Of
Smoke, Sweat and Honey: The Bee Project
is an exhibition of new work by Penticton-based photographer J. Kevin
Dunn. In this work, Dunn captures the faces behind the veil of some of
B.C. Southern Interior’s most ingenious and essential characters –
beekeepers. According to Dunn, these are folk artists who make a living
dealing with live art, and in doing so bridge the gap between agriculture,
art and industry. The importance of beekeeping, and bees, to the Okaganan
fruit industry makes the subject of this exhibition very relevant and
timely. Particularly since there is some concern that the art of
beekeeping is being lost due to a lack of new beekeepers to carry on this
essential work.
Several
interwoven groupings of black and white photographs are included in this
exhibition including portraits of beekeepers and a glimpse of some of the
seasonal processes unique to beekeeping. As well, it provides a vision of
the Canadian landscape in some of the most unusual small-scale beekeeping
sites of the province’s interior. Contrasted
with the latter are views of large-scale commercial beekeeping in New
South Wales, Australia where the artist had an opportunity to work in the
field in 2000-2001.
Kevin
Dunn studied at the University of Calgary and the Alberta College of Art
in the 1980s. He worked as a freelance photojournalist in Saskatchewan,
Alberta and B.C. prior to moving to the South Okanagan in the early 1990s.
His photographs have been featured in exhibitions at The Justina M.
Barnicke Gallery at the University of Toronto, The Moose Jaw National
Exhibition Centre, The Kamloops Art Gallery, The Nanaimo Art Gallery, The
Alternator Gallery, and The Kelowna Art Gallery.
Kevin Dunn is a photojournalist and beekeeper who has worked
alongside many of the beekeepers in the South Okanagan over the past five
years. He and his wife, Janelle spent one season in New South Wales,
Australia working in large-scale commercial beekeeping.
Linda
Sawchyn
Curator
