Geronimo Inutiq

LONG BIO:

Geronimo Inutiq is an electronic musician and multimedia artist residing in Montreal. He has worked with museums, galleries, institutions, companies, festivals, community organizations, and individuals to bring innovative electronic and Inuit art in Canada and beyond. Starting as beat-maker and rapper for the Presha Pack in 1995 -performing, dj'ing, recording and distributing a demo tape independently, and booking shows in clubs all over the city- Geronimo Inutiq has always been influenced by urban culture such as rap and hip-hop as well as related genres such as funk, r&b, dance hall, and reggae. Lying about his age at 17 so he can get a gig as DJ at the Club Tropikana -an African bar in Quebec City, he started to delve in crate digging for DJ'ing and sample finding -and ultimately a sense of curiosity and appreciation for all kinds of music and different ways to produce it. After moving to Montreal to start as a freshman in cultural studies in Montreal at the turn of the millennium, Geronimo saw himself moving further from his more rap and hip-hop leanings for the increasingly impressive technical productions of experimental electronic music. It was not long after this that -through the prompting and help of friend Sylvia Cloutier- Geronimo started exploring the possibility of blending traditional Inuit elements -as samples mixed with the sounds he had been exploring until then. With computer and the internet quickly revolutionizing how electronic music was produced, Geronimo saw himself developing in his capacity as an independently trained artist. And -by this time- opportunities to perform in national events started coming. With attending band camp near Winnipeg, to performing -in Germany, Vancouver, or Ottawa- and on national television, Geronimo saw himself grow -through the internet and bigger shows- in his capacity and performing musician and artist, as well as composer and producer of electronic music- blending authentic Inuit cultural elements with synthesizers, sampling, creative effects, and MIDI programming. On a DJ gig -backing a recording artist- Geronimo started exploring the possibility of VJ'ing. Using digitally treated archival film- his video work went from the stage, to online, to the museums and galleries of Canada. Thus ,with the exhibits “Beat Nation” and “Blizzard” in 2012, Geronimo became not just an artist involved in independently-produced electronic music. Exploring using urban, electronic, and indigenous and Inuit tropes in his work, Geronimo was emerging as artist within the national dialogue of contemporary arts and indigeneity. With his first solo show shown in three Galleries across Canada “ARCTIC NOISE” -curated by Britt Gallpenn and Yasmin Nurming-Por- Geronimo was allowed to further establish himself in the artistic realm- as a video and multimedia artist, doing multichannel installation. With “Isumaginagu” his solo show in 2016 for the Asinabaka Festival at gallery101 in Ottawa, Geronimo continued to push the envelope in his multimedia practice – with photograpy and digital art prints, original paintings, as well as the multichannel audio-visual installation. Always exploring the fantastical world in multimedia, he never forgets his roots in urban and electronic independent music production -nor his Inuit as well as Canadian, and Quebecois cultural heritage.
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