventory life on the land and its seasonal rhythms.  

A gallery space showcases two- and three-dimensional works, some on wall, some on plinths.
Works by Marion Tuu’luq (far left) and Luke Anguhadluq (far right) are displayed as part of the exhibition Atautchikun | wâhkôtamowin at Remai Modern. Photo: Carey Shaw.

The works by Anguhalluq’s adoptive parents are situated in the first gallery you enter when visiting Atautchikun | wâhkôtamowin.

Tuu’luq (1910-2002) was a member of the Utkusiksalingmiut (“the people of the soapstone pots”), a mostly inland dwelling group of Inuit. She was born at her family’s camp at Innituuq, in the Utkuhiksalik area near the Chantrey Inlet. Tuu’luq lived a traditional lifestyle for five decades until 1961 when she and her husband, artist Luke Anguhadluq, moved to the settlement of Qamani’tuaq (Baker Lake). Tuu’luq is known primarily for her textile works but also produced graphic works like the one seen here, contributing to 13 editions of the Baker Lake print collection. 

A stencil cut artwork on a cream-coloured background depicts four dogs. Starting from the top, the dogs are green, brown, blue and navy blue and are abstract in form.
Marion Tuu’luq, Qimmit – Dogs, 1978, stencil cut. The Mendel Art Gallery Collection at Remai Modern. Acquired 1980.

A renowned textile artist, Tuu’luq was a first-generation Inuit artist whose drawings, prints, and wall hangings have been displayed in major exhibitions in Canada and internationally, including a solo show of her work that opened at the National Gallery of Canada in 2002. Tuu’luq’s lively colour palette, coupled with her penchant for symmetry and anthropomorphic figures, give her works a unique aesthetic. Through her artistic contributions, Tuu’luq became a respected elder of the Baker Lake Inuit community. She later joined the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts in 1978, and received an honorary doctorate from the University of Alberta in 1990. 

His father Luke Anguhadluq was a hunter and camp leader throughout most of his life. He made his first drawings shortly after moving to Qamani’tuaq in 1961, over 80 of which were eventually featured in the Sanavik Co-operative’s print collection. 

The below work shows an angakkuq or shaman in flight, rendered in Anguhadluq’s simplified forms and bright colours. 

A simple drawing shows a figure with a yellow face, hands and feet, wearing a green jumpsuit-like garment. The figure is positioned on its side.
Luke Anguhadluq, Angaguk, 1978, serigraph. The Mendel Art Gallery Collection at Remai Modern. Acquired 1980.