Photo: Nunavut artist Itee Pootoogook dies at age 63

Itee Pootoogook, a self-taught artist and the first Inuk to have a solo exhibition at the Contemporary Art Gallery in Vancouver in 2013, has died at the age of 63. “This is a huge loss to Canada,” said Robert Kardosh, director of the Marion Scott Gallery which represented Pootoogook in Vancouver, in a March 20 news release. “Pootoogook was a major artist who helped bring Inuit drawing into the mainstream of contemporary Canadian art.” Pootoogook was born in Kimmirut and later moved to Cape Dorset. He was the son of artists Ishuhungitok and Paulassie Pootoogook. The piece above, from 2009, is entitled “Watching APTN.” See more later on nunatsiaqonline.ca. (FILE PHOTO)