Biography Shuvinai Ashoona
SUVINAI ASHOONA (SUVENAI)
Date of Birth: August 5, 1961
Place of Birth: Cape Dorset
Mother: Sorosolutu Ashoona
Father: Kiawak Ashoona
Male/Female: Female
E7-1954
EXHIBITIONS:
November 2000
Suvenai Ashoona and Annago Ashevak Inuit Gallery of Vancouver
Vancouver, British Columbia
June – July 2001
Transitions 2
Indian and Inuit Art Centre
Indian and Northern Affairs Canada Montreal, Quebec
(tour)
(illustrated catalogue)
April
Art by Women: An investigation of Inuit Sculpture and Graphics
Feheley Fine Arts
Toronto, Ontario
2003, 2006, 2007,2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014 2015, 2017
Cape Dorset Graphics (annual collection)
(illustrated catalogue)
Women of the Ashoona Family: Inuit Print Retrospective The Guild Shop
Toronto, Ontario
2005
Oye Canada,VIP Lounge, Canadian Pavillon Expo205
Aichi, Japan
November 2005
Unique Visions Feheley Fine Arts Toronto, Ontario
2006 – 2007
Ashoona: Third Wave Art Gallery of Alberta Edmonton, Alberta
February – April 2006
Drawing Restraint Saw Gallery
Ottawa, Ontario (catalogue)
May 2006
Landscape – Contemporary Inuit Drawings Marion Scott Gallery
Vancouver, British Columbia
(catalogue)
February 2007
Burning Cold: Emerging Artists from Across The North and South
Yukon Arts Centre
Whitehorse, Yukon
June 2007
Three Cousins Feheley Fine Arts Toronto, Ontario
May – Sept 2008
Earth and Sky
Stadhimmel Citysky Project Basel, Switzerland
Sept – Oct 2008
The Basel Project
Shuvenai Ashoona and John Noesthedan Feheley Fine Arts
Toronto, Ontario
Nov – Dec 2008
Breaking Ground:
New Oil Stick Drawings from Cape Dorset Feheley Fine Arts
Toronto, Ontario
February – March, 2009
Kenojuak Ashevak RCA, CC and Shuvenai Ashoona Inuit Gallery of Vancouver
Vancouver, British Columbia
May – October 1999
Three Women, Three Generations: Drawings by Pitseolak Ashoona, Napatchie Pootoogook and Suvenai Ashoona
McMichael Canadian Art Collection
Kleinburg, Ontario
(illustrated catalogue)
June 2009
Extreme Drawing Marion Scott Gallery Vancouver, BC
May – Aug 2009
Noise Ghost
Shary Boyle and Shuvenai Ashoona Justina M. Barnike Gallery
Hart House, Toronto. ON
September – October 2008
Never let the Facts get in the way of the Truth Western Front
Vancouver, British Columbia
October, 2009
Mixed Media from Cape Dorset Feheley Fine Arts
Toronto, Ontario
October, 2009 – April, 2010
Arctic Spirit:
50th Anniversary of Cape Dorset’s Kinngait Studios Art Gallery of Ontario
Toronto, Ontario
May – June, 2010
Facing Forward – New Works from Kinngait Studios Marion Scott Gallery
Vancouver, British Columbia
Oct 2009 – Jan 2010
Uuturautiit: Cape Dorset Celebrates 50 Years of Printmaking
National Gallery of Canada Ottawa, Ontario
(illustrated catalogue)
October, 2009 – January, 2010
Nunannguaq: In the Likeness of the Earth McMichael Canadian Art Collection Kleinburg, Ontario
January, 2010 – March, 2010
Big, Bold and Beautiful:
Large Scale Drawings from Cape Dorset Museum of Inuit Art
Toronto, Ontario
February – May 2010
Monster
West Vancouver Museum
West Vancouver, British Columbia
June – July, 2010
North Meets South Feheley Fine Arts Toronto, Ontario
July- August, 2010
The Drawing Room Pendulum Gallery Vancouver, British Columbia
July – December, 2010
Nipirasait: Many Voices
Inuit Prints from Cape Dorset
The Canadian Embassy Art Gallery Washington, DC
November, 2010 – January, 2011
Ijurnaqtut
Whimsy, Wit and Humor in Inuit Art Carleton University Art Gallery Ottawa, Ontario
November, 2010 – January, 2011
It Is What It Is
National Gallery of Canada Ottawa, Ontario
April, 2011
Inuit Modern: The Samuel and Esther Sarick Collection Art Gallery of Ontario
Toronto, Ontario
(Illustrated catalogue)
April 2011
Gallery Artists
Marion Scott Gallery Vancouver, British Columbia
June 2011
Dorset Large:
Large Scale drawings from the Kinngait Studios Feheley Fine Arts
Toronto, Ontario
(illustrated catalogue)
October 2011
Dorset Annual Print Collection Gallery d’Art Vincent.Ottawa, Ontario
October – November 2011
Surreal: Eight Artists in the Fantastical Tradition Marion Scott Gallery
Vancouver, British Columbia
November, 2011
Contemporary North: Drawings from Cape Dorset Madrona Gallery
Victoria, British Columbia
Dec. 2011 – Feb. 2012
Women in Charge
Inuit Contemporary Women Artists Museo Nazionale Preistorica Etnografica “Luigi Pigorini”
Rome Italy
(illustrated catalogue)
February 2012
Dorset Now Feheley Fine Arts Toronto, Ontario
February – March 2012
Sky Ecchymosis: Part of the Series – Women of the Arctic
La Centrale Galerie Powerhouse
Montreal, Quebec
Toronto, Ontario
May- June 2012
The Unexpected Feheley Fine Arts Toronto, Ontario
June – September 2012
18th Biennale of Sydney: All our Relations Art Gallery of New South Wales
Sydney, Australia
December 2012 – May 2013
Telling Stories: Inuit Art from Cape DorsetToronto Pearson International Airport (Terminal 1)
Toronto,Ontario
February – June 2013
Where Do We Come From? What are We? Where are We Going? Identity in Contemporary Cape Dorset Art McMichael Canadian Art Collection
Kleinburg, Ontario
May 2012 – April 2013 Dreams
Oh, Canada: National
Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art North Adams, Massachusetts
April – June 2013
Animal Power: Images in Contemporary Inuit Art Marion Scott Gallery
Vancouver, British Columbia
April – June 2013
Dorset Seen
Carleton University Art Gallery Ottawa, Ontario
April – September 2013
New Voices from the New North National Gallery of Canada Ottawa, Ontario
April – September 2013
Shuvinai Ashoona and John Noestheden: Earth and Sky National Gallery of Canada
Ottawa, Ontario
May – September 2013
Sakahan: International Indigenious Art National Gallery of Canada
Ottawa, Ontario
(illustrated Catalouge)
October 2013
Toronto International Art Fair Metro Toronto Convention Centre Toronto, Ontario
October – December 2013
Sanaunguabik: Traditions and Transformations in Inuit Art
Enterprise Square Gallery
Edmonton, Alberta
October – December 2013
Cape Dorset Prints Gallery 210
St. Louis, Missouri
November 2013 – January 2014
Winter Show: Gallery Artists Marion Scott Gallery Vancouver, British Columbia
February – March 2014
North – South Encounter
Pierre-Francois Ouellette Art Contemporain Montreal, Quebec
January 2014
Cape Dorset: New Generation
Willock and Sax Gallery- Banff Art Gallery Banff, Alberta
January – March 2014
Views from the North: Original Drawings from Cape Dorset
Alaska on Madison
New York, New York
February – March 2014
North South Encounter
Pierre – Francois Ouellette Art Contemporain Montreal Quebec
March – April 2015
Over the Top Feheley Fine Arts
Toronto, Ontario
April 2015
Axeme 07 – Axe/Direction Stockholm Supermarket Art Fair Stockholm, Sweden
July 2014 – January 2015
SITElines: New Perspectives on the Art of the Americas (Unsettled Landscapes)
SITE Santa Fe
Santa Fe, New Mexico
September – October 2015
Fifteen Years: Kingait 2000-2015 Feheley Fine Arts
Toronto, Ontario
November – December 2015
Contemporary North II Madrona Gallery Victoria, British Columbia
November – December 2015
Universal Cobra: Shuvenai Ashoona and Shary Boyle Pierre Francois Ouellette Art Contemporain
Montreal, Quebec
January – March, 2016
Floe Edge:
Contemporary Art and Collaberations From Nunavut
Canada Gallery
Canada House
London, United Kingdom
February – March, 2016
Cape Dorset and Points South 2 Theo Gantz Studio
Beacon, New York
February – April, 2016
Change Makers
Art Gallery of Mississauga Mississauga, Ontario
August – September, 2016
Neon NDN: Indigenous Pop Art Saw Gallery
Ottawa, Ontario
November, 2016 – February, 2017
Astral Bodies Mercer Union Toronto, Ontario
January – May, 2017
Earthlings
Ester Foundation Calgary, Alberta
December, 2016 – January, 2017
The Voiced Plate: Contemporary Inuit Prints Marion Scott Gallery Vancouver, British Columbia
June – December, 2017
Every, Now, Then:
Reframing Nationhood
Art Gallery of Ontario
Toronto, Ontario
(a limited edition book titled, The Polar World, Shuvenai Ashoona was published by the AGO in conjunction with this exhibition)
October, 2017 – March, 2018
2017 Canadian Biennial
National Gallery of Canada Ottawa, ON
(illustrated catalogue)
SOLO EXHIBITIONS:
November 2006
Shuvinai Ashoona: Time Interrupted Feheley Fine Arts
Toronto, Ontario
Apr – June 2009
Shuvenai Ashoona Drawings Carleton University Art Gallery Ottawa, Ontario
November – December 2011
Contemporary Reflections The Canadian Guild of Crafts Montreal, Quebec
September 2012
Shuvinai Ashoona
Marion Scott Gallery Vancouver, British Columbia
September – October 2012
Shuvinai’s World(s) Feheley FIne Arts Toronto, Ontario
March 2013
Shuvinai Ashoona:Merged Realities Inuit Gallery of Vancouver Vancouver, British Columbia
September – October 2015
Shuvenai Ashoona: Woven Thoughts Feheley Fine Arts
Toronto Ontario
March – April, 2017
Shuvenai Ashoona Curiosities Feheley Fine arts Toronto, Ontario
October – December, 2017
Shuvenai Ashoona A For Sure World Marion Scott Gallery Vancouver, BC
COLLECTIONS:
Inuit Art Centre, Indian and Northern Affairs, Ottawa, Ontario
Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba
The National Gallery, Ottawa, Ontario
Canadian Museum of Civilization
Art Gallery of Ontario
HONOURS, ACHIEVEMENTS and EVENTS:
2000 Work “Rock Landscape” 97-98 was featured on the cover of Inuit Art Quarterly, Vol. 15, No.1, Spring 2000.
2009 Featured artist at Feheley Fine Arts booth at the Toronto International Art Fair.
SELECTED REFERENCES:
Ryan, Leslie Boyd
CAPE DORSET PRINTS: A Retrospective, Pomegranate, San Francisco, California, U.S.A., 2007.
Sandra Dyck
SHUVENAI ASHOONA DRAWINGS Carleton University Art Gallery
ABC Art Books Canada 2012
Milroy, Sarah
An Aboriginal Triumph. The Globe and Mail, July 20th, 2012 p. R6.
Milroy, Sarah
Inuit Feminism Goes Global. The Globe and Mail, September 8th, 2012 p. R5.
Art from Canada’s North. The Globe and Mail, April 27th, 2013 .
Kardosh, Robert
The New Generation: A Radical Defiance. Inuit Art Quarterly, Winter 2008.
Karlinsky, Amy
Land of the Midnight Sons and Daughters: Contemporary Inuit Drawings. Border Crossings, Issue no. 105.
Rattemeyer, Christian
Vitamin D2, New Perspectives in Drawings, Phaidon, 2013.
Beverly cramp
Shuvenai Ashoona’s Surreal World, Galleries West online magazine, January 2nd, 2018
