Smoke, Sweat & Honey

Kelowna Art Gallery Presents J. Kevin Dunn Of Smoke, Sweat and Honey: The Bee Project

October 02 to November 28, 2004
Opening Reception: Friday October 01 at 7:00pm
Artist in attendance.

This exhibition of new work by Penticton-based photographer J. Kevin Dunn captures the faces behind the veil of some of the 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.

Of Smoke, Sweat and Honey: The Bee Project is comprised of over 30 black and
white photographs. Several interwoven groupings include portraits of beekeepers, a glimpse of some of the seasonal processes unique to beekeeping and 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 2000-01.

Kevin Dunn is a photojournalist and beekeeper who has worked alongside many
of the beekeepers in the South Okanagan over the past five years. Originally
from Calgary, he studied photography at the University of Calgary (1985/86)
and at the Alberta College of Art (1986-89). His photographs have been shown
in solo and group exhibitions across Western Canada since 1990. Kevin Dunn
was one of four photographers commissioned to participate in Valley 2000: A
Photographic Record of Life in the Okanagan in 2001, at the Kelowna Art
Gallery.

The Kelowna Art Gallery will be hosting an opening reception for this
exhibition on Friday, October 01, at 7:00pm. The artist will be in
attendance and available to answer questions.

The artist wishes to recognize the support of the British Columbia Arts
Council for the financial support of this photography project.

For more information, to arrange an interview or for images of the artist’s work contact Jane Howard, Kelowna Art Gallery Public Relations Coordinator, at 250-762-2226, ext 305 or Linda Sawchyn, Kelowna Art Gallery Curator, at 250-762-2226, ext 303.