Floyd Kuptana

Kuptana was born in a settlement near the former Distant Early Warning Line station at Cape Parry, Northwest Territories, Canada and later moved with his family to nearby Paulatuk. He began his career by helping cousins Francis and Abraham Anghik Ruben[https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/visualarts/2012/11/13/arctic_journeysancient_memories_the_sculpture_of_abraham_anghik_ruben.html Arctic Journeys/Ancient Memories: the Sculpture of Abraham Anghik Ruben] to sand and polish their carvings, later working as an apprentice to David Ruben Piqtoukun, older brother of Abraham and Francis. He produced his own work after leaving the apprenticeship in 1992, and resided in Toronto until his death. His brother, Robert Kuptana, is a carver.[http://www.spiritwrestler.com/catalog/index.php?artists_id=388 Robert Kuptana]

Floyd Kuptana's sculptures of soapstone and other stone often feature shapes of both animal and human. Frequent imagery of transformation may be considered grotesque and include works of Sedna the Inuit goddess of the sea and marine animals. His work relates both to the Inuit religion and his own experiences.

After coming in contact in the late 2000s with Gallery Arcturus, a public art museum and education centre in Toronto,[https://www.arcturus.ca/artist_gallery.php?id=142%e2%80%9d%20%5bR=302,L%5d Floyd Kuptana] Kuptana began working with paint, depicting animals in bright colours on found materials such as wood and later on art board and canvas.[https://issuu.com/intuitart/docs/for_issuu_final_lowerres_8.5x11_out "FLOYD KUPTANA, CANADA’S OUTSIDER"] The Outsider | Fall 2018 The artist also worked in collage{{Cite web|url=http://kolajmagazine.com/content/content/articles/remembering-floyd-kuptana-1964-2021/|title = Remembering Floyd Kuptana (1964-2021)|date = 2 August 2021}} and pastel.{{Cite book|url=https://www.blurb.ca/b/10873186-artists-together|title=Artists Together by Deborah Harris | Blurb Books Canada|date=6 October 2021}} Some of Kuptana's pieces entered the market via commercial galleries including a leading source of First Nations artwork in Toronto, Bay of Spirits.{{Cite web |url=https://www.bayofspirits.com/artistdetail.php?artistID=1034&artist=Floyd%20Kuptana |title=Bay of Spirits Gallery |access-date=2017-05-31 |archive-date=2018-03-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180323092256/https://www.bayofspirits.com/artistdetail.php?artistID=1034&artist=Floyd%20Kuptana |url-status=dead }} Most were sold by the artist himself for private collections in Canada, the United States and other countries.

The piece known as "Self-portrait by Floyd Kuptana" was acquired in 2007 by Library and Archives Canada[http://collectionscanada.gc.ca/pam_archives/index.php?fuseaction=genitem.displayItem&lang=eng&rec_nbr=3922914 Self-portrait by Floyd Kuptana] and appeared in a 2018 joint exhibit at the Glenbow art and history museum in Calgary.

The Winnipeg Art Gallery which specializes in showcasing northern art has in its Qaumajuq collection a Kuptana work known as "Untitled (Skull), 2000", gifted by the Eric Sprott Family.{{Cite web|url=https://www.wag.ca/art/collection/item/643/|title = 2017-23 Untitled (Skull) Floyd Kuptana » WAG}}

The work "Seal Transformation," 2001, made of stone, antler and steel is in the collection of the Art Gallery of Ontario according to the Inuit Art Foundation.[https://www.inuitartfoundation.org/profiles/artist/Floyd-Kuptana# IAF biography for the artist]

Multiple works by Kuptana are in the permanent collection of Toronto contemporary art museum Gallery Arcturus.[https://www.arcturus.ca/artist_gallery.php?id=142#masonry_outer Floyd Kuptana works at Gallery Arcturus] During 2018, an exhibit space on the gallery's second floor[https://www.arcturus.ca/display2.php?g=1&s=2019-03-03-kuptana-gallery-march-2019&ev=313 Floyd Kuptana Gallery, 2018] was created to showcase the artist's work in various media, as well as pieces created in collaboration with other artists. Upon the one year anniversary of his death in 2022 an extensive retrospective of his work began at the public art museum, including many large works from the artist's former collaborator Jean Paul Albert.[https://arcturus.ca/invited/ Retrospective at Gallery Arcturus]

Floyd Kuptana died in Toronto on May 25, 2021.{{cite news| url = https://www.thestar.com/life/together/remembrance/2021/06/27/remembering-inuvialuk-artist-floyd-kuptana-whose-dark-vision-brought-important-issues-to-light.html| title = Remembering Inuvialuk artist Floyd Kuptana, whose dark vision brought important issues to light {{!}} The Star| newspaper = The Toronto Star| date = 27 June 2021}}

• "STILL WITH US / from another world / Daniel meets Floyd" retrospective at Gallery Arcturus, Toronto, 27 May 2022 - present[https://arcturus.ca/invited/ Retrospective at Gallery Arcturus]
• "The Artist's Mirror: Self Portraits"[http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/about-us/events/Pages/2018/artists-mirror-self-portraits.aspx?=undefined&wbdisable=true "The Artist's Mirror: Self Portraits"] "Exhibition: Library and Archives Canada in partnership with the Glenbow" at the Glenbow, Calgary, 10 March 2018 – 6 January 2019{{Cite web |url=https://glenbow.org/exhibitions/the-artists-mirror-self-portraits/ |title=The Artist's Mirror: Self Portraits |access-date=2018-09-17 |archive-date=2018-09-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180917034247/https://glenbow.org/exhibitions/the-artists-mirror-self-portraits/ |url-status=dead }}
• "Sedna lamenting the loss of sea ice" at "Linked"{{Cite web |url=http://fondazionemerz.org/public/uploads/2015/11/Flyer_inglese.pdf |title="Linked" exhibit |access-date=2016-01-09 |archive-date=2016-02-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160202051946/http://fondazionemerz.org/public/uploads/2015/11/Flyer_inglese.pdf |url-status=dead }} at the Oceanographic Museum, Monaco, 29 November 2015 - 29 February 2016
• "Changing Hands: Art Without Reservation 3"[https://madmuseum.org/content/changing-hands# "Changing Hands: Art Without Reservation 3"] travelling exhibit of The Museum of Arts and Design, New York City, 26 June - 21 October 2012[http://www.santafenewmexican.com/pasatiempo/art/art_reviews/art-in-review-changing-hands/article_b5ebf4b2-1657-11e3-8809-0019bb30f31a.html Art in Review: Changing Hands]
• "Floyd Kuptana ... sculpted from stone and spirit"[https://arcturus.ca/display2.php?s=2011-09-27-floyd-kuptana-sculpted-from-stone-and-spirit "Floyd Kuptana ... sculpted from stone and spirit"] at Gallery Arcturus, Toronto, 27 September - 12 November 2011
• "In the Shadow of the Midnight Sun"{{Cite web |url=http://iaq.inuitartfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/23.4.pdf |title="In the Shadow of the Midnight Sun" |access-date=2017-05-31 |archive-date=2018-03-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180323031002/http://iaq.inuitartfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/23.4.pdf |url-status=dead }} at the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, 23 May – 17 August 2008
• "Inuit Sculpture Now"[https://www.gallery.ca/whats-on/exhibitions-and-galleries/inuit-sculpture-now "Inuit Sculpture Now"] at the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, 30 June - 18 November 2007 and the McMichael Collection, Ontario, Canada, 7 July 2006 - 4 September 2006

• [http://ccca.concordia.ca/artists/image_timeline.html?languagePref=en&link_id=6089&artist=Floyd+Kuptana Timeline of Kuptana's sculptures] from 1999 to 2002 from The Centre for Contemporary Canadian Art (CCCA) at Concordia University
• [http://iaq.inuitartfoundation.org/product/23-1-spring-2008/ "Reinventing Myths"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180523172436/http://iaq.inuitartfoundation.org/product/23-1-spring-2008/ |date=2018-05-23 }} Inuit Art Quarterly 23.1, Spring 2008 pps. 18-26
• [http://www.santafenewmexican.com/pasatiempo/art/art_reviews/article_b5ebf4b2-1657-11e3-8809-0019bb30f31a.html "Art in Review: Changing Hands"] The Santa Fe New Mexican, September 6, 2013.
• [https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/inuit-art "Inuit Art" The Canadian Encyclopedia]
• [https://www.pressreader.com/canada/inuit-art-quarterly/20171205/281556586155347 Review of two-dimensional works] Inuit Art Quarterly 30.4, Winter 2017
• [https://issuu.com/intuitart/docs/for_issuu_final_lowerres_8.5x11_out/s/11900663 "FLOYD KUPTANA, CANADA’S OUTSIDER"]{{Dead link|date=November 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} The Outsider, Fall 2018

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons|Inuit Art}}

• [https://floydkuptana.ca "Floyd Kuptana : From Another World" : overview of all his works] by Inuit Art Portal.
• [https://www.arcturus.ca/artist_gallery.php?id=142#masonry_outer Select work] at Gallery Arcturus, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZH1PZ8AiZ4&list=PLTFTptBIT3CKnObtap-QrLRqRPIGZejB3&index=6 Videos of artist]
• [http://dragonwhistle.ca/galleries/floyd/index.html Images of work] at photographic website dragonwhistle.ca
• [https://www.waddingtons.ca/search/kuptana Waddington's auction house]
• [https://inuitfinearts.com/boutique/en/product/search/&search=kuptana&category_id=0 Galerie d'Art Vincent], Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

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Category:Inuit sculptors

Category:Inuit from the Northwest Territories

Category:1964 births

Category:2021 deaths

Category:20th-century Canadian sculptors

Category:20th-century Inuit artists

Category:21st-century Canadian sculptors

Category:21st-century Inuit artists

Category:Canadian Inuit artists

Category:Inuvialuit people

Category:Artists from the Northwest Territories

Category:Canadian painters of animals

Category:Animal sculptors

Category:People from Paulatuk