One Inuit artist takes over 8,000 square feet of the WAG

A glimpse at the Abraham Anghik Ruben exhibition at the Winnipeg Art Gallery on May 22, 2025. (Ken Gabel/CTV News)

The largest gallery inside Winnipeg Art Gallery (WAG)-Qaumajuq will now feature work from a single Inuit artist.

More than 100 pieces from Abraham Anghik Ruben are being brought together for a solo show inside Qilak, an 8,000 square-foot gallery located on the third floor of Qaumajuq.

The show is simply titled after the artist himself.

It opens to the public Saturday.

“I expect they’re going to be blown off their feet,” said Stephen Borys, the director and CEO of WAG-Qaumajuq.

“To do a show like this for Abraham Ruben is really something that we dreamed about.”

Anghik Ruben, who was born in the Northwest Territories, is one of the most celebrated stone carvers and painters in the country. His work can be found in collections around the world.

The new show is somewhat of an artist’s homecoming, as he held his very first solo show at the WAG almost 25 years ago.

Abraham Anghik Ruben features a breadth of work spanning more than 50 years.

“This exhibition is an opportunity for me to honour the teachings of my parents and other elders who took time to show me a path in this life,” Anghik Ruben said in a press release. “The sculptures and paintings are a testament to the powerful myths, stories, and legends of the two principal Arctic peoples, the Inuit and the Norse. They are the people who bring life into my works.”

Abraham Anghik Ruben will first open for free celebration on Friday at 7 p.m. and will run until next spring.

Several of his pieces are also for sale at the WAG.