Stanley Elonak Klengenberg: Holman Island
Stanley Klengenberg (1964-1999) is the third generation of an artistic family, the grandson of Victor Ekootak and the son of Elsie and Patrick Akovak Klengenberg. In a 2000 interview, his mother recalled that she would often draw at home and Stanley would draw alongside her. He was able to put his ideas down on paper more quickly than his mother. The artist's drawings were inspired by the life of his ancestors, and by respect for their determined fight to survive.
Klengenberg submitted his first drawing to the Art Shop In Ulukhaktok (Holman), NT when he was ten and his first drawing was printed for the annual collection in 1982. By 1986 that number had increased to seven. He won a poster commission from Indian and Northern Affairs Canada in 1985.
Working in graphite, the artist left the printing of his images to others. The drawing for the artist's best known print, "Cold and Hungry" (1986), was stencilled by his mother Elsie. He participated in numerous exhibitions across North America during his short career. Klengenberg died in 1999.
