Annie Pootoogook

Annie Pootoogook (, May 11, 1969 – September 19, 2016) was a Canadian Inuk artist known for her pen and coloured pencil drawings. In her art, Pootoogook often portrayed the experiences of those in her community of Kinngait (then known in English as Cape Dorset), in northern Canada, and memories and events from her own life.

Early life and education Annie Pootoogook was born on May 11, 1969, in Cape Dorset (now Kinngait), Canada. Pootoogook grew up in a family of artists all of whom worked out of the West Baffin Eskimo Co-operative, one of the first artist Co-ops established in the north in 1960. Her family worked in multiple mediums and styles and Pootoogook became interested in art at an early age. Her mother, Napachie Pootoogook, was a draftswoman and her father, Eegyvudluk Pootoogook, was a printmaker and stone sculptor. Pootoogook was the granddaughter of Pitseolak Ashoona a renowned graphic artist, the niece of printmaker Kananginak Pootoogook and the cousin of draftswoman Shuvinai Ashoona.

Artistic career Pootoogook began making art in 1997 at the age of 28. She developed her skills working alongside family members and Elders at the West Baffin Eskimo Co-operative in Cape Dorset, Nunavut. This was her first solo exhibition and was important for her career because it made her name more widely known. It was between 2001 and 2007 that Pootoogook was the most prolific in her art making. During this time, she drew intimate home interior scenes depicting alcoholism, violence, and domestic abuse, the everyday experiences of a woman living in the Canadian north, the hardships faced by northern communities, and the impact of technology on traditional Inuit life. Pootoogook solidified her style and content during this period beginning to draw images that could be easily attributed to her.

After an extremely successful, eponymously named, solo show at The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, in 2006, Pootoogook started to gain national attention outside of the art world and Inuit art market. In Ottawa, she worked with other Inuit artists and exhibited her drawings at SAW Gallery.

Subject matter Pootoogook was known for her drawings created in pen and coloured pencils that depict contemporary Inuit life. In addition, her work often juxtaposes intimate home interior scenes with scenes of alcoholism, violence, and domestic abuse – lessening the safety of the home.

Her work is largely inspired by her mother Napachie Pootoogook and her grandmother Pitseolak Ashoona, both of whom are well known Inuit artists. Like her mother and grandmother, Pootoogook worked in the Inuit tradition of sulijuk which means "it is true." This means that she depicted life as she saw it without adding too much of her hand into the composition.

Pootoogook is noted for titling her work for exactly what they depict, e.g. "Man Abusing his Partner", where a man is shown abusing his wife.

Style Pootoogook's compositions utilize minimal line drawings with figures posed in frontal or profile views.

Recognition and awards Pootoogook had her first major solo exhibition in 2006 when her work was displayed as part of a well-received show at The Power Plant in Toronto, Ontario. The exhibition, designed by Nancy Campbell, focused on mythology, Inuit communities and difficulties of life in the Arctic. The Sobey Award is granted to an artist who is 39 years of age or younger and has shown their work in a public or commercial gallery in Canada in the past 18 months, at the time of their application. The press release announcing Pootoogook's win noted that "her work reflects both the current moment of a specific tradition and of a contemporary drawing practice."

From 2009 to 2010 her work was shown in solo exhibitions at multiple galleries including the Agnes Etherington Art Centre, (Kingston, Ontario), the National Museum of the American Indian, (Washington, D.C.) and the George Gustav Heye Centre, (Manhattan, New York). In 2010 her work was also exhibited at the Biennale of Sydney.

Pootoogook participated in one her last exhibitions in 2012 at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art. Curated by Denise Markonish, the exhibition titled Oh, Canada, showcased 62 Canadian artists including the work of Pootoogook's cousin Shuvinai Ashoona. Pootoogook was the only professional artist from the Ottawa region represented in the exhibition.

On November 7, 2021, the Annie Pootoogook Park was dedicated to the artist. This park is located next to the Sandy Hill Community Centre and the University of Ottawa, in Ottawa, Ontario. The dedication ceremony, held on International Inuit Day, was attended by several members of Pootoogook's family, including her nine-year-old daughter, Inuit elders and Canada's first Inuk Governor General, Mary Simon.

Collections Art Gallery of Ontario McMichael Canadian Art Collection Museum of Fine Arts Houston National Gallery of Canada

Death Annie Pootoogook drowned in the Rideau River in Ottawa on September 19, 2016, in what police declared as a suspicious death. Two autopsies determined her cause of death to have been drowning, though it was never declared if somebody else had intentionally killed her.

After her death, Sergeant Chris Hrnchiar posted online comments that were condemned and labelled as racist, commenting that it was likely Pootoogook's death was due to alcoholism or drug abuse because of her ethnicity.

Annie Pootoogook's body was sent back to Cape Dorset where a funeral was held in her home village. The service was performed entirely in her native language of Inuktitut. Pootoogook's youngest daughter was able to go the funeral and this was the first time she met her extended Inuit family.