In the winter of 2008, Shuvinai Ashoona was invited by curator Wayne Baerwaldt to Calgary’s Illingworth Kerr Gallery, at the Alberta College of Art and Design. Through Feheley Fine Arts, she had been commissioned to collaborate with Canadian crystal artist John Noestheden on an original drawing for a banner spanning an entire city block. This collaboration stemmed from Baerwaldt’s vision … Read More
Shuvinai Ashoona Receives Governor General’s Award
We are thrilled to share the news of Shuvinai Ashoona being honoured with the Governor General’s Awards in Visual Arts, a testament to her remarkable impact on Canadian art. Shuvinai’s unique talent for blending vivid storytelling with elements of fantasy, realism, and nostalgia have rightfully earned her this esteemed recognition, the highest honour for visual and media arts in Canada. … Read More
Contemporary Land: The Birth of Contemporary Drawing in the North
Contemporary Drawing in Kinngait, 1995–2015 Drawing holds a long history at the Kinngait Studios. For many artists it served as their introduction to artmaking, as graphite pencil and paper were among the first media available to in the late 1950s and early 1960s. While drawings were purchased by the co-op, they were seldom marketed for sale and prints dominated the … Read More
“Kenojuak Ashevak: To Make Something Beautiful” Collector’s talk
Inuit artist Kenojuak Ashevak, over her lifetime, became a national and international art star; Companion of the Order of Canada, and the holder of two honorary degrees, as well as the subject of several books and films. She was born in a camp near Kinngait in 1927. The exhibition, Kenojuak Ashevak: To Make Something Beautiful features incredibly rare and coveted … Read More
Kenojuak Ashevak: To Make Something Beautiful
(Digitized catalogue below) “For my subject matter I don’t start off and pick a subject as such; that’s not my way of addressing a drawing. My way of doing it is to start without a preconceived plan of exactly what I am going to execute in full, and so I come up with a small part of it which is … Read More
Kenojuak Ashevak: Queen of Canadian Art
This blog comes from a two-part series from guest writer, Edd Guarino. Edd is an established contemporary art collector, specializing in Native American and Inuit Art. For art lovers and collectors worldwide, Kenojuak Ashevak’s prints are the face of both Inuit and contemporary Canadian art. Though famous for her prints, Kenojuak produced art in a variety of other media such … Read More
Kenojuak Ashevak: A Collector’s View
Even when she was well into her eighties, Inuit artist Kenojuak Ashevak (usually simply referred to as Kenojuak) continued to produce powerful images that were always fresh and surprising. Her unique vision made her one of Canada’s most important contemporary artists whose work is sought after by museums and collectors worldwide. Her body of work ranges from highly stylized representational … Read More
Patricia Feheley talks about “Rarities & Fusion”
In May 2023 the gallery was thrilled to present a double-feature exhibition event showcasing two stellar shows: Rarities – Coveted Cape Dorset prints; and Fusion – Collaborative Drawings. At the opening reception on May 27, Pat Feheley spoke on the importance of collaboration at the Kinngait Studios and its integral existence since the very first printmaking experiments in the late … Read More
Pitseolak Qimirpik: Whimsy
Pitseolak Qimirpik’s work is whimsical. Known best for his sculptural practice which he began at thirteen years old under his father, Kellypalik Qimirpik (1948–2017), Qimirpik’s subjects are notable for their playful and humorous energy. In this exhibition of new work, Feheley Fine Arts is excited to present a selection of the artist’s sculptures in conjunction with his coloured pencil drawings. … Read More
Fusion: Collaborative Drawings
The notion of collaboration has existed at the Kinngait Studios since its inception. In the late 1950s, the concept of printmaking was introduced involving two players—artist and printer—to work in tandem to produce a graphic. Fast forward to 2022: Johnny Pootoogook, Shuvinai Ashoona, and Quvianaqtuk Pudlat each collaborate on a single drawn composition titled Head of a Wolf —the result … Read More
Post-Fair: Plural 2023
We are back from this year’s Plural contemporary art fair (formerly Papier) and are feeling better than ever. It was great to return to the Grand Quay in the art-loving city of Montreal. The newly renamed art fair featured an impressive lineup of galleries from across Canada, including fresh faces from Vancouver and Halifax. Witnessing the fair’s growth over the … Read More
Saimaiyu Akesuk: Radiant
“I used to doodle when I went to Arctic College and Ningiukulu Teevee was encouraging me to draw. In fact, she took a doodle I did to the co-op to show them that I was drawing. When I started, I sometimes thought my grandfather [Latcholassie Akesuk] was helping me because when I could not decide what to draw, I would … Read More