Ingo Hessel

Ingo D. W. Hessel (born 1955) is a Canadian art historian and curator specializing in Inuit Art.

The author of Inuit Art: An Introduction, Hessel has curated exhibitions for the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona, the Museum of Inuit Art in Toronto, and the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto.

Hessel was born in Ottawa, Ontario.

He received a BA in Art History from Carleton University in 1977.

In 1983 Hessel began working in the field of Inuit art at the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs, Ottawa.

As Special Projects Officer and Coordinator at the Canadian Inuit Art Information Centre from 1984 until 1998, he travelled throughout the north to work with Inuit artists and artist cooperatives.

During this period he wrote Canadian Inuit Sculpture (1988) and curated Arviat Stone Sculpture (1990–91) for the McMichael Canadian Art Collection and Stories in Stone (1997) in Seoul, South Korea.

He has also been an Art History lecturer at the University of Ottawa (1992, 1994) and at Carleton University in Ottawa (2008, 2009).

In 1998 his book, Inuit Art: An Introduction was published by Douglas & McIntyre (Vancouver), Harry N. Abrams (New York), and the British Museum, London.

Frequently visiting the Arctic during his career, his role in introducing new media to northern communities was acknowledged at The Festive North (2005) exhibition at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection.

In 2006, Hessel was appointed the Albrecht Adjunct Curator of Inuit Art at the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona.

There he curated the exhibition Arctic Spirit: Inuit Art from the Albrecht Collection at the Heard Museum which travelled to the Anchorage Museum, the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami, the J. Wayne Stark Galleries, Texas A&M University, the Mashantucket Pequot Museum, the Louisiana Art and Science Museum and other venues; the catalogue of the same name was co-published by the Heard Museum and Douglas & McIntyre (Vancouver).

From 2008 to 2010 Hessel was Curator of the Museum of Inuit Art in Toronto, where he organized ten exhibitions including New Directions in Cape Dorset Drawing as well as a major retrospective exhibition on the artist Kananginak Pootoogook.

During the same period, he was guest curator for the exhibition Sanattiaqsimajut: Inuit Art from the Carleton University Art Gallery Collection (2009) and co-author with Sandra Dyck of the exhibition catalogue.

Cited as an authority in his field, Hessel authored the chapter on Inuit Art in The Visual Arts in Canada: The Twentieth Century in 2010.

At the Art Gallery of Ontario he co-curated Inuit Modern: Inuit Art from the Samuel and Esther Sarick Collection (2011) with Gerald McMaster and was principal author of the exhibition catalogue published in 2010.

In 2011 he was appointed Head, Inuit Art Department, at Walker's Auctions in Ottawa, a position he held until 2018.

He was a member of the Board of Directors of the Inuit Art Foundation from 2012-2014.

In 2013 he was a contributor to the exhibition catalogue Creation and Transformation: Defining Moments in Inuit Art at the Winnipeg Art Gallery.

Hessel is President and a founding partner of the auction-retail company First Arts Premiers Inc. based in Toronto (founded 2018); other company partners are Patricia Feheley, Mark London, and Nadine Di Monte.

First Arts is one of the leading auction houses for Inuit and First Nations art in Canada, holding twice-yearly live auctions, as well as periodic online auctions and retail exhibitions.

Hessel is also known as a sculptor and painter, and has exhibited in Canada in Toronto and Ottawa, and in Japan in Kyoto and Nagoya.