Opening Reception: Saturday, September 21, 2-5 pm
Exhibition Dates: September 21 – October 19, 2013
The gallery is pleased to present its second solo exhibition of work by William Eakin, featuring his new series entitled, “24Hours.”
When conceptualizing “24hours” Eakin was looking for insight into the idea of solar time through the medium of photography. Traditional photographs depict a moment of time with an implied before and after. His intent was to create an image/illusion in which he would be able to compress all time. The works in this series function as timeless icons; working with subjects stripped to the barest essentials, they present the opposites of circle/square, figure/ground, black/white and positive/negative. Watch faces that are photographed without clock hands confound one’s ability to “tell the time” and thereby permit one to contemplate a fuller sense of the idea of time.
Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1952, Eakin is one of Canada’s most respected photographers. Eakin’s commitment to a career in photography has been uncompromising. He is regarded in Winnipeg, a city known for producing internationally acclaimed artists, as a mentor and a model of independence, influencing generations of young artists.
Eakin studied at the Vancouver School of Art from 1971-74, and then at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston from 1974-1975. Eakin has been the recipient of a number of awards, including the 1996 Duke and Duchess of York Prize in Photography, administered by the Canada Council. In 2009, he won the “Arts Award of Distinction”. This honour is bestowed annually by the Manitoba Arts Council upon the province’s most distinguished artist, and recognizes Eakin’s lengthy and significant contribution to the arts.
There is an extensive body of writing about Eakin’s work and he has exhibited throughout Canada, as well as, the United States, Australia, The Netherlands, Japan and Taiwan. He has had over 50 one-person shows, and throughout the course of his career, has participated in an equivalent number of group exhibitions.
