Jutai Toonoo

Jutai Toonoo
(1959-2015), Kinngait (Cape Dorset)

Eskimo Tan, 2010, oil stick, paper, 48 x 51.5 in.

Eskimo Tan (detail), 2010

Dead Men, 2000, serpentinite, 26.75 x 10 x 6.5 in. Inscribed: “When you die you are not going to die, instead you are going to wake up in eternity wiether (sic) it’s good or bad, and it is your choice where you end up. It all depends on how you treat the least among you!”

Life, 2015, oil pastel, paper, 23 x 30 in.

I Am Not Crazy, 2004, serpentinite, 7.75 x 1.25 x 2.5 in. Inscribed: "I Am Not Crazy."

Jutai Toonoo - Relationship With The Land

Relationship With The Land, 2006, stone, 14.5 x 15 x 10 in. Inscribed: "For four thousand years Inuit people had a bond with the land. Gone in one generation."

Bruised And Bloody, 2011, oil pastel, pastel, paper, 43 x 29 in.

Inscribed: "Here we sit in the north while our lives are being dictated by the south."

God Hid Himself From Us, 2004, stone, 8.25 x 6.5 x 7 in. Inscribed: "God hid himself from us."

Hierarchy, 2002, serpentinite, 25.5 x 9.5 x 8 in. Inscribed: "Hierarchy, it is something I don't understand, how can a human look up to another human being?"

The Rock II, 2002, serpentinite, 19 x 8.5 x 7 in. "The stuff we're made of." JT

Jutai Toonoo - untitled (humans crawling over one another)

untitled (humans crawling over one another), 1999, stone, 2.5 x 2.25 x 2.25 in.

The Multitude, 2010, ink, paper, 19.5 x 25.5 in.

"A hellish image of a multitude of people." JT

Gargoyle, 2001, serpentinite, 13.25 x 11.75 x 7.75 in.

Brethren, 2000, serpentinite, 16 x 8 x 4 in.

My Boat Sank!, 2000, serpentinite, 11 x 10.25 x 4.75 in.

Marijuana, 2013, color pencil, paper, 50 x 55.5 in.

Inukpatsuuk, 2001, white marble, 6 x 4.25 x 3.5 in.

The Lump, 2001, serpentinite, 8.25 x 9 x 14.5 in. Inscribed: "The Lump."

Continual Pain, 2006-07, color pencil, paper, 20 x 26 in. Text translation: "Sickness that we know, it hasn't stopped today, people who are close to me they are tired. For one full month, I haven't walked. You can lose your mind."

Spaceman, 2004, serpentinite, 26.25 x 16.25 x 4 in.

Jutai Toonoo - Inscribed: "I have flown with the birds. I have swam with the fish, rode along in a canoe with the seals, one day I hope to go into space with an astronaut,"

Inscribed: "I have flown with the birds. I have swam with the fish, rode along in a canoe with the seals, one day I hope to go into space with an astronaut,"

The Belly, 2004, stone, 5.75 x 3 x 2.25 in. Inscribed: "The Belly."

Christian Rock Singers, 2006, stone, 11.5 x 7.5 x 5.25 in.

Mary, 2009, oil pastel, paper, 30 x 44 in.

My Last Carving, 2005, serpentinite, 30.25 x 15.25 x 7 in. Incribed: "My Last Carving."

Double Minded, 2000, serpentinite, 9 x 10.25 x 6.5 in.

Massive Sky, 2006, white marble, 10.75 x 8 x 5 in. Inscribed: "If we're really 64,000 mph. Spinning at 1,000 mph in the equator, than (sic) the sky must be massive."

Hungry Bear, 2004, serpentinite, 4 x 2 x 1.75 in

untitled (swimming seal), 2004, serpentinite, 4 x 2.5 x 2.25 in.

Today Was A Strange Day, 2004, granite, 19 x 13 x 6 in.

Construction Of Colors, 2014, Pastel, 23 x 30 in.

A Life Changing Day, 2005, stone, 12.5 x 9 x 6.5 in.

Jutai Toonoo - The Four Winds On A Calm Day

The Four Winds On A Calm Day, 2004, serpentine, 7.5 x 7.5 x 7.5 in. Inscribed: "The four winds on a clam day."

Inuujaq, 2006, white marble, 18 x 7 x 4 in.

Booby Man, 2011, sugar-lift etching, aquatint, paper, 31.5 x 47 in.

Politician, 2011, sugar-lift etching, aquatint, paper, 31.5 x 47 in.

Stoic, 2011, sugar-lift etching, aquatint, paper, 31.5 x 47 in.

New Age Christ, 2008, etching, aquatint, paper, 24.5 x 22.5 in.

One Foot, c. 2000, stone (inscribed on bottom with title), 10 x 2.75 x 5 in.

When Things Go Wrong They Come In 3's, c. 2000, stone (inscribed on back with title), 5.5 x 1.75 x .5 in.

(1959-2015), Kinngait (Cape Dorset), ID:E7-1682

Reference

On the Web

Jutai Documentary (filmed while drawing Eskimo Tan, 2010)

Eskimo Tan, 2010

Obituary: Globe And Mail

Inuit Art Foundation

Bordercrossings

Showcase

Photograph: Jutai with The Rock II; Marion Scott Gallery, Vancouver, 2005.

Relationship With The Land, 2006: "For four thousand years Inuit people had a bond with the land. Gone in one generation." -- Jutai Toonoo

Gargoyle, 2001: "This is a self-portrait. I'm not very handsome. Sometimes I feel like a gargoyle standing on the roof. Sometimes I'm like that: I just watch everybody. That's what gargoyles do."

The Lump, 2001: "He has no legs. It can't do anything. I was feeling useless when I made this. The figure is scratching his head: 'What am I doing?'"

Brethren, 2000: " In church when I look at the congregation, they all look unhappy. Heads down. Others are asleep because they are so bored. Only the pastor at the top is smiling. That's how it works."

The Rock II, 2002: " I did five of these with the idea in mind that they were going to be very minimal. I wanted to show the kind of rock we work on. I like to think of myself as a minimalist."

My Boat Sank!, 2000: "That was the year my boat sank. I was so frustrated I had to laugh. I lost everything--all my hunting tools. What could i do?"

Double Minded, 2000: "In the Bible it says, 'Double-minded people are unstable in all their ways.'"

--Jutai Toonoo, from the artist's 2005 interview with Robert Kardosh of Marion Scott Gallery (Vacouver) on the occasion of the show, Life Forms: Jutai Toonoo in Cape Dorset.

Hierarchy, 2002: "I was thinking about kings and queens and presidents and I was baffled. I look at people as people, even if they are the Chancelor of Germany or the Govenor-General of Canada. The way I look at it, we're all made of the same thing; we all have the same feeling; we all cry, we all laugh."

--Jutai Toonoo, from the 2002 Feheley Fine Arts (Toronto) show catalog, Toonoo's Legacy.

Spaceman, 2004: "I have flown with the birds. I have swam with the fish, rode along in a canoe with the seals, one day I hope to go into space with an astronaut."

Sitting Duck, 2001: "Here we sit in the north while our lives are being dictated by the south."