Place of Birth: Winnipeg, Manitoba
Resides: Arviat; also lived in Baker Lake, Rankin Inlet
Sculpture


Arluk began to teach himself how to carve soapstone at age 9. In the1960s he was influenced by sculptors Tiktak and Kavik and John Pangnark. By the mid-1970s he had developed a unique style of semi-abstraction. He depicts single figures such as hunters and mothers with babies in their hoods. Most often he groups figures together to form abstracted compositions of gently curving forms that undulate rythmically. His sculptures often have antler parts added that protrude in complex patterns from the stone.

His father Sevuoi Aiyarani was also carver. His brother Charlie Panigoniak a well known singer, song-writer in the north.

Bayat Gallery, Winnipeg, Canada

1972 January - March: Eskimo Fantastic Art, Gallery 111, School of Art, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba (tour) (illustrated catalogue)

1974: Inuit Sculpture 1974/Sculpture Inuit 1974, Lippel Gallery, Montreal, Quebec (illustrated catalogue)

1976 March - July: The Mulders' Collection of Eskimo Sculpture, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba (illustrated catalogue)

1997 August - September: Two Artists - Sculpture / Arlook, Drawings / Qarlisaq, Image of the Inuit, Contempo Westwood Centre, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

1978 March - June: The Coming and Going of the Shaman: Eskimo Shamanism and Art, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba (illustrated catalogue)

1978 August - November: The Zazelenchuk Collection of Eskimo Art, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba (illustrated catalogue)

1979 March - April: Sculpture of the Inuit: Lorne Balshine, Collection/Lou Osipov Collection/ Dr. Harry Winrob Collection, Surrey Art Gallery, Surrey, British Columbia (illustrated catalogue)

1979 July - 1980 May: Inuit Art in the 1970s, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, and the Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Kingston, Ontario (tour) (illustrated catalogue)

1979 November - December: In Celebration, Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec, Montreal, Quebec

1980 January - February: Inuit Master Artists of the 1970s, Inuit Gallery of Vancouver, Vancouver, British Columbia

1981 February - April: Rankin Inlet/Kangirlliniq, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba (illustrated catalogue)

1981 September - October: The Jacqui and Morris Shumiatcher, Collection of Inuit Art, Norman Mackenzie Art Gallery, University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan (illustrated catalogue)

1982 April: Sculpture Inuit: Stone/Bone, circa 1960-1979, Canadiana Galleries, Edmonton, Alberta

1982 October - December: Collector's Choice: 1965-1980, Inuit Gallery of Vancouver, Vancouver, British Columbia, (illustrated catalogue)

1986 April - May: Sixty Diminutive Eskimo Carvings, Images of the North, San Francisco, California

1986 May - June: The Spirit of the Land, The Koffler Gallery, Toronto, Ontario (illustrated brochure)

1987 May - June: [Inuit Art Exhibition], Whitby Arts Incorporated, The Station Gallery, Whitby, Ontario

1987 July - November: Useful Bits of Bone, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba

1987 September: The Williamson Collection of, Inuit Sculpture, Norman Mackenzie Art Gallery, University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan (tour) (illustrated catalogue)

1987 September - November: The Swinton Collection of Inuit Art, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba (illustrated catalogue)

1987 October: [L'art inuit] Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, at Chambre de Commerce de Chateauroux, France

1987 November - December: Art Inuit, Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec, Montreal, Quebec

1987 December - 1988 February: Inuk, Inuit: Art et tradition chez les esquimaux d'hier et d'aujourd'hui, presented by L'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, at Musee des Beaux-arts d'Arras, Arras, France (illustrated catalogue)

1988 April: [L'art inuit] Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, at Palais de L'Europe, Le Touquet, France

1988 July: [L'art inuit] Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, at Chapelle de la Visitation, Thonon, France

1988 November: [L'art inuit], Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, at Les Martres-de-Veyre, France

1988 November: Primitive Art from the Arctic, Arctic Artistry, Hartsdale, New York, U.S.A.

1988 December: [L'art inuit], Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, at Galerie des Tanneurs, Mulhouse, France

1989 February - March: [L'art inuit], Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, at St. Marcellin, France

1989 March - April: [L'art inuit], Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, at Galerie Autre Regard, Paris, France

1989 April: Legacy in Stone: Carvings from the Canadian Arctic, Four Winds Gallery, Sydney, Australia (illustrated brochure)

1989 June - July: Art Inuit, Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, at Galerie Sanguine, La Rochelle, France

1989 July - September: Mother and Child: Selections from the Inuit Collection of the Art Gallery of Ontario, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario

1989 August: Arviat: Eskimo Point, Marion Scott Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia (illustrated catalogue)

1989 October: Art Inuit, Sculpture des Esquimaux du Canada, Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, at Galerie La Poutre, Marseille, France

1989 December: Art Inuit, la Sculpture des Esquimaux du Canada, Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, at Les Chiroux, Centre Culturel de la Wallonie, Liège, Belgium

1990 January - September: Arctic Mirror, Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hull, Quebec

1990 February - March: Beeldhouwkunst van de Inuit (Canada), by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, France, at Amphora Finippon pvba, Sint Andries, Brugge, Belgium

1990 June - July: Small Sculptures from across the Canadian Arctic, Feheley Fine Arts, Toronto, Ontario

1990 August: Traditions and Innovations in Inuit Art, Sculpture in Stone
Images of the North, San Francisco, California, U.S.A. (illustrated brochure)

1990 November - December: Art Inuit: Autour de la Collection de Cape Dorset 1990, Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, at Centre Culturel Canadien, Paris, France

1990 November - 1991 February: Espaces Inuit, Maison Hamel-Bruneau, Ste-Foy, Quebec (illustrated catalogue)

1991 January: Bears of the North, Snow Goose Associates, Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.

1991 April - June: Art Inuit, Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, at Galerie La Tour des Cardinaux, L'Isle sur la Sorgue, France

1991 June - July: Art Inuit, Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, at Galerie Ombre et Lumiere, Ensisheim, France

1991 August - September: Art Inuit, Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, at Galerie Akenaton, Troyes, France

1991 October - December: Art Inuit, Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, at Galerie Maite Aubert, Le Havre, France

1992 October - 1993 January: Drawings and Sculpture from Baker Lake, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba (illustrated brochure)

1993 April - July: Multiple Realities: Inuit Images of Shamanic Transformation, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba (illustrated brochure)

1993 September - November: The Bear: Sculpture, Albers Gallery, San Francisco, California, U.S.A.

1993 November - 1994 March: The Inuit Imagination, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba

1994 July: Arctic Spirit - 35 Years of Canadian Inuit Art, Frye Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.

1994 September - October: Kunst van de Inuit Eskimo's, Gemeentelijk Kunstcentrum, Huis Hellemans, Edegem, Belgium (illustrated brochure)

1968: Sculpture by George Arlook, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba

1969: George Arlook Sculpture, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta

1972 December: Sculpture by Arlook of Rankin Inlet, The Innuit Gallery of Eskimo Art, Toronto, Ontario

1979 July - August: George Arlook - The Song in the Stone, Images of the North, San Francisco, California, U.S.A. (illustrated catalogue)

1980 July - August: George Arluk - Sculpture, Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec, Montreal, Quebec (illustrated catalogue)

1982 January: George Arluk, Inuit Galerie, Mannheim, Germany (illustrated catalogue)

1988 December: Abstract in Stone, Northern Reflections Eskimo Art Gallery, La Jolla, California, U.S.A.

1992 December: George Arluk, Inuit Galerie, Mannheim, Germany

1993 December - 1994 January: The Sculpture of George Arlook, Richard Rapfogel Fine Arts, Saint Louis, Missouri, U.S.A.

Amway Environmental Foundation Collection, Ada, Michigan, U.S.A.
Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario
Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec, Montreal, Quebec
Eskimo Museum, Churchill, Manitoba
Inuit Cultural Institute, Rankin Inlet, Northwest Territories
Klamer Family Collection, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario
Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Musee des beaux-arts de Montreal, Montreal, Quebec
Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario
Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories
Red Deer and District Museum and Archives, Red Deer, Alberta
Sarick Collection, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario
University of Lethbridge Art Gallery, Lethbridge, Alberta
Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia
Williamson Collection, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario
Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba

1972 Received a Canada Council travel grant to attend the opening of his solo exhibition at the Innuit Gallery of Eskimo Art in Toronto.

1987 Commissioned to create a sculpture to be auctioned with all proceeds going to the Keith Rawlings Memorial Scholarship Fund; the monies raised to be used to assist northern native students to careers in business.

1988 Attended the opening of his solo exhibition 'Abstract in Stone' in La Jolla,California.

1991 George presented a carving demonstration at the Winnipeg Folk Festival in July.

1993 The Inuit Galerie of Mannheim, Germany, features reproductions of Arluk's sculpture in their 1993 calender.

1993 Attended Greater Columbus Arts Festival in Ohio (June 2-6, 1993) to give a carving demonstration.

Blodgett, Jean: THE COMING AND GOING OF THE SHAMAN: Eskimo Shamanism and Art. Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1979.

Brandson, Lorraine E.: CARVED FROM THE LAND: The Eskimo Museum Collection. Churchill, Man.: Diocese of Churchill Hudson Bay, 1994.

Canadian Arctic Producers: GEORGE ARLUK: Sculpture. Ottawa: Canadian Arctic Producers Cooperative Limited, 1980.

Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec: CANADIAN GUILD OF CRAFTS QUEBEC. = GUILDE CANADIENNE DES METIERS D'ART QUEBEC: The Permanent Collection: Inuit Arts and Crafts, c. 1900-1980. Montreal: Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec, 1980.

Gagnon, Louis: ESPACES INUIT: Dessins et Sculpture. Sainte-Foy, Quebec: Maison Hamel-Bruneau, 1990.


Images of the North: GEORGE ARLUK: The Song in Stone. San Francisco: Images of the North, 1979.

Inuit Galerie: GEORGE ARLUK. Mannheim, F.D.R.: Inuit Galerie, 1987.

Inuit Galerie: GEORGE ARLUK. Mannheim, Federal Republic of Germany : Inuit Galerie, 1981.

Lippel Gallery Inc.: INUIT SCULPTURE 1974/SCULPTURE INUIT 1974. Montreal: Lippel Gallery Inc, 1974.

Marion Scott Gallery: ARVIAT: Eskimo Point. Vancouver: Marion Scott Ltd, 1989.

Norman Mackenzie Art Gallery: THE JACQUI AND MORRIS SHUMIATCHER COLLECTION OF INUIT ART. Regina: The Norman Mackenzie Art Gallery, 1981.

Routledge, Marie: INUIT ART IN THE 1970s/L'ART INUIT ACTUEL: 1970-79. Kingston, Ont. : The Agnes Etherington Art Centre, 1979.

Seidelman, Harold and James Turner: THE INUIT IMAGINATION: Arctic Myth and Sculpture. Vancouver/Toronto: Douglas & McIntyre, 1993.

Surrey Art Gallery: SCULPTURE OF THE INUIT: Lorne Balshine Collection/Lou Osipov Collection/Dr. Harry Winrob Collection. Surrey: The Surrey Art Gallery, 1978.

Swinton, George: ESKIMO SCULPTURE. = SCULPTURE ESQUIMAUDE. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1965.

Swinton, George: SCULPTURE OF THE ESKIMO. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1972.

Wight, D.: GEORGE ARLUK: IN The Canadian Encyclopedia, James H. Marsh, editor-in-chief. Edmonton: Hurtig Publishers, 1:90, 1985.

Winnipeg Art Gallery: RANKIN INLET/KANGIRLLINIQ. Winnipeg: The Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1981.

Winnipeg Art Gallery: SWINTON COLLECTION OF INUIT ART. Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1987.

Winnipeg Art Gallery: THE MULDERS' COLLECTION OF ESKIMO SCULPTURE. Winnipeg: The Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1976.

Winnipeg Art Gallery: THE ZAZELENCHUK COLLECTION OF ESKIMO ART. Winnipeg: The Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1978.