MilkTruck Delivery #2 APRIL 🥛 🛻

Taking things up North this month to highlight some captivating art from the territory of Nunavut. April 1, 1999, was a special day for Canada as for the first time in half a century, Canada’s political land map would see a change. I remember this day fondly as eight-year-old me was greeted with an inuksuk in the newspaper. It also coincided with a project we had to do where we wrote about one of the Canadian provinces - I opted for a territory, but it was not without a fight to justify my reasoning. I’m sure my reasoning was sound because I got my wish. I grabbed a piece of manila paper and started drawing an inuksuk. The form was so simple but I knew that it was supposed to represent a figure. I added block on top of block, balancing the weight in my head as to ensure it would not tip off the page.

The project was a success and thus started my obsession with Nunavut. Months later, at a fundraiser auction at the high school, I would attend years later which I attended with my parents, a wooden box of smoked salmon with a tile inscribed with Inuit art went on the block. Gold inlay, beautiful design - I had no idea how much it would set my parents back but I remember being wracked with nerves as it came across the stage. Thank you to my mom and dad who bid on that box of dried and cured salmon which would sit in my bedroom for years to come. Perhaps the inuksuk gave light to my love of abstract art or art of the “other” and this experience of attending an event where you could throw up your hand and make a bid to buy something gave light to my love of the commerce side of the art world. Enjoy!

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Buyer/Searcher Beware: Like milk - these posts can spoil. I’ll try to stay up to date so these works stay fresh!

Whatever the case, or use case that this newsletter might hold, I can only hope that it helps expand your knowledge and love of art.

Johnny! Get your gun! The shit-scared buck coming straight at you in this piece would make you think that it’s in trouble, instead, it feels like more of a warning to the viewer. You almost don’t want to look at this piece too long as you are met with the barrel of a rifle with a trained eye behind the sights. It’s you and the buck that are in danger here. The rest of the party is made up of birds of peace and birds of prey and a couple of four-legged friends who seem to be confidently aware of their safety. The legs of the buck could have been drawn simply but the left hind leg (hunter’s left) is tucked up behind its front leg showing us just how quickly it’s trying to haul ass out of there. There’s a feeling of calm surrounding the target. The buck itself looks aware of what’s about to happen: a quick and certain death. Standing in front of the piece or looking at it on your laptop or phone, where does that place us? Slightly in danger? Part of the peaceful congregation around the buck? Or is Johnny showing us that we’re always somewhere between? Regardless, it’s a bad day to be a buck and a great day to be a buck hunter.

This work is available at Madrona Gallery in Victoria, B.C. (home). I stopped in before leaving for Paris and amidst setting up for the opening night of an exhibition, the gallery director, Michael took time to go through a few pieces with me. His excitement for each piece and artist that we spoke about was really infectious! Madrona is certainly the best of the best on the island and carries a very thoughtful collection of artists and their works.

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bio

Born in 1970, Johnny Pootoogook was born in a traditional Inuit camp called Ikerasak, near Kinngait (Cape Dorset), NU. He is a talented sculptor and printmaker, who currently lives in Kinngait pursuing his artistic career. His father, Kananginak, a prominent and involved community leader, was a sculptor and printmaker himself. The artist's work is inspired by his Inuit culture. Johnny Pootoogook has had several exhibitions throughout his career, his latest one being in 2016 at the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco. (taken from Dorset Fine Arts website)

Tools. To get the job done. I recently read that you can tickle the belly of a salmon or a trout or any fish that swims upstream. If you reach your hand under a rock where a fish has swum and place your palm facing up, starting with your index fingers at the tail and begin to rub your fingers all the way up to the gills, you can put a fish into a trance before grabbing it, bonking it and throwing it in your bag. Who was the person with the pension for tickling that figured that out? Town Tickler? Trout Trancer? Regardless, tools of the trade, be it your fingers, or a handmade rod and lure look amazing in a state of movement or stillness. In the case above, the tools of the trade, placed below the fish seem to mimic its shape, yet in a hierarchy of importance, the fish trumps the tool. The rod, line, and lure are still. The fish is still but the image of a well-earned catch emits itself through the pairing of animal and equipment - the action that once was slows down and a sense of relief fills the viewer’s gaze.

I’ve tried to zoom in on this to the limit that my laptop supercomputer will allow. I might have to upgrade to an enhanced zoom module and in a low but knowledgable tone say “enhance…enhance…okay blow that up…enhance” as I inspect this piece. Each pebble in the bottom right and each striation in the ice mesmerizes me more and more the longer I stare. The chilly, exposed blue of the ice float and the accompanying patch of rocks on the right side of the piece give the admirer context of perhaps a change in the season, the gloves and toque on the ground - an indication that the hunter's prey is in the vicinity - something is happening, be it in a slow manner, the intent here creates a heightened sense of anticipation.

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This work is available at Madrona Gallery by way of Dorset Fine Arts. For any readers not familiar with the Inuit or the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, Canada - please give yourself some time to take a read here.

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bio

Padloo comes from a family of well-known artists, her maternal grandparents being the renowned sculptors, Qababuwa and Taraya Tunnillie. Her grandmother, Keeleemeeoomie Samayualie and her aunt, Elijakota Samayualie both were established artists in drawing and graphic arts. Padloo has a unique approach to both traditional and contemporary subjects and began drawing seriously while attending a Banff drawing workshop in 2001. (taken from Dorset Fine Arts website)

Skewered Orca whales are on the menu, I suppose! Narwhals have been reported by Inuit hunters to skewer the industrious Orca whale - putting their tool(s) to use in a painful and effective manner. For whatever reason, my Instagram feed contains a lot of #natureismetal type of content some of which includes Orca whales using their cunning to hunt seals in a coordinated attack wherein they create a strong wake that knocks the seals off of their ice float, into the icy drink, and then into a tasty meal for the large fish. So far, I haven’t been able to find a video of the Narwhal enforcing its might on the Orca, but it has sparked a memory of the Vancouver Aquarium which had a large Narwhal tusk hanging above the stairs. Terrifying, eery, all of that - these whales use their tusk to sense the world or underwater world around them - diving down to 5000 ft to hunt on the regular days when they’re not saving themselves from the mighty Orca. This piece feels a bit humourous; the wise Narwhal taking out two pesky Orcas with its long (up to ten feet) tusk.

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bio

Qavavau Manumie is a well established artist based in Cape Dorset Nunavut. His work can be found in collections around the world including the National gallery of Canada, Museum of Civilization and The McMichael Collection of Canadian Art. His signature style of adding a sense of whimsy and humor to Inuit narratives has separated his work from many other Inuit artists. Qavavau is also a master print-maker. He is involved in carving and inking the stone tablets for the famous annual collection of prints that is released each year. His reputation has taken him around the globe to give demonstrations and teach others the art that he has spent almost four decades perfecting.

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See you next month! Please send me some names of Canadian or non-Canadian artists you like so I can do some learning/digging on them!