NOVEMBER 16 - 27 2013

Madrona Gallery is please to present Cape Dorset: Past and Present. A collection of prints and drawings that spans five decades of work based out of the Kinngait Studio in Cape Dorset. This collection places traditional works by iconic artists such as Kenojuak Ashevak, Pudlo Pudlat, Mayoreak Ashoona, Kananginak Pootoogook and Pitalooie Saila alongside contemporary works by leading artists of today. We are constantly amazed at the strength and diversity of work coming out of this community.

The prints of the 1960's established a visual language that has become internationally recognized and can be found in museums around the globe. However the iconography and style that is now so well recognized as 'Inuit' is not static. It is continually being reevaluated against a contemporary lens that raises new questions about life in the north. In the oil stick drawings by Jutai Toonoo we see a deeply personal approach to the people of his community. Qavavau Manumie's drawings re-evaluate spiritual or dream based themes, that are present in some of the early prints from the 1960's, but in a unique contemporary manner that often incorporates elements of modern life.