Lipa Pitsiulak
Lipa Pitsiulak (1943-2010) - Biography
Lipa Pitsiulak (1943-2010) was a multi-talented artist, printmaker, drafstman and sculptor from Pangnirtung, Nunavut. He provided early leadership to the Pangnirtung Print Shop and later to the Pangnirtung Eskimo Co-operative, established in 1975. He would go on to create thousands of drawings, many of which have been rendered into prints. He is also known for his imaginative sculpture. In 1977 his print, Disguised Archer, was reproduced on a Canadian postage stamp. He lived in the community of Pangnirtung from 1967 to 1977, but then made the decision to move to a permanent outpost camp. In 1988 his life and art was the subject of a National Film Board film entitled Lypa.
“I usually try to relate my drawings to the history, the life of our ancestors. … These are my visions of how our ancestors’ everyday life might have been. They survived through hard work before firearms were introduced, and their main weapon was a harpoon. This I truly believe; they survived through hard work. I want to portray this so it will not be forgotten. I visualize what they had to go through. I can only put my vision on a drawing; it may not have been exactly that way. The idea is, can it be seen again?” (Pitsiulak in Latocki 1983:13). His work also depicted the relationships shared between animals, humans, and the spirit world."
Selected Exhibitions:
A Family Tradition: Inuit Art from Canada's Arctic, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
A Preference for Bone, The Innuit Gallery of Eskimo Art
Alaska Eskimo Dolls/Inuit Prints, Provincial Museum of Alberta
Arctic Mirror, Canadian Museum of Civilization
Arctic Vision: Art of the Canadian Inuit, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Canadian Arctic Producers
Baffin Island, Winnipeg Art Gallery
Baffin Island Sculpture Exhibition, Baffin Regional School
Canadian Eskimo Art: a representative exhibition from the collection of Professor and Mrs. Philip Gray, Fine Arts Gallery, Montana State University
Chisel and Brush/Le ciseau et la brosse, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
Cold Stones, Warm Hearts: Inuit Art from the Northwest Territories, University of Richmond
Contemporary Indian and Inuit Art of Canada, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, Ottawa, presented at the General Assembly Building, United Nations
Die Kunst aus der Arktis, Department of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Ottawa, presented by Commerzbank
Eskimo Games: Graphics and Sculpture/ Giuochi Eschimesi: grafiche e sculture, National Gallery of Modern Art
In the Shadow of the Sun: Contemporary Indian and Inuit Art in Canada, Canadian Museum of Civilization
Inuit Art in the 1970s, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, and the Agnes Etherington Art Centre
Inuit Games and Contests: The Clifford E. Lee Collection of Prints, University of Alberta
Inuit Master Artists of the 1970s, Inuit Gallery of Vancouver
Inuk, Inuit: Art et tradition chez les esquimaux d'hier et d'aujourd'hui, presented by L'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, at Musee des Beaux-arts d'Arras
Lipa Pitsiulak, Gallery Phillip, Don Mills, ON
Masters of the Arctic: An Exhibition of Contemporary Inuit Masterworks, Presented by the Amway Corporation at the United Nations General Assembly
Pangnirtung - Recent Sculpture, Inuit Gallery of Vancouver
Pangnirtung Print Retrospective: 1973-1986, Organized by Pangnirtung Eskimo Co-operative Limited, Pangnirtung, at Inuit Gallery of Vancouver
Polar Vision: Canadian Eskimo Graphics, Jerusalem Artists' House Museum
Sanaugasi Takujaksat: A Travelling Celebration of Inuit Sculpture, Presented by Canadian Arctic Producers Ltd., with the assistance of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Ottawa
Sculpture and Prints by Lypa Pitsiulak of Pangnirtung, The Upstairs Gallery
The Lindsay and Swartz Collections: New Acquisitions, Winnipeg Art Gallery
The Oral Tradition, National Museum of Man
The Spirit World - 1977 to 1990: Baker Lake Clyde River and Pangnirtung Prints. A retrospective collection exhibited at selected commercial galleries, organized by Canadian Arctic Producers
Useful Bits of Bone, Winnipeg Art Gallery
Whalebone Carvings and Inuit Prints, Memorial University of Newfoundland Art Gallery
Selected Collections:
Amway Environmental Foundation Collection, Ada
Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
Art Gallery, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's
Canadian Museum of History, Gatineau, QCl
Clifford E. Lee Collection, University of Alberta, Edmonton
Dennos Museum Center, Northwestern Michigan College, Traverse City
Inuit Cultural Institute, Rankin Inlet
Macdonald Stewart Art Centre, Guelph
McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg
Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, Yellowknife
Sarick Collection, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
University of Alberta, Edmonton
Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg
Artist Specialization: All of Lipa's work reveals an interest in portraying traditional shamanic beliefs and legends, as exemplified by the print Shaman’s Costume. Lipa is also influenced by ancestors, the old ways of living, and his family history, including his father’s observations: “They are not tales or legends, but things he witnessed during the time of the shaman. Inuit used to have many different practices of this kind.”
