Cliff Eyland

Cliff Eyland (November 7, 1954 – May 16, 2020) was a Canadian painter, writer and curator.[1]

Cliff Eyland
Born(1954-11-07)November 7, 1954
Halifax, Nova Scotia
DiedMay 16, 2020(2020-05-16) (aged 65)
Known forpainter, writer and curator

Career

Born in Halifax and raised in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Eyland studied art at Holland College, Mount Allison University, and the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design.[2][3] While in school, he was influenced by artists Robert Morris, On Kawara and Daniel Buren.[4]

Cliff Eyland's Untitled, in the lobby of Millennium Library in Winnipeg Manitoba

Eyland was best known for his work that transformed public spaces[5] and his drawings and paintings done on the small 3 x 5 index card format. In 2005 his installation Untitled, consisting of over 1000 paintings, opened at the Winnipeg's Millennium Library.[6][7] In 2014, he installed at the Halifax Central Library whereLibrary Cards is behind the front desk and Book Shelf Paintings is on the fifth floor.[8][4] He also has a smaller public art commission of 600 painting titled Sculptures in Landscapes at the Meadows branch of the Edmonton Public Library.[9]

Eyland also hid card drawings in books and card catalogues at the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto, the Library and Archives in Ottawa and the Muttart Library in Calgary.[4] During his 2012 residency and solo exhibition at the National Gallery of Canada, he showed painting in the vitrine, published an artist book and placed 1000 file card drawings[10] into books in the Library.[11]

A portion of Eyland's installation called Book Shelf Paintings (2014) at the Halifax Central Library,

Eyland was a curator and writer as an extension of his artistic practice.[12] Between 1998–2010, he was an associate professor of painting at the University of Manitoba School of Art and director of Gallery One One One.[13][1]

Eyland's archives are held at the University of Manitoba Archives & Special Collections. In 2020, his alma mater Nova Scotia College of Art and Design set up the Cliff Eyland Memorial Scholarship for painting students and endowed by his family.[14]

Exhibitions

Exhibition highlights include solo exhibitions at the New School University in New York City, the Winnipeg Art Gallery, Struts Gallery and Gallery Connexion (both in New Brunswick), the Muttart (now the Art Gallery of Calgary), the Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba, and at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, the Eyelevel Gallery, Saint Mary's University Art Gallery and Dalhousie University Art Gallery.

Group exhibitions include shows in Paris at the Maison Rouge museum, in Florence, Italy, Manchester, England, and Lublin, Poland, among others. Eyland regularly updated his ongoing installation File Card Works Hidden in Books at the Raymond Fogelman Library at the New School University in New York City between 1997 until 2005.[15]

References
  1. Hatherly, Dana (16 May 2020). "Arts community mourns death of Winnipeg's Cliff Eyland, known for transforming libraries with tiny paintings". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
  2. Carter, Sue (19 May 2020). "Winnipeg artist Cliff Eyland remembered for his card-sized library paintings". Quill and Quire. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  3. "Cliff Eyland Biographical". www.umanitoba.ca. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  4. David Diviney (February 18, 2015). "Cliff Eyland Returns to the Library in Halifax Project", Canadian Art. https://canadianart.ca/reviews/cliff-eyland-returns-library-halifax-project/
  5. Hatherly, Dana (16 May 2020). "Arts community mourns death of Winnipeg's Cliff Eyland, known for transforming libraries with tiny paintings". CBC News. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  6. "Untitled | The Winnipeg Arts Council". winnipegarts.ca. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  7. "Untitled | The Winnipeg Arts Council". winnipegarts.ca. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  8. Erica, Butler (9 December 2014). "Q&A: artist Cliff Eyland on his 5,000 paintings project at Halifax Central Library". Quill and Quire. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  9. McIntyre, Heather (11 June 2019). "Public Art in Public Libraries". www.epl.ca. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  10. Eyland, Cliff (2012). Cliff Eyland 2012: National Gallery of Canada, Library and Archives = Musée des beaux-arts du Canada, Bibliothèque et archives. Cliff Eyland. Ottawa, On: Cliff Eyland.
  11. Smulder, Marilyn (2 February 2015). "Q&A with Cliff Eyland". NSCAD. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  12. Cronin, Ray (May 1997). "A reasoned compulsion: An interview with cliff eyland". C: International Contemporary Art. 53: 22 – via Proquest Art, Design & Architecture Collection.
  13. Botar, Oliver; Jones, Donna. "University of Manitoba - School of Art - Cliff Eyland (1954 - 2020)". University of Manitoba School of Art. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  14. "Remembering Cliff Eyland". NSCAD. 29 May 2020. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  15. "Work Detail from the drawing at the Fogelman Library, New School University". The Centre for Contemporary Canadian Art database. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
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