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| John Dyer international environmental artist |
| EDEN PROJECT I INIBAP I IRRI I CGIAR I BANROCK STATION I IPGRI I CONAF I SAVE THE CHILDREN |
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"The arts, in their broadest sense, are fundamental to Eden. We aim to blur the perceived line between the creative and the scientific and use art to illustrate the vital link between plants and people. John Dyer is the painter in residence for the Eden Project in Cornwall. John has worked with the project from the year 2000 to the present day and has not only recorded the planting of the biomes but has travelled across the world to study the plants in their natural habitats.
The Eden Project have used John's work to help to tell their 'plant people' stories and a major exhibition was held for world food day in October 2002 of his italian crop paintings. John's work continues with Eden as he works towards his 'Crops Project' exhibition. And in 2004 John exhibited 'Rice is Life' at the project."
The Eden Project 2008
Click for the full John Dyer / Eden story |
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| The Biodiversity / Crops Project |
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Banana farming / Costa Rica |
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Resident artist for INIBAP |
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'Jungle
Bananas', 24 x 24 inches acrylic on canvas.
One of a series painted on location in Costa Rica. |
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"We
asked John Dyer to paint bananas because they are
a smallholder crop - grown in people's back gardens
and farms along with lots of other fruits and vegetables.
John's pictures are all about diversity and bringing
out what might pass unseen. In this case, it seems
to have been scorpions!"
Charlotte Lusty, International Network for
the Improvement of Banana and Plantain. |
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Banana
life through the eyes of John Dyer
"John Dyer, the UK
artist much publicized through work with Alan Titchmarsh
and the Eden Project, travelled to Costa Rica especially
for INIBAP to paint the front cover of this year's
annual report "Jungle bananas". John Dyer is well
known for his exuberant and optimistic paintings
that lift the human spirit and explode with colour
and life. His portrayal of traditional banana agriculture
in Costa Rica is richly illustrative of the animal
life that shares the space with growing crops. The
Latin American insect fauna evidently made a big
impression! John Dyer's work has made him one of
the UK's most popular artists and is published world
wide. As 'painter in residence' at the Eden Project,
with whom INIBAP works closely, John will hopefully
be involved in future projects on banana."
www.inibap.org
Some of the paintings from the INIBAP residency. Click on images to enlarge.
'Intercropping
and Chopping, Banana & Cacao Costa Rica'' 24 x 24 inches acrylic on
canvas© John Dyer.
Painted on the indian
reservation, shows cutting and tending of the plants
'Rainforest
Banana Bonanza
', 24 x 24 inches acrylic on canvas© John Dyer.
Carrying the crop
in baskets held on the head, banana small holding on the edge of the
rainforest
'Jungle
Bananas', 24
x 24 inches acrylic on canvas© John Dyer.
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BBC
Web Site Link
Read
the INIBAP 2002 annual report featuring
paintings by John Dyer.
Click to download
5.1mb pdf file
INIBAP have also used the paintings for a set of cards and for a display stand.
The exhibition panel. "What's in a Name?" drawing attention to the crop banana featuring John's paintings produced on location in Costa Rica.
http://www.inibap.org/exhibit/exhibit7_en.htm
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Home Garden / Costa Rica |
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'Tropical
Home Garden', 24 x 24 inches acrylic on canvas.
One of a series painted on location in Costa Rica.
The
International Plant Genetic Resources Institute's
mission statement."Through
the collective concerted action of farmers, forest
dwellers, pastoralists, scientists, development
workers and political leaders, the full potential
of the Earth's plant genetic diversity will be harnessed
to eradicate poverty, achieve food security and
protect the environment for the benefit of present
and future generations"http://www.ipgri.org |
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John
Dyer was asked by IPGRI to paint a series on 'Home
Gardens' to highlight the importance of diversity
and small scale farming. The resulting painting
has been published on the 2002 annual report.
BBC
Web Site Link
Read
the IPGRI 2002 annual report featuring
paintings by John Dyer.
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Rice / Philippines |
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International Year of Rice '04
Artist in residence for IRRI |
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Click here to view all the paintings from this residency
'Rice
is Life' Exhibition
"IRRI had the pleasure of having an artist in residence as part of the Institute's on-going series of special activities for the International Year of Rice (IYR).
Over five days, British painter John Dyer produced a series of paintings that interpreted the relationships among people, the rice plant, and the rice ecosystem. The paintings are an extension of the work that John - the painter in residence for the Eden Biodome project in Cornwall - carried out last year for the Save the Children Fund. Inspired by the IYR, John hopes his paintings will draw attention to the importance of rice and its impact on the environment.
John has kindly agreed to provide IRRI with images of all the work they did during their visit to Los Banos to be used as limited edition posters, calendars, book covers, Christmas cards, and other promotional items for the Institute and rice."
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Download 2006 Rice is Life Calendar. 1mb
"IRRI's wall calendar for 2006 with the theme Rice is life and featuring the acrylic art of British artist John Dyer is selling at a vigorous rate. Mr. Dyer visited IRRI in 2004 during the International Year of Rice and painted six pictures depicting the ethnobotanical relationships within the surrounding rice environment. Sample copies of the calendar have been sent to each OU. Visit your OU secretary or administrative coordinator to take a look or click here to view a pdf of the beautiful 7-page calendar. It'll make a wonderful holiday gift for colleagues, friends, and neighbors." IRRI 2006
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Above:
John's special painting of the crop rice, and the
people who signed up to the 'beat poverty' campaign
on the 7th October 2003.
'Rice and Hope', 33 x 40 inches, acrylic on board,
framed. |
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Save
the Children asked John Dyer to help them to launch
the 'Beat Poverty' campaign at the Eden Project
on 7 October 2003. Visitors to the project on the
day saw John at work in the Humid Tropics Biome
working on a new Eden painting highlighting the
importance of rice. |
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Wetlands / Australia / Chile |
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Resident artist for Banrock Station |
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Click here to view all the paintings from this residency
Wetlands of Australia
CONAF in Chile have used the above painting "Pelican Roost" for an education publication for the El Yali National Reserve in Chile. Part of www.ramsar.org
The Convention on Wetlands, signed in Ramsar, Iran, in 1971, is an intergovernmental treaty which provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources.
John Dyer and Tony Sharley presented the paintings to a live audience of over 600 people at the Eden Project on May 30th 2006.
John Dyer, left, with Tony Sharley the manager of Banrock Station and the chiief executive of the Eden Project Tim Smit at the wetlands and wine event.
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"In the 1920's the River Murray changed from an ephemeral stream to a vast lake when the construction of lock 3 and its weir impounded the water. The raised level drowned many beautiful red gums on the floodplain which today provide fallen branches as roosting platforms for pelicans. The new level also filled the Banrock wetland permanently. Fish eating pelicans dine on the introduced carp that thrive in the new lake-like environment. At night the stars illuminate the ghostly gums."
During March 2006 John Dyer was the resident artist for Banrock Station. The John Dyer Gallery and Banrock Station are working together to bring John's vision of the conservation work at Banrock Station to a world wide audience.
"John Dyer's visit was a pleasure and his paintings of Banrock are truly inspirational. His use of colour and the animals and plants he has featured in his pictures are fantastic... They are just like Banrock.....the more you look the more you discover!"
Tony Sharley . Manager of Banrock Station
Link to Banrock Station
Read the Banrock e-co news
Featuring John Dyer's Visit (PDF File)
VIDEO
Watch a video of John Painting at Banrock.
Broadband recommended.
20mb Quicktime .mov file. Running time 10mins
CLICK TO VIEW VIDEO
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FAO feature crops project |
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John Dyer is an artist who has created vibrant paintings in support of a better understanding of the role of tropical crops. He has done work for INIBAP, IPGRI, and the Eden Project (UK). The paintings are mentioned here as the style could have great potential in illustrating agroforestry resources. More information about his paintings and his current "Crops Project" are available at: http://www.johndyer.info/cropsproject/index.shtml
http://www.fao.org/forestry/site/33289/en/ |
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