Peter Inukshuk, a contemporary of the elder artist Anguhadluq, was not known to be a carver earlier in the 1960s and was quite possibly first encouraged to try his hand at sculpture in 1969 by Jack Butler, the newly arrived arts advisor. His works are relatively few, but all are very interesting; we know of a handful of lovely spirit birds and several standing male figures, almost all of them nudes. Of these latter works, this Standing Man (The King) is the most important. Jack Butler has always treasured the cheeky little note that Inukshuk provided with the sculpture that he was told, in effect, states, “This is good because I made it” or possibly, “I made this, and I know it’s good.”

Well, declaring that the sculpture is good was putting it mildly. The work is a masterpiece, and a remarkably cheeky one at that. Part of the work’s brilliance is its ambiguity. It is titled Standing Man but the figure’s proportions are more that of a young child. It’s almost impossible to be offended by the image since it has an almost childlike innocence. The King’s small body is carved in a quite rudimentary fashion. Clearly the artist was more interested in focusing on its genitalia and the impressively large head. The man seems to be laughing or singing – suspicious minds might suggest that the subtitle The King refers to Elvis. Any way you look at it, this sculpture is utterly charming and completely disarming in its saucy and irreverent humour.