Diane Farris Gallery is again pleased to present a solo exhibition of Janieta Eyre's new photographs.

Toronto's acclaimed young photographer is, to date, best known for her quirky double self-portraits. Eyre has quickly gained attention in the contemporary art world with her surreal portraits of herself as twins. Schizophrenic, amusing or grotesque in turn, this exhibition depicts Eyre in single, double and triple depictions in the costumes and settings of both historical periods and fantasy surroundings.

Regarding this new series of work, Lady Lazarus, the artist states:

"For two years, I've been having the same dream. I'm sitting at a long table and a sEance is under way. I'm holding hands with the people on either side of me. The medium spells out my name on the ouija board and proceeds to mispronounce it. She says there's a message for me.

At this point in the dream, I always do the same thing. I break the circle and run from the room. I don't want the message. What I'm being told is already clear. The fact it's my name being spelled out on the board means I'm already dead and my dead self is trying to communicate with the body that's impersonating me."

Lady Lazarus (taken from the Plath poem of the same title) is a series of new black and white and colour photographs which further investigate spirit photography.

Janieta Eyre's exhibition last fall at Christinerose Gallery in New York earned her an invitation to participate in the Kwanju Biennale 2000 in South Korea. This past October and November, Eyre was Artist in Residence at the Irish Museum for Modern Art in Dublin. She has exhibited widely in Italy, Germany, Iceland, the United States and across Canada. Martha Hanna, Director of the Museum of Contemporary Photography (an affiliate of the National Gallery) chose Eyre in response to Globe and Mail critic Blake Gopnik's request to choose an artist "who will carry us into the next century". (November 6, 1999)

GALLERY HOURS

TUESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY, 10:00AM TO 5:30PM

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