Pudlo Pudlat: Print Archive

March 1 – 31

I have been drawing for a long time now, I only draw what I think, but sometimes I think the pencil has a brain too.

Pudlo Pudlat

Our March profile features works from the print archive of Kinngait’s Pudlo Pudlat, one of Nunavut’s—and one of Canada’s—most iconic artists. Born in 1916 in a hunting camp on southern Baffin Island, Pudlat was one of the first artists to begin making drawings for the West Baffin Eskimo Cooperative when it launched its groundbreaking printmaking program in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Pudlat’s earliest silhouetted designs focussed on Inuit traditions such as hunting and fishing and are notable for their innovative formal play with figure-ground relationships. Later, his imagery became more fantastical and whimsical, often juxtaposing modern technology with traditional iconography and ancient forms. Humour is a central feature of Pudlat’s colourful and idiosyncratic vision. A prolific practitioner—he produced approximately 4500 drawings and 190 print editions during his career—he stands as one of the most incisive commentators of his time.