Oviloo Tunnillie’s sculpture has been included in many group and solo exhibitions since 1979, and catalogues for several of these exhibitions are important sources for studying her work. Catalogues published by Marion Scott Gallery, Vancouver, in 1992, 1994, 1996, 1999, and 2008 include perceptive articles by Judy and Robert Kardosh. The catalogue for a group exhibition organized by the Canadian Museum of Civilization in 1994 contains valuable information from interviews with the artist. The Winnipeg Art Gallery’s catalogue from 2016 is for a solo retrospective exhibition and includes information from interviews with the artist as well as her husband, sister, and granddaughter. In 1997 a television episode of Adrienne Clarkson Presents enabled viewers to see the artist at work and in discussion about her art.
Selected Solo Exhibitions
1981
June, Oviloo Toonoo, Canadian Guild of Crafts, Montreal, QC.
1988
March, Oviloo Tunillie, Inuit Galerie, Mannheim, Germany.
1991
June, Oviloo Tunnillie, Canadian Guild of Crafts, Montreal, QC.
1992
September–October, Oviloo Tunnillie, Inuit Galerie, Mannheim, Germany.
1993
May–June, An Inuit Woman Challenges Tradition: Sculpture by Oviloo Tunnillie, Burdick Gallery, Washington, DC.
1994
June–July, Oviloo Tunnillie, Marion Scott Gallery, Vancouver, BC.
1995
June 24–July 22, Oviloo Tunnillie, Marion Scott Gallery, Vancouver, BC.
1996
August, Oviloo, Marion Scott Gallery, Vancouver, BC.
1997
June 27–October 26, Oviloo Tunnillie, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, ON.
2006
August, Oviloo, Marion Scott Gallery, Vancouver, BC.
2008
October–November, Oviloo Tunnillie: Meditations on Womanhood, Marion Scott Gallery, Vancouver, BC.
2016
May 21–September 11, Oviloo Tunnillie: A Woman’s Story in Stone, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, MB.
Selected Group Exhibitions
1976
Debut: Cape Dorset Jewellery, Canadian Guild of Crafts, Montreal, QC.
1979
March–April, Sculpture of the Inuit: Lorne Balshine Collection/Lou Osipov Collection/Harry Winrob Collection, Surrey Art Gallery, Surrey, BC.
August–September, Cape Dorset: Recent Sculpture, Gallery of the Arctic, Victoria, BC.
1984–86
February 1984–June 1986, Arctic Vision: Art of the Canadian Inuit, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Canadian Arctic Producers, Ottawa, ON (touring exhibition).
1987–88
November 1987–January 1988, Inuit konst fran Kanada—sculptor och grafk, Millesgården, Lidingo, Sweden.
1988
June–September, Building on Strengths: New Inuit Art from the Collection, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, MB.
1989
Hermitage — 89: New Exhibitions, Hermitage Museum, Leningrad, USSR.
1991
February–March, Cape Dorset Sculpture, McMaster Art Gallery, Hamilton, ON.
August 3–September 7, Tunilliikkut: Kababawa, Tyara, Ashevak, Oviloo (gallery unknown).
1992
June 6–July 11, Women of the North: An Exhibition of Art by Inuit Women of the Canadian Arctic, Marion Scott Gallery, Vancouver, BC.
October–November, Arctic Ice: Sculptures in Marble by Artists of Cape Dorset, Northwest Territories, Marion Scott Gallery, Vancouver, BC.
1993
November–December, Sculpture Inuit, Canadian Guild of Crafts, Montreal, QC.
1994–96
October 1994–March 1996, Isumavut: The Artistic Expression of Nine Cape Dorset Women, Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hull, QC.
1995
May–September, Keeping Our Stories Alive: An Exhibition of Art and Crafts from Dene and Inuit People of Canada, Institute of American Indian Arts Museum, Santa Fe, NM.
1999
Dorset Magic: Four Decades of Sculpture from Cape Dorset, Feheley Fine Arts, Toronto, ON.
November 27–December 31, A Sculpture Exhibition of New Works by Oviloo Tunnillie and Lucy Tasseor Tutsweetok, Marion Scott Gallery, Vancouver, BC.
2000–1
December 2000–January 2001, Sculpture Inuit, Canadian Guild of Crafts, Montreal, QC.
2002
April, Kingait Currents: Leading Sculptors of Cape Dorset, Inuit Gallery of Vancouver, Vancouver, BC.
April 4–25, Art by Women: An Investigation of Inuit Sculpture and Graphics, Feheley Fine Arts, Toronto, ON.
2002–3
September 28, 2002–May 18, 2003, Terra (In)Cognita: The Arctic Collection, McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinberg, ON.
Critical Texts
Feheley, Patricia. Toonoo’s Legacy. Toronto: Feheley Fine Arts, 2002.
Gustavison, Susan. Northern Rock: Contemporary Inuit Stone Sculpture. Kleinburg, ON: McMichael Canadian Art Collection, 1999.
Inuit Galerie. Oviloo Tunillie. Mannheim, Germany: Inuit Galerie, 1988. Exhibition catalogue.
Kardosh, Robert. “Transcending the Particular: Feminist Vision in the Sculpture of Oviloo Tunnillie.” Inuit Art Quarterly 24, no. 3 (Fall 2009): 24–33.
_____. “Tribute: Oviloo Tunnillie (1949–2014).” Inuit Art Quarterly 27, no. 3 (Fall 2014): 54–55.
Laurence, Robin. “Janus Face Off.” Border Crossings 15, no. 4, 60 (1996): 70–71.
_____. “Airplanes, Figure-Skaters, Football Players and High-Heeled Shoes: Oviloo Tunnillie and the Tradition of the New.” Border Crossings 28, no. 1 (2009): 65–70.
Leroux, Odette. “Isumavut: The Artistic Expression of Nine Cape Dorset Women.” In Inuit Women Artists: Voices from Cape Dorset, edited by Odette Leroux, Marion E. Jackson, and Minnie Aodla Freeman, 18–40. Hull, QC: Canadian Museum of Civilization, 1994.
Leroux, Odette, Marion E. Jackson, and Minnie Aodla Freeman, eds. “Ovilu Tunnillie.” In Inuit Women Artists: Voices from Cape Dorset, 220–239. Hull, QC: Canadian Museum of Civilization, 1994.
Lewin, Michelle. “Toonoo’s Legacy: Three Generations of Artists in the Family of Oviloo Tunnillie.” Inuit Art Quarterly 18, no. 1 (Spring/Summer 2003): 12–17.
Marion Scott Gallery. Oviloo Tunnillie. Vancouver: Marion Scott Gallery, 1994. Exhibition catalogue.
_____. Oviloo. Vancouver: Marion Scott Gallery, 1996. Exhibition catalogue.
_____. Oviloo Tunnillie: Meditations on Womanhood. Vancouver: Marion Scott Gallery, 2008. Exhibition catalogue.
Meili, Dianne. “Ovilu Tunnillie [footprints].” Windspeaker—AMMSA: Indigenous News 32, no. 8 (2014).
Millard, Peter. “The Artists Speak.” Inuit Art Quarterly 7, no. 3 (Summer/Fall 1992): 18–21.
_____. “Women of the North.” Inuit Art Quarterly 7, no. 3 (Summer/Fall 1992): 36–39.
_____. “Meditations of Womanhood: Oviloo Tunnillie.” Inuit Art Quarterly 9, no. 4 (Winter 1994): 20–25.
Wight, Darlene Coward. Oviloo Tunnillie: A Woman’s Story in Stone. Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 2016. Exhibition catalogue.
Williams, Penny. “Cape Dorset Carvers: New Generations, New Visions.” Above & Beyond 10, no. 1 (Winter 1998): 43–49.
Further Reading
Gustavison, Susan, and Sarah Chate. “Artists Biographies.” In Inuit Modern: The Samuel and Esther Sarick Collection, edited by Gerald McMaster, 243–44. Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario and Douglas & McIntyre, 2010.
Gustavison, Susan, and Darlene Coward Wight. Pitaloosie Saila: A Personal Journey. Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 2017.
Hessel, Ingo. Inuit Art: An Introduction. Vancouver & Toronto: Douglas & McIntyre, 1998.
_____. Arctic Spirit: Inuit Art from the Albrecht Collection at the Heard Museum. Phoenix, AZ: Heard Museum, 2006.
Kramer, Cheryl, and Lillian R. Shafer, eds. Of the People: Inuit Sculpture from the Collection of Mary and Fred Widding. New York: Handwerker Gallery and Ithaca College, 2008.
Lalonde, Christine. Inuit Sculpture Now. Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada, 2005.
Marion Scott Gallery. Arctic Ice: Sculpture in Marble by the Artists of Cape Dorset, Northwest Territories. Vancouver: Marion Scott Gallery, 1992.
_____. Women of the North: An Exhibition of Art by Inuit Women of the Canadian Arctic. Vancouver: Marion Scott Gallery, 1992.
Martin, Sandra. “Carving a North-South Connection.” Globe and Mail, November 3, 2001.
Mitchell, Marybelle. “The Artists Speak.” Inuit Art Quarterly 7, no. 4 (Fall/Winter 1992): 54–55.
Ryan, Leslie Boyd. Cape Dorset Prints: A Retrospective; Fifty Years of Printmaking at the Kinngait Studios. Portland, OR: Pomegranate Communications Inc., 2007.
Ryan, Leslie Boyd, and Darlene Coward Wight. Napachie Pootoogook. Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 2004.
Vorano, Norman. “Inuit Men, Erotic Art.” Inuit Art Quarterly 23, no. 3 (Fall 2008): 18–27.
Wight, Darlene Coward, ed. Creation and Transformation: Defining Moments in Inuit Art. Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery in conjunction with Douglas & McIntyre, 2013.
Wight, Darlene Coward. The First Passionate Collector: The Ian Lindsay Collection of Inuit Art. Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1990.
_____. Early Masters: Inuit Sculpture, 1949–1955. Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 2006.
_____. Kiugak Ashoona: Stories and Imaginings from Cape Dorset. Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 2010.
_____. Ningiukulu Teevee: Kinngait Stories. Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 2017.
Writings by Oviloo Tunnillie and Interviews
Most information about Oviloo and other Inuit artists comes from primary source interviews. As several of these are unpublished, they are listed below.
Kingwatsiak, Nuvalinga. Interview with the author, Cape Dorset, February 18, 2016.
Tunnillie, Iyola. Interview with the author, Cape Dorset, February 17, 2016.
Tunnillie, Oviloo. Interview with Susan Gustavison and Pamela Brooks. Interpreter Adamie Pitseolak. Unpublished interview for Northern Rock: Contemporary Inuit Stone Sculpture. December 13, 1998.
Tunnillie, Oviloo. “Some Thoughts about My Life and Family.” In Inuit Women Artists: Voices from Cape Dorset, from interviews edited by Odette Leroux, Marion E. Jackson, and Minnie Aodla Freeman, 223–39. Hull, QC: Canadian Museum of Civilization, 1994.
Tunnillie, Tye. Interview with the author, Cape Dorset, February 18, 2016.
Westren, John. Interview with the author, Toronto, November 17, 2017.
Films
Clarkson, Adrienne. “Women’s Work: Inuit Women Artists.” Adrienne Clarkson Presents. Toronto: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, November 12, 1997.
Inuit Art Section, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada. Keeping Our Stories Alive: The Sculpture of Canada’s Inuit. VHS. Produced by Connie Cochrane; directed and co-written by Ingo Hessel and Denise Withers. Ottawa: Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, 1993.
About the Author
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Acknowledgements