Spirit and Owls Item Number: Na812 from the MOA: University of British Columbia

Description

Print depicting a spirit figure with a red humanoid head wearing a headdress with many round-tipped arms that fade from red to orange. The head is flanked by two dark green and brown owls facing outwards that are standing on an elongated dark green and brown form with a lobed edge. The name of the artist is written in Inuit syllabics above the name of the printmaker, also in Inuit syllabics, which has been printed along with the Cape Dorset Co-operative stylized red igloo seal in the upper left-hand corner of the image. Below the image is written, "Spirit and Owls Stonecut 8/50 Dorset 1975 Eegyvudluk." The Canadian Eskimo Arts Council blind embossed stamp is in the lower right-hand corner.

History Of Use

Contemporary Inuit prints were first produced at Cape Dorset in 1957. Although precursors to printmaking can be seen in women's skin applique work and in men's incising of ivory, stone and bone, the impetus for printmaking was as a commercial venture. This venture was established jointly by Inuit artists and John Houston, the civil administrator for Cape Dorset. Other Inuit communities quickly followed the commercial success of Cape Dorset's West Baffin Eskimo Cooperative. Printmaking developed as a communal activity following a Japanese, rather than a Western, model of serigraph production. Each year the cooperatives produce a series of limited edition prints which are sold in the retail art market. In 1965, the Canadian Eskimo Arts Council was established from the Canadian Eskimo Art Committee to ensure high standards were maintained. Printmaking, along with stone carving, provide cash income for communities which have undergone rapid and significant change, during the late 20th century, from traditional hunting based societies to settled communities dependent on consumer goods. The prevalent images depicted in Inuit art are of traditional life, arctic animals and mythology. Recently, contemporary subjects have been depicted by a minority of artists.

Cultural Context

contemporary art