The Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian is exhibiting 39 drawings "that chronicle the realities of contemporary Inuit life by renowned artist Annie Pootoogook." It open on June 13.
Pootoogook's detailed work describes everyday life in her home community of Cape Dorset,
Nunavut. Her scenes of Inuit traditions include the less romantic but real integration of modern
technologies such as video games and televisions as well as domestic abuse and tragedy. Her method,
carefully outlined shapes in black filled with blocks of solid color, recalls traditional Inuit drawing
while the subject matter reflects the unvarnished viewpoint of her generation. Other drawings are
more personal and abstract, illustrating an emotional landscape of mental anguish, such as "Sadness
and Relief for My Brother," and the austere but compelling, still life of the artist's prescription-
medicine bottle, cup and a single dangling key in "Composition (Annie's Tylenol)." Cheerful
domestic scenes such as a family opening Christmas presents ("Christmas") are depicted with the
same precision and calm attention to detail as the emotion-laden composition "Memory of My Life:
Breaking Bottles."
