On June 27th, Plug In ICA presented an artist talk by Glasgow based artist Erica Eyres, who was the 8th speaker in our 2017 Stages Speaker Series. This series is held off-site at the former Globe Cinema in Portage Place Mall, Winnipeg.

Erica Eyres’ artistic production is defined by an admirable proficiency in a range of media including drawing, film, and most recently ceramics. Thwarting her refined skills, she embraces awkwardness and humour that has a lo-fi aesthetic. Autbiography is often the subject of her work, which she obscures through costuming, narration and role reversals. She is influenced by the social and artistic milieu of Winnipeg, where Eyres was born and regularly returns to from her current home in Glasgow.

Eyres mines visual references from the surrealism of daily life and the aesthetic of TV, Eyres is interested in failure, and misaligned characters. Her drawings often play on sexuality and fantasy that is always slightly unsettled. In a similar mode her work with ceramics draws on everyday objects such as candles, insects, food or body parts, which operate as stand-alone objects that are decontextualized or estranged. Eyres graduated with an MFA from Glasgow School of Art in 2004. She has had solo exhibitions at CCA, Glasgow and the Kunsthaus, Erfurt, with selected group exhibitions including PS1, New York; Plug In ICA, Winnipeg; and The Akureyri Art Museum, Akureyri, Iceland. Recent exhibitions include The Vegetable Store, part of Glasgow International 2016; Holidays in the Future, at Lisa Kehler Art + Projects, Winnipeg (2015); and Biography Channel, ASC Gallery, London (2014). Upcoming projects include a solo exhibition at Queen’s Park Railway Club, Glasgow (2017). She is currently doing her PhD in Fine Art at Northumbria University.

This artist talk with Erica Eyres was part of Stages Speaker Series, which is offered in anticipation of STAGES: Drawing the Curtain, a constellation of temporary public artworks to be launched in August 2017. This large-scale public art project asks artists to locate a site within the city of Winnipeg from which to contemplate the stage – its function as a platform; its meaning as a point of attention; and its physical design. Directed by their individual interests and material preferences, the artists will build sculptural ‘stages’ ranging in shape and form, connected as platforms for audiences to occupy, physically engage with and contemplate.

In keeping with the drive of STAGES to bring art beyond our walls, all talks for Stages Speaker Series will be held at an off-site location. This presentation will be held at the former Globe Cinema, 3rd floor, Portage Place Shopping Centre, 393 Portage Ave, Winnipeg.

*Artists for Stages: Drawing the Curtain include: Abbas Akhavan (Toronto), Pablo Bronstein (London, UK), Erica Eyres (Glasgow, UK/ Winnipeg), Kara Hamilton (Toronto), Federico Herrero (San José, Costa Rica), Toril Johannessen (Tromsø, Norway), Divya Mehra (Winnipeg), Krista Belle Stewart (Vancouver) and Ron Tran (Vancouver).

Stages Speaker Series and Stages: Drawing the Curtain are made possible through the Canada Council for the Arts New Chapter Program with the support of The Winnipeg Foundation. With key sponsors Susan Glass & Arni Thornsteinson and Daniel Friedman & Rob Dalgliesh.

Our community partners include Alliance Française Manitoba, Alpha Masonry, Alt Hotel, Cityplace Mall (Triovest), CKUW, Edison Properties, Fillip, Portage Place Shopping Centre, Urbanink and Winnipeg Tourism.