Born 1961, Kinngait, Qikiqtaaluk Region
Hailing from a long tradition of painters, printmakers, and stone carvers, Inuit artist Shuvinai Ashoona (b. 1961) creates her work at the Kinngait Studios. The community-run art-making cooperative and her fellow Studio members–her aunts Napachie Pootoogook, Mayoreak Ashoona, and Kenojuak Ashevak–have made a profound influence on her art. Working primarily with colored pencils, Ashoona explores historical and contemporary Inuit life situated in dreamlike landscapes, in which imagery associated with animism and shamanism is intertwined with ATVs, Walkmans, and camping gear. Ashoona’s works have always been unplanned and free-flowing: she describes her process as “not knowing what [a drawing] really means. Just making it appear.”
Ashoona first came to prominence in the late 1990s, when her work was included in the 1997 Cape Dorset Annual Print Collection. Recent solo presentations of her work include When I Draw at The Perimeter, London (2024), Holding on to Universes at Centre for Contemporary Arts, Glasgow (2020), and Mapping Worlds, organized by the Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, Toronto (2019), which toured venues across Canada. Her work is in a number of public collections including the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, the Winnipeg Art Gallery, the Canadian Museum of History, Ottawa/Gatineau, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and the National Museum of the American Indian, Washington DC. In 2018, Ashoona received the prestigious Gershon Iskowitz Prize.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024
Shuvinai Ashoona: When I Draw, The Perimeter, London, UK
2022
Inside Out: Shuvinai Ashoona, Marion Scott Gallery, Vancouver, CAN
Shuvinai Ashoona (online exhibition), Fort Gansevoort, New York, NY
2021-22
Shuvinai Ashoona: Beyond the Visible, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, CAN
Shuvinai Ashoona: Drawings, Institute of Contemporary Art Miami, Miami, FL
2020
Shuvinai Ashoona: Vapourating, Marion Scott Gallery, Vancouver, Canada.
Shuvinai Ashoona: Holding Onto Universes, Centre for Contemporary Arts, Glasgow, UK
2019
Shuvinai Ashoona: Mapping Worlds (touring), organized and presented by The Power
Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, Toronto, Canada, on view at Confederation Centre of
the Arts, Charlottetown, P.E.I., Canada, Leonard and Bina Ellen Art Gallery, Montreal,
Canada, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada, Yukon Arts Centre, Whitehorse,
Canada, Glenbow Museum, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Art Canada Institute (online),
Toronto, Canada.
Shuvinai Ashoona: We End Up Dreaming, Feheley Fine Arts, Toronto, CAN
2017
Shuvinai Ashoona: Curiosities, Feheley Fine Arts, Toronto, CAN
Shuvinai Ashoona: A For Sure World, Marion Scott Gallery, Vancouver, CAN
2014
Shuvinai Ashoona: Woven Thoughts, Feheley Fine Arts, Toronto, CAN
2013
Shuvinai Ashoona: Merged Realities, Inuit Gallery of Vancouver, Vancouver, CAN
2012
Shuvinai Ashoona: The Printed Works, Marion Scott Gallery, Vancouver, CAN
Shuvinai’s World(s), Feheley Fine Arts, Toronto, CAN
Shuvinai Ashoona: Ground, MacKenzie Art Gallery, Regina, CAN
2011
Contemporary Reflections, The Canadian Guild of Crafts, Montreal, CAN
2009
Shuvinai Ashoona Drawings, Carleton University Art Gallery, Ottawa, CAN
2007
Shuvinai Ashoona: Drawings 1993-2007, Marion Scott Gallery, Vancouver, CAN
2006
Shuvinai Ashoona: Time Interrupted, Feheley Fine Arts, Toronto, CAN
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2023
Once a Myth, Becoming Real, 14th Gwangju Biennale, LeeKangHa Art Museum, Gwangju, KR
2022
Secret Chord: An Ode to Montreal, Andrew Edlin Gallery, New York, NY
Ceremony (Burial of an Undead World), Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW), Berlin, DE
Splendid Isolation, S.M.A.K.— Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst, Ghent, BE
The Image of the Environment, Queen Elizabeth Park Community and Cultural Centre, Oakville, CAN
The Milk of Dreams, La Biennale di Venezia, 59th International Art Exhibition, Venice, IT
New Inuit Art: Contemporary Inuit Art of Kinngait, The National Museum of Ethnography, Warsaw, PL
Ashoona: Enduring Art Stories, La Guilde, Montreal, CAN
2020
Hybridity: Françoise Oklaga & Shuvinai Ashoona, Marion Scott Gallery, Vancouver, CAN
Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art, KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Gropius Bau, Berlin, DE
2019
An Opera for Animals, Para Site, Hong Kong, and Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai, CN
The Co-op, Feheley Fine Arts, Toronto, CAN
2018
Manif d’Art, Quebec City Biennial, Quebec City, CAN
2017
18 Canadian Biennial, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, CAN
2017
Every, Now, Then: Reframing Nationhood, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, CAN
The Voiced Plate: Contemporary Inuit Prints, Marion Scott Gallery, Vancouver, CAN
Earthlings, Esker Foundation, Calgary, CAN
Astral Bodies, Mercer Union, Toronto, CAN
2016
Neon NDN: Indigenous Pop Art, Saw Gallery, Ottawa, CAN
Change Makers, Art Gallery of Mississauga, Mississauga, CAN
Cape Dorset and Points South 2, Theo Gantz Studio, Beacon, NY
Floe Edge: Contemporary Art and Collaborations from Nunavut, Canada Gallery, CAN
House, London, UK
2015
Universal Cobra: Shuvinai Ashoona and Shary Boyle, Pierre-François Ouellette Art Contemporain, Montreal, CAN
Contemporary North II, Madrona Gallery, Victoria, CAN
Fifteen Years: Kingait 2000-2015, Feheley Fine Arts, Toronto, CAN
Axeme 07 – Axe/Direction, Stockholm Supermarket Art Fair, Stockholm, SE
Over the Top, Feheley Fine Arts, Toronto, CAN
2014-15
Unsettled Landscapes: SITElines: New Perspectives on the Art of the Americas (Unsettled Landscapes), SITE Santa Fe, Santa Fe, NM
Shine a Light: Canadian Biennial 2014, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, CAN
2014
North South Encounter, Pierre-François Ouellette Art Contemporain, Montreal, CAN
Views from the North: Original Drawings from Cape Dorset, Alaska on Madison, New York, NY
Cape Dorset: New Generation, Willock and Sax Gallery – Banff Art Gallery, Banff, CAN
2013-14
Winter Show: Gallery Artists, Marion Scott Gallery, Vancouver, CAN
2013
Cape Dorset Prints, Gallery 210, St. Louis, MO
Sanaunguanik: Traditions and Transformations in Inuit Art, Enterprise Square Gallery, Edmonton, CAN
Toronto International Art Fair, Metro Toronto Convention Centre, Toronto, CAN
Sakahàn: International Indigenious Art, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, CAN
Shuvinai Ashoona and John Noestheden: Earth and Sky, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, CAN
New Voices from the New North, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, CAN
Dorset Seen, Carleton University Art Gallery, Ottawa, CAN
Animal Power: Images in Contemporary Inuit Art, Marion Scott Gallery, Vancouver, CAN
Where Do We Come From? What are We? Where are We Going? Identity in Contemporary Cape Dorset Art, McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg, Canada. Takujaksait (Something to See), Nunatta Sunakkutaangit Museum, Iqaluit, CAN
Air, Land, Seed, 516 Arts, Albuquerque, NM
2012-13
Oh, Canada: Contemporary Art from North North America, Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, North Adams, MA
Telling Stories: Inuit Art from Cape Dorset, Toronto Pearson International Airport (Terminal 1), Toronto, CAN
2012
John Noestheden: Sky and Shuvinai Ashoona: Earth, 18th Biennale of Sydney: All our Relations, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, AUST
The Unexpected, Feheley Fine Arts, Toronto, CAN
Sky Ecchymosis: Part of the Series – Women of the Arctic, La Centrale Galerie Powerhouse, Montreal, CAN
Dorset Now, Feheley Fine Arts, Toronto, CAN
Sleep of Reason, Yukon Arts Centre, Whitehorse, CAN
Octopus Dreams: 200 Works on Paper by Contemporary Native American Artists, Yekaterinburg Museum of Fine Arts, Yekaterinburg, Russia, State Museum of Novosibirsk, Novosibirst, Russia, Togliatti Art Museum, Tolyatti, Russia, Samara Regional
Museum of Art, Samara, Russia, Tomski Regional Art Museum, Tomsk, Russia, and Irkutsk Regional Art Museum, Irkutsk, Russia.
2011-12
Women in Charge: Inuit Contemporary Women Artists, Museo Nazionale Preistorico ed Etnografico Luigi Pigorini, Rome, IT
2011
Contemporary North: Drawings from Cape Dorset, Madrona Gallery, Victoria, CAN
Surreal: Eight Artists in the Fantastical Tradition, Marion Scott Gallery, Vancouver, CAN
Dorset Annual Print Collection, Gallery d’Art Vincent, Ottawa, CAN
Dorset Large: Large Scale Drawings from the Kinngait Studios, Feheley Fine Arts, Toronto, CAN
Gallery Artists, Marion Scott Gallery, Vancouver, CAN
Inuit Modern: The Samuel and Esther Sarick Collection, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, CAN
2010-11
It Is What It Is: Recent Acquisitions of New Canadian Art, Canadian Biennial, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, CAN
Ijurnaqtut: Whimsy, Wit and Humor in Inuit Art, Carleton University Art Gallery, Ottawa, CAN
2010
Nipirasait: Many Voices, Inuit Prints from Cape Dorset, The Canadian Embassy Art Gallery, Washington, DC
The Drawing Room, Pendulum Gallery, Vancouver, CAN
North Meets South, Feheley Fine Arts, Toronto, CAN
Monster, West Vancouver Museum, West Vancouver, CAN
Big, Bold and Beautiful: Large Scale Drawings from Cape Dorset, Museum of Inuit Art, Toronto, CAN
Facing Forward – New Works from Kinngait Studios, Marion Scott Gallery, Vancouver, CAN
2009-10
Nunannguaq: In the Likeness of the Earth, McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg, CAN
Uuturautiit: Cape Dorset Celebrates 50 Years of Printmaking, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, CAN
Arctic Spirit: 50th Anniversary of Cape Dorset’s Kinngait Studios, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, CAN
2009
Mixed Media from Cape Dorset, Feheley Fine Arts, Toronto, CAN
Noise Ghost: Shary Boyle and Shuvinai Ashoona, Justina M. Barnike Gallery, Hart House, Toronto, CAN
Extreme Drawing, Marion Scott Gallery, Vancouver, CAN
Kenojuak Ashevak RCA, CC and Shuvinai Ashoona, Inuit Gallery of Vancouver, Vancouver, CAN
Contemporary Traditions: Shuvinai Ashoona and Annie Pootoogook, Pierre-François Ouellette Art Contemporain, Montreal, CAN
2008
Never Let the Facts Get in the Way of the Truth, Western Front, Vancouver, CAN
Breaking Ground: New Oil Stick Drawings from Cape Dorset, Feheley Fine Arts, Toronto, CAN
The Basel Project: Shuvinai Ashoona and John Noesthedan, Feheley Fine Arts, Toronto, CAN
Earth and Sky, Stadhimmel Citysky Project, Basel, CH
2007
Three Cousins, Original Drawings by Annie Pootoogook, Shuvinai Ashoona and Siassie Kenneally, Feheley Fine Arts, Toronto, CAN
Burning Cold: Emerging Artists from Across the North and South, Yukon Arts Centre, Whitehorse, CAN
2006-07
Ashoona: Third Wave, New Drawings by Shuvinai Ashoona, Siassie Kenneally and Annie Pootoogook, Art Gallery of Alberta, Edmonton, CAN
2006
Landscape: Contemporary Inuit Drawings, Marion Scott Gallery, Vancouver, CAN
Drawing Restraint, Saw Gallery, Ottawa, CAN
Marion Scott at 30: 65 Masterpieces from the Canadian Arctic, Marion Scott Gallery, Vancouver, CAN
2005
Oye Canada, VIP Lounge, Canadian Pavillion, Expo2005, Aichi, JP
Unique Visions, Feheley Fine Arts, Toronto, CAN
2001
Transitions 2, Inuit and Inuit Art Centre, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Montreal, CAN
Art by Women: An Investigation of Inuit Sculpture and Graphics, Feheley Fine Arts, Toronto, CAN
2000
Shuvenai Ashoona and Annago Ashevak, Inuit Gallery of Vancouver, Vancouver, CAN
1999
Three Women, Three Generations: Drawings by Pitseolak Ashoona, Napatchie Pootoogook and Suvenai Ashoona, McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg, CAN
GRANTS, AWARDS, AND HONORS
2022
La Biennale di Venezia, 59th International Art Exhibition (awarded special mention)
2018
Gershon Iskowitz Prize
2017
REVEAL Indigenous Art Award, Hnatyshyn Foundation
2016
Elected to the Royal Canadian Academy of the Arts
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada
Art Gallery of Guelph, Guelph, Canada
Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Canada
BMO Financial Group, Corporate Art Collection, Toronto, Canada
Canada Council Art Bank, Ottawa, Canada
Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
Canadian Museum of History, Gatineau, Canada
Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI
Fidelity Investments Corporate Art Collection, Boston, MA
George Brown College, Toronto, Canada
Hart House Collection, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
MacKenzie Art Gallery, Regina, Canada
Inuit Art Centre, Indian and Northern Affairs, Ottawa, Canada
McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg, Canada
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal, Canada
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Canada
National Museum of the American Indian, New York, NY
Oakville Galleries, Oakville, Canada
Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA
Saint Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, MO
TD Gallery of Inuit Art, Toronto, Canada
Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Canada
Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada