"To Eat or Not To Eat"
2002-11-20 until 2003-01-30
Centro De Arte Salamanca
Salamanca, , ES Spain

The creator of one of the most popular of Harbourfront Centre's (Ontario, Canada) mixed media garden installations has been invited to recreate his work as part of a Fall exhibition at the Art Centre of Salamanca, Spain. Ron Benner, a London, Ontario artist and gardener, created All That Has Value at Harbourfront Centre in 1993 as part of the popular Artists' Gardens programme. An instant hit with the public, Benner has replanted and maintained his installation at Harbourfront Centre each summer to date.

Salamanca, Spain has been designated the Cultural Capital of Europe for 2002. As part of the celebrations Salamanca is mounting an exhibition entitled To Eat or Not To Eat, an examination of the relationship between food and art as expressed from the Renaissance to modern times. As part of the November 20, 2002 through January 20, 2003 celebratory exhibition, Ron Benner has been invited to replicate All That Has Value in the courtyard at the entrance to the new Arts Centre.

Benner began working as an artist in his native London, Ontario in 1970 after studying agricultural engineering. He also served as brakeman and conductor on the Norfolk and Western (Wabash) Railway form 1971-1979. A former member of the Forest City Artists' Association and manager of Forest City Gallery, Benner has travelled extensively throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Asia and was a participant in the First International Gathering on Biodiversity & Biodevastation in St. Louis, Missouri, 1998. His installation, All That Has Value, utilizes a listing of plants indigenous to the Americas along with living examples and invites viewers to re-examine those things on which society places or misplaces "value."

Related Links:

Indepth Arts Resources for Spain

Other Important Exhibitions in Spain