Jutai Toonoo came from an artistic family. He was the son of carver Toonoo and graphic artist Sheojuke Toonoo, younger brother of Oviloo Tunnillie, and older brother of Samonie Toonoo – both innovative contemporary artists who introduced new subject matter to the traditional medium of stone sculpture. While he had worked as a printmaker, Jutai remained a sculptor until the remarkable first decade of the 21st century when the Kinngait Studios, sparked by the unprecedentedly raw drawings of Annie Pootoogook, began to see a rise in artistic innovation, particularly with works on paper. Oilstick was introduced in a workshop as a new drawing tool, one in which bold strokes and bright patches of colour could allow for a level of expression that coloured pencil could not provide in the same way.

Jutai was among the few artists at the Kinngait Studios who successfully embraced the sometimes-unforgiving oil stick medium. Using an old easel belonging to Terry Ryan, Jutai created masterful, expressionist compositions. To create this exquisite self-portrait, he laid down on a large sheet of paper and asked Bill Ritchie (then the studio manager) to draw his outline. He then created this image in which he portrays himself as made up two selves – a common theme found in this artist’s oeuvre. Featured on the cover of Inuit Art Quarterly (24.9), this is perhaps Jutai’s best-known drawing, and a remarkable example of the genius and unique vision of this master artist.

References: See the interview with Jutai in “Still Life and Quick Wit Interview with Jutai Toonoo,” Inuit Art Quarterly, Vol. 27, No 2, Spring/Summer 2014, pp. 16-22. For an overview of the artist’s work on the human form, including his own, see the exhibition Jutai Toonoo: Body Contemplation, Toronto, Ontario, Feheley Fine Arts, 21 April - 12 May 2012, and the catalogue of the same name. See also the exhibition Life: A Retrospective Exhibition, Toronto, Ontario, Feheley Fine Arts, 5-26 March 2016 and accompanying catalogue.