Lot 6
BILL NASOGALUAK (b. 1953)
Note:
Unflinching of eye, and unwavering in the clarity of his artistic statements, artist Bill Nasogaluak has developed a highly distinctive canon of images encompassing subjects as diverse as shamanism and Inuit mythology, Western Renaissance traditions, climate change, depression, and the impacts of industry in the North.
A self-taught artist with a passion for both Inuit and Western art history, Nasogaluak is an accomplished painter, sculptor, and instructor whose prescient artworks have been garnering notable curatorial attention in recent years. [1, 2] Held in important private and public collections including the Art Gallery of Ontario and the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, we are pleased to be able to offer ten diverse works by the artist (see lots 1 through 10 of this sale).
Here Nasogaluak presents one of his signature complex faces, rich in minute detail. It bristles with wrinkles in contrast to the smooth black lobes of a whale’s flukes into which it is set.
A vision of transformation, Nasogaluak has described the work as the journey of a shaman to visit Sedna at the bottom of the sea. [3]
For important related works by the artist in the collection of the AGO, see the ongoing exhibit “Bill Nasogaluak”, Click here to read more.
References:
1. Art Gallery of Ontario, “Bill Nasogaluak” 2021-Ongoing, Click here to read more.
2. Prnewswire, “Bill Nasogaluak: Shapeshifter” FFA, January 2020. Click here to read more.
3. Seidelman, Harold, author of The Inuit Imagination: Arctic Myth and Sculpture, personal correspondence February 17, 2022.