In her irreverent prints and drawings, Kinngait artist Surusilutu Ashoona (1941-2011) illustrates a world both fantastical and banal, where animals wear clothing while women sew, juggle and rest in equal measure. Featuring 17 works from the AGO’s foundational Inuit art collections – generously gifted by Samuel and Esther Sarick, the Klamer Family and Dr. Michael Braudo – this exhibition marks the late artists’ first ever solo exhibition at the AGO.
Surusilutu Ashoona was a graphic artist from Kinngait (Cape Dorset), NU. A regular contributor to the Cape Dorset Annual Print Collection throughout the 1970s, her work was widely seen in the exhibition Inuit Pinguangit/Inuit Games (1975-1977), presented in conjunction with the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. Her work is also present in many permanent collections including the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, the Canadian Museum of History, Gatineau, the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, and the Winnipeg Art Gallery.
